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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is looking to collect additional data on hemp production from tens of thousands of farmers and ranchers. In a notice published in the Federal Register, the agency said that it’s requesting permission from the White House to “conduct a new information collection to gather data related to the production of hemp,” and a public comment period is now open on the necessity of the survey and best practices to get the information it seeks. It’s not clear exactly what kind of data USDA wants at this point, but the notice states that it expects 20,000 responses and that it will take an average of 15 minutes for respondents to submit the data. “In determining the type of data that would need to be collected and the frequency of the data collections, [USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service] management attended a joint meeting with representatives from the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS), Farm Service Agency (FSA), Risk Management Agency (RMA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), and the Office of the Secretary,” it says. Last year, USDA announced plans to distribute a separate national survey to gain insights from thousands of hemp businesses that could inform its approach to regulating the industry. That survey is being completed in partnership with National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and the University of Kentucky. The agency said it wanted to learn about “current production costs, production practices, and marketing practices” for hemp. But this latest request for a new “Hemp Acreage and Production Survey” comes shortly after USDA released its final rule on hemp, which was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill. There’s still much to learn about the burgeoning market, even as the agency continues to approve state regulatory plans for the crop. And while the final rule…

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Source : USDA Seeks Information From 20,000 Hemp Farmers On Production Practices

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