Future of hemp as feed ingredient in hands of producers

By Samantha Fox
Source: greeleytribune.com


If the process is done correctly, there is potential that within the next five years, hemp could be one of the crops grown for feed.

Although the approval is likely months away, hemp producers have a plan moving forward to see if part of the hemp plant can be used for livestock feed.

A stakeholder group commissioned after a bill to study the use of hemp in feed came out of the 2017 Colorado legislative session released the result of discussions spanning four months with representatives from the hemp, livestock and regulatory sectors. The group originally began as a bill to simply approve hemp as an ingredient as feed.

However, there is more that needs to happen for any part of the plant to be approved in the future. It's been a learning process for many involved, and it was the first time the hemp industry was really at the table, according to Hunter Buffington, executive director of Colorado Hemp Industry Association.

She said it was important to have multiple industries at the table because it helps start a conversation with leaders in the agriculture industry.

The use of hemp in animal feed is forbidden because the Food and Drug Administration considers hemp an adulterating substance. In the long run, Buffington said, it's a goal of the hemp industry to get the federal label removed. Though hemp is cannabis, the THC level — the substance that creates the high from marijuana — isn't nearly as strong, nor can it create a similar "high" as marijuana.

Veronica Carpio, a hemp farmer and founder of Grow Hemp Colorado, was behind the legislation this past year that eventually led to the stakeholder group.

One of the takeaways Glenn, division director for the inspection and consumer services program with the Colorado Department of Agriculture, emphasized was the need for cohesion in the hemp industry, along with working with the federal law as it now stands. Although hemp still is illegal under federal law, the seed is an exception. With that, there are three avenues the stakeholder recommended the hemp industry should take to apply for feed ingredient approval. Those are the hemp seed and hemp flour and oil; the flour and oil are derived from the seed.

Glenn said it would make more sense to gain the approval of those three ingredients since they are not illegal.

Buffington agreed, adding there's still a long way to go before hemp will likely be able to distinguish itself from its other cannabis counterparts.

The next step is in the hands of the hemp industry, Glenn said.