BREAKING NEWS: U.S. SENATE PASSES FARM BILL INCLUDING MCCONNELL'S HEMP FARMING ACT

BREAKING NEWS The Farm Bill — which is a comprehensive bill covering a multitude of agricultural and food policy — passed the Senate with a vote of 86 - 11 on June 28th. On the other side of the aisle, the House passed its own version of the bill on June 21st. Both sides are expected to meet after the 4th of July break to flesh out the bill, talk key differences, and come to some form of a consensus.

One of the more striking pieces in the farm bill came from Senator McConnell, who put in McConnell's Hemp Farming Act. If the Senate's version wins over, McConnell's Hemp Farming Act will see hemp legalized as a farming commodity.

Here are the key takeaways in McConnell's Hemp Farming Act:

• The removal of industrial hemp from the Controlled Substances Act.
• Creation of regulatory bodies and the ability for American hemp to be classified as organic (currently only Canadian hemp is).
• Interstate commerce protection for industrial hemp.
• Access to public water for hemp farmers. Currently, the vagueness of hemp's legality has led to hemp farmers not having access to public water.
• There will be lots of legitimacy grammar classifications that come with the act. These are things such as giving hemp the right to be classified as a "whole plant." These new changes will seek to strike more legitimacy to industrial hemp as an agricultural commodity.
• Access to finance and banking rights for hemp farmers. The hemp bill aims to remove the difficulties that hemp farmers face getting insurance (which they usually cannot get at all) and seeks to give hemp farmers full crop insurance benefits, as well as the ability to take out farm loans.
• An increase to federally funded research.

The main consensus here is that hemp is being legally defined as an agricultural commodity, giving it access to all of the same benefits that other crops currently have in the market.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR CBD AND CBD ONLINE PRODUCTS?

As far as CBD is concerned, the new Farm Bill's addition of hemp as an agricultural commodity will see CBD's legal status cemented federally. There could be price shifts, but, currently, subsidies have not been included in the bill.

It's likely that CBD will remain similar to how you see it currently, but expect the new "firm" legalization of hemp to have echoed effects throughout the hemp world.

CBD should gain more traction in athletics, get more legitimacy as a supplement with tremendous health benefits, and most importantly see further research that is federally funded.

We already have the ability to purchase CBD online, but the new bill should create fluidity in shipping and processing.

STEPS FOR THE FARM BILL TO BECOME LAW

Currently, the Senate's version of the Farm Bill (which includes McConnell's Hemp Farm Act) as well as the House's version of the bill, will be discussed between the Senate and House after the July 4th break.

Both sides are expected to reach an agreement and propose the completed version of the Farm Bill by September. The president will then need to sign the bill for it to be law.

WILL MCCONNELL'S HEMP ACT STAY?

We can't say for sure. We will say that there is a very good chance that McConnell's Hemp Act will be on the final version of the bill in one facet or another.

Regulation could be increased or decreased depending upon the cooperation of the house. It's likely that we will see hemp introduced as an agricultural commodity by the end of the year.

If you are looking to enjoy some of the tremendous benefits that CBD offers, or you have any further questions about products or research, contact us. We offer a wide range of CBD products online that can help with everything from pain to calmness.