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17 farm406 e Montana Hemp Program, administered through the Montana Department of Agriculture, is set for major growth as it enters its third year. In 2017, Montana's first year of the Pilot Program, 14 growers signed up with the Department and grew approximately 550 acres; in 2018, those numbers swelled to 58 growers and 22,000 acres. e Department expects both numbers to grow significantly in 2019. Included in the 2018 Farm Bill was a provision that removed hemp from the list of controlled substances. e bill also moved the regulation of hemp growth from the Drug Enforcement Agency to the United States Department of Agriculture. While the USDA has stated that it will not formulate its national regulations until later this year, growers are still permied to grow under Montana's state plan. Earlier this year, Montana producers petitioned the Department to create an advisory commiee for hemp, and aer a series of public meetings to gather input from growers, Department Director Ben omas officially formed the Montana Hemp Advisory Commiee. e Commiee is made up of nine hemp growers from throughout Montana and is tasked with advising Director omas on all things hemp. e group has met twice this year and has provided important insight to the Department as they update their policies, rules and fees to comply with the 2018 Farm Bill. e group will also be working on a plan for a Montana hemp checkoff. e checkoff dollars will be used to advance research, education and marketing efforts for hemp in Montana, and a proposed checkoff is expected later in 2019. Once the checkoff and the manner of collection is proposed, all known hemp growers in Montana will have the opportunity to vote on whether to proceed with the checkoff. e legislature also took a keen interest in hemp during the 66 th legislative session. Senator Tom Jacobson (D-Great Falls) sponsored three bills regarding hemp during the last session, all of which have been signed by Governor Bullock. SB 176 permits the Department of Agriculture to set up a certified hemp program. is certification will assure consumers that what they're buying is certified as hemp (or hemp derived) and grown in Montana. SB 177 cleaned up Montana's hemp laws to bring them into beer alignment with the 2018 Farm Bill; this includes both the removal of "industrial" from official definitions and the fingerprint requirement for growers. SB 178 exempts hemp processing equipment from taxation, with the aim of incentivizing hemp processing here in Montana. SB 178 will apply to machinery and equipment placed into service aer December 31, 2019. As interest in growing hemp has increased in Montana, so has the interest from new companies in contracting acres with Montana growers. Growers are the best people to make decisions about their own operations, but the Department urges growers to proceed with caution when entering into these contracts. Many of these companies are non-traditional in structure and contracting with them may carry more risk than your average buyer. e Department remains a resource for people interested in growing, buying or processing hemp in Montana. For more information, please visit the Montana Hemp Program website at: www.agr.mt.gov/hemp or call the Department's Hemp Program Manager, Andy Gray at (406) 444-0512. Montana Hemp Program Set for Major Growth in ird Year By Andy Fjeseth Montana Department of Argriculture Communications Director

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