House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson has released a draft for the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026. Which aims to revitalize various sectors of American agriculture, but it holds particular weight for the industrial hemp industry.
For years, hemp producers have navigated a complex web of requirements that many argue stifles growth and innovation. The proposed bill attempts to dismantle some of these barriers by streamlining testing protocols and loosening restrictions on who can participate in the market.
However, this legislative relief comes with a caveat that has continually divided the cannabis/hemp communities, while the bill offers olive branches to industrial hemp farmers—those growing for fiber and grain—it simultaneously tightens around the cannabinoid market.
By proposing a shift from measuring delta-9 THC to total THC, the bill aligns with recent federal efforts to crack down on intoxicating hemp products. This dichotomy presents a mixed bag for the industry, offering liberation for some while signaling an existential threat for others who operate in the gray market of hemp-derived intoxicants.
“This bill provides modern policies for modern challenges and is shaped by years of listening to the needs of farmers, ranchers, and rural Americans. The farm bill affects our entire country, regardless of whether you live on a farm, and I look forward to seeing my colleagues in Congress work together to get this critical legislation across the finish line.” – Glenn “GT” Thompson
Streamlining Testing and Compliance for Industrial Hemp
The 2026 proposal directly addresses this by authorizing the United States Department of Agriculture, along with states and tribal governments, to drastically reduce these obligations. The legislation introduces a mechanism for producers to self-designate their crop as “only industrial hemp,” a distinction that separates fiber and grain farmers from cannabinoid extractors.
This self-designation is the key that unlocks a more lenient regulatory environment, potentially allowing for visual inspections or performance-based sampling methodologies instead of mandatory laboratory testing for every lot.
The bill also seeks to alleviate the bottleneck caused by laboratory accreditation issues. Currently, hemp must be tested at laboratories registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration, a requirement that has proven difficult to meet due to a shortage of eligible facilities.
The new text directs the USDA to establish its own accreditation process for hemp testing labs. This would effectively decouple hemp compliance from the DEA’s direct oversight in this specific capacity, expanding the network of available testing sites and ensuring that farmers can get their crops to market without bureaucratic delays that risk crop spoilage or financial loss.
Relaxing Background Check Requirements and Felon Bans
The proposed legislation also addresses who can legally farm industrial hemp. Since federal legalization, the government has barred individuals with felony convictions related to controlled substances from participating in the hemp production program for ten years.
The 2026 Farm Bill proposes eliminating this ten-year ineligibility period for producers who designate their crops strictly for industrial purposes. This change acknowledges that farmers growing hemp for concrete, textiles, or automotive parts pose no risk of diversion to the illicit drug market and should not be penalized for past cannabis-related offenses.
This is a victory for advocacy groups who have long argued that the felon ban was punitive and unnecessary for a crop that is non-intoxicating. It allows more farmers from diverse backgrounds to enter the industrial hemp sector, potentially boosting economic growth in rural communities hit hard by the War on Drugs.
The Shift to Total THC and the Cannabinoid Crackdown
While industrial farmers may celebrate these proposed changes, the bill introduces stricter definitions that could devastate the market for hemp-derived cannabinoids. The draft language proposes changing the legal definition of compliance from a focus on delta-9 THC to a “total THC” standard.
This measurement includes tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), the precursor to THC that converts into the psychoactive compound when heated.
Under the 2018 Farm Bill, many producers operated under the assumption that only delta-9 THC levels mattered, allowing for the proliferation of high-THCA flower and other products that are effectively identical to marijuana sold in state-legal dispensaries.
This redefinition aligns the Farm Bill with recent appropriations legislation signed by President Trump, which seeks to ban intoxicating consumable hemp products entirely. By setting a hard cap of 0.3 percent total THC in the plant itself, the bill closes the so-called “loophole” that fueled a multi-billion dollar industry of delta-8 and THCA products.
Implications for the Cannabis Market
The divergence between industrial and cannabinoid hemp in the 2026 Farm Bill highlights a growing maturity in federal cannabis policy, albeit one that creates winners and losers.
By explicitly separating fiber and grain from chemical extraction, lawmakers are signaling that they view industrial hemp as a legitimate agricultural commodity that deserves the same protections and ease of business as any other crop.
Organizations like the National Hemp Association have praised this “policy recalibration,” arguing that it protects the reputation of legitimate agriculture while addressing consumer safety concerns regarding unregulated intoxicants.
Conversely, the crackdown on cannabinoid hemp creates significant uncertainty for the larger cannabis ecosystem. Enacting the total THC standard could disrupt supply chains for CBD products that naturally contain trace amounts of THC, potentially impacting the availability of full-spectrum wellness products.
Furthermore, removing the gray market for intoxicating hemp puts pressure on Congress to address federal marijuana legalization, as consumer demand for these products is unlikely to disappear. The 2026 Farm Bill paves the way for a new era of cannabis regulation, defining the line between “hemp” and “marijuana” based on both chemical composition and the plant’s intended use.
