With the cannabis industry growing as rapidly as it is, we need all the support we can get. Thankfully, we’re finally starting to see some progress regarding government agencies lending a hand to our industry.
USDA Makes The First Step
On Thursday, the USDA announced that it would release weekly reports of prices and volume measures in a newsletter aimed at guiding smarter business decisions. This comes in light of the fact that the USDA has recently recognized the industry’s need for timely market information.
The report will contain information about weekly prices advertised for hemp products, along with import volumes and the values of hemp commodities entering the United States for both the week and the year to date.
This is the first time the United States Department of Agriculture has dedicated a weekly report to a sole commodity group. They’ve also said that depending on how the report progresses, they may look into expanding to include additional market and industry information.
This new weekly report joins other existing national reports for honey and specialty crops, along with local reports dealing with more niche items like pecans, apples, and cut flowers.
News of the new report came out about a week after the USDA began sending out thousands of surveys to hemp farmers around the United States as part of its annual initiative to learn more about the market, how it’s evolved since hemp legalization in 2018, and how far farmers have come over the last five years.
The USDA released its first annual hemp survey in 2021, with a report detailing the results in 2022. The USDA says it would like to learn more about current market production costs, production and farming practices, and marketing practices for hemp.
On top of the new report, and after getting feedback from stakeholders, the USDA has also taken steps to improve insurance policies for hemp businesses to make them more flexible.
The agency has also taken steps to improve insurance policies for hemp businesses, making them more flexible in response to stakeholder feedback. Since its legalization, the USDA has also made moves to align hemp insurance policies with those of other crops. And they’ve consistently been getting input from stakeholders on improving their services as the industry grows and develops.
A Win For Hemp
All in all, this level of involvement from a government agency in the cannabis and hemp market is definitely a win. Not only is it helping hard-working hemp farmers, but it’s also helping new buyers and entrepreneurs starting out in the hemp industry.
It’s definitely progress, especially in an industry as young as hemp. It’s also encouraging for all of us who’ve been desperately asking for more government involvement and attention toward market reports, regulations, and frameworks.
Having a centralized location for all the information surrounding the hemp industry will not only make navigating the industry easier for existing buyers and farmers, but for newcomers, cannabis manufacturers, and more.
Although it does feel long overdue, we’ve been keeping our patience. After all, it’s only normal that government agencies take a little more time to do things than everyone else.
With the hemp industry only expected to keep on growing, we expect to see more and more involvement from government agencies who are starting to take this crop more seriously. Nothing happens overnight, but this is a nice step forward and great news for members and consumers in this industry.
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