The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service has released a new National Hemp Report, covering 2022.
Following on from the first report of its nature released early last year, the latest report from the USDA indicates the value of U.S. industrial hemp totaled $238 million in 2022, down 71 percent from 2021.
Some top line results for hemp grown in the open:
- Area harvested for all industrial hemp purposes totaled 18,251 acres in 2022, down 45 percent from 2021.
- Value of floral hemp totaled $179 million, down 71 percent from 2021.
- Value of hemp grown for grain in 2022 totaled $3.63 million, down 39 percent from 2021.
- Value of hemp grown for fiber totaled $28.3 million, down 32 percent from 2021.
- Value of hemp grown for seed totaled $1.48 million, down 96 percent from 2021.
In terms of hemp grown under protection, growers used 4.58 million square feet in 2022, down 71 percent from 2021. The value totaled $26.1 million, down 77 percent from last year.
Looking at some states individually, the differences between the two years were huge. For example, in Utah 2,150 acres of hemp planted in the open were harvested in 2021, and just 64 acres in 2022. In Colorado, 3,100 acres were harvested in 2021, and just 480 acres last year. In Vermont, 1,080 acres were harvested in 2021, and only 49 acres in 2022.
While the report doesn’t offer any reasons as to the reasons for the downturn, U.S. Hemp Roundtable General Counsel Jonathan Miller didn’t mince words regarding the situation with floral hemp, a source of various cannabinoids including cannabidiol (CBD).
“The economic opportunity for U.S. farmers continues to decline, with the chief culprit being FDA’s inaction on regulating hemp extracts such as CBD,” he said.
On that note, we recently reported House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer is acting on a previous commitment to haul the FDA commissioner before the Committee for questioning over the agency’s lack of action on CBD regulation. Additionally, last month Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Angie Craig (D-MN) introduced bi-partisan legislation to compel the FDA to regulate CBD.
