Texas’ Hemp Industry To Experience Exponential Growth In The Coming Years
The hemp industry is picking up steam around the world, with more and more countries legalizing hemp production for human consumption.
Hemp has been legal for making things like paper and rope in most countries, however, there were still a lot of restrictions in place in many countries due to concerns about high-THC cannabis.
Historically, reefer madness was so strong regarding the cannabis plant that lawmakers around the world refused to consider low-THC hemp legalization for the purpose of human consumption, out of fear that it could be used to ‘disguise’ high-THC cannabis plants, which is a fear that is not based in science.
Fortunately, the rise of CBD as a medicine across the globe has changed a lot of minds, and legal hemp production is being ramped up all over the planet.
One of those places is the State of Texas, which is geographically the largest state in the U.S. among the ‘lower 48 states.’ Converting farmland in Texas to hemp will not only help local economies but will also help the environment since hemp helps pull CO2 out of the air and removes contaminants from soil (among other benefits).
Texas’ hemp industry is still in its infancy, with state law only recently being changed in 2019. With that being said, Texas is likely to see exponential growth in the coming years now that the federal government has finally issued hemp industry rules. Per KXAN:
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller says he’s pleased with the approval of federal rules for the industrial hemp program.
“This industry is booming and needs the certainty that comes with finalizing these guidelines,” Miller said. ”While hemp growers might not have gotten everything they wanted, I believe USDA has responded to the industry and is working to improve this program.”
“Here in Texas, we’ve been in the hemp business for almost a year and we’re busy building the Texas ‘hempire’ — we’ve issued over 1150 producer licenses, permitted over 5,000 acres of hemp in the ground and over 15 million square feet of hemp in greenhouses,” Miller said in a statement Tuesday.
Texas is well known for being a top petroleum and natural gas state, as well as being a national leader for cattle and other livestock. Unfortunately, both of those industries have a detrimental impact on the environment.
A strong hemp industry could drastically change the State of Texas’ future, in a great way.