Source:  POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 7/25/19

 Farmers eager to break into the hemp industry, and state regulators looking to guide them, as well as food manufacturers with dollar signs in their eyes, could get some highly sought-after answers about the emerging crop from the Senate Agriculture Committee today. Top USDA, EPA and FDA officials are set to testify at the first dedicated hearing on hemp, which was legalized nationally under the 2018 farm bill.

Farmers have been clamouring for information from USDA on how it plans to regulate hemp. But they've been met with tremendous caution, as the department has chosen to move slowly in setting up regulatory framework for a brand new crop. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has previously said USDA doesn't expect to have rules in place until the 2020 planting season.

On the FDA side, the agency has been cracking down on companies making unsubstantiated claims about the health benefits of products containing cannabidiol, which is extracted from hemp. On Tuesday, FDA said it had issued a warning letter to Massachusetts company Curaleaf Inc. for illegally selling unapproved CBD products that claim to treat cancer, Alzheimer's disease, opioid withdrawal, and pain and pet anxiety, among other conditions.

In the absence of sweeping federal action, states have taken matters into their own hands by passing local regulations, such as in Texas and Florida. In the meantime, USDA is operating under the 2014 hemp pilot program.

What to watch for: From building a crop insurance program to accurately testing THC levels in plants, officials across agencies have a lot to figure out before the industry can fully get off the ground. Today, they might offer some clues about what track they plan to take.

DATAPOINT: THE GROWING HEMP INDUSTRY: Montana leads the country in hemp production with farmers growing 22,000 acres of the crop, according to our DataPoint graphic team. Colorado is a close second, with 21,600 acres, and Oregon comes in third with farmers planting 7,800 acres.