Geoffrey Whaling says the expected signing of the 2018 Farm Bill will be historic. As president of the Pennsylvania Hemp Industry Council and chairman of the National Hemp Association, he’s thrilled that the farm bill authorizes the government to take hemp off the list of Schedule 1 illegal drugs.

“It is a momentous occasion, one that will never be repeated in our lifetime,” he says.

The farm bill, which Congress passed last week and is awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature, would legalize hemp production for the first time since the 1930s. The 2014 Farm Bill allowed hemp production for research purposes. Since then, many states have approved industrial production so long as companies and producers were licensed.

Whaling says not to expect many hemp fields to suddenly begin popping up across the countryside. That’s because states will have to develop regulations that will need to be approved by USDA. Also, the plant is pretty tough to grow.

“This is really kind of virgin territory. This is one of the toughest crops in the planet," he says. “There is no equipment to harvest, everything has to be developed. And it grows 21-feet tall and you want to harvest all the components.”

But Whaling's ready for the industry to explode, adding that he’s prepared to make a “multimillion dollar investment in a commercial-scale processing plant” somewhere in south-central or southeastern Pennsylvania over the next few years.

Farm bureaus like farm bill
David Fisher, president of New York Farm Bureau, says the farm bill is a major victory for the state’s struggling dairy farms.

“In particular, the new farm bill enhances the dairy safety net for farms of every size, including increasing the margin that qualifies for federal insurance programs,” Fisher said in a written statement. “New York Farm Bureau also appreciates the research and support programs in the bill that will benefit New York’s specialty crop producers. Having some certainty moving forward in challenging times is a relief for farmers."

Rick Ebert, president of Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, lauded funding for crop protection programs and conservation funding.

“The new farm bill should provide support for Pennsylvania’s struggling dairy farmers through its revamped dairy protection plan, which replaces a program that failed to provide relief to struggling farmers from low milk prices over the past five years," Ebert said in a statement. "Additionally, crop insurance programs should help farmers purchase policies to protect them from devastating weather conditions, while cost-share programs will be available to aid farmers looking to install conservation projects to further improve the environment."

Mixed bag for others
Hannah Smith-Brubaker, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, says several provisions will benefit her organization’s members, including:

• mandatory funding to support the development of regional food economies

• increased funding for ag research, and $50 million in new baseline funding for organic research and the new Local Agriculture Market Program

• supplying beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers with the resources they need to start and operate a successful food and farming business.

But Smith-Brubaker says the bill comes up short in a number of areas, including not making climate change mitigation and adaptation a research priority; providing no additional funding for farm-to-school programs; cutting billions of dollars in conservation programs in terms of baseline funding; and not making reforms to commodity or crop insurance programs.

Meanwhile, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., voted against the final bill in the House. According to Delmarva Now, Harris wanted work requirements for food stamp recipients in the final package along with full repeal of the Obama-era Waters of the United States rule.