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Sid Miller Says Texas Is Ready To Craft Its Hemp-Growing Rules After Feds Approve National Plan

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller recites the pledge of allegiance during the first meeting of the 84th Legislative session at theTexas State Capitol in 2015.
Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon
/
KUT
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller recites the pledge of allegiance during the first meeting of the 84th Legislative session at theTexas State Capitol in 2015.

Texans who want to legally grow industrial hemp are one step closer to making that a reality after the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its  on Tuesday.

The federal government legalized hemp as part of the and .

鈥淭his is the big leap forward we鈥檝e all been waiting for. 鈥 [It] is still not yet legal to grow industrial hemp in Texas,鈥 Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said. 鈥淏ut we are one step closer to allowing farmers to get this exciting new crop in the ground.鈥

Even though hemp is legal in the state, farmers wanting to plant hemp had no regulations to follow.

Now that the federal government has a plan, Miller says to the USDA 鈥 something it could do as soon as next month. Once the plan is approved, the state can begin the application process to permit hemp growers.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to be able to make our plan any less restrictive than theirs. But we鈥檙e going to have to add some things to it that [the USDA] didn鈥檛 address,鈥 Miller said. 鈥淥ur plan will be much more detailed than theirs so you鈥檇 think they鈥檙e probably going to accept it.鈥

Miller says the federal plan doesn't include rules for transporting hemp, seed regulation and quality, and the uniformity of testing. He says there is still much to be done to finish Texas' hemp plan, but his office has done much of the groundwork already.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said the USDA wanted to get its plan out so that farmers could be ready to incorporate hemp into their 2020 planting season. Miller says he believes they鈥檒l have a plan ready by next month, but his department has a tight window to finish in time.

Copyright 2020 KUT 90.5. To see more, visit .

Jerry Quijano is a producer and host. A native south Texan, he joined the KUT staff after graduating from Texas A&M University-San Antonio. Jerry was part of NPR鈥檚 Next Generation initiative at KUT in 2017. When he鈥檚 not in the studio, Jerry enjoys collecting vinyl records.