Michigan agriculture officials will soon start testing hemp being grown in the state.
Michigan growers will start harvesting the state’s first industrial hemp crop in the coming weeks.
But before then, the state must test the crop to ensure it’s not exceeding federal limits on THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
Gina Alessandri is the state’s Industrial Hemp Program director. She says state workers developed the test without a federal standard -- which is still being developed.
“They were able to develop the rules based on the information that’s in the Farm Bill and based on what other states have done relative to the best testing.”
More than 32 thousand acres in Michigan are licensed for hemp production -- primarily serving the CBO oil industry.
