Alaska’s Officials of Agriculture decided to use social media to disperse their new rules for the state’s hemp program as they try to limit in-person interactions during the coronavirus outbreak.
The program will operate under the 2014 Farm Bill through October 31, and becomes effective April 4 according to Alaska’s Industrial Hemp Pilot Program.
Facebook Live was the channel they used as the Division of Agriculture provided an overview of their industrial hemp program. The plan covers how farmers, processors, and marketers can get registered with the state and get their start in the industry.
The state is requiring anyone who is involved hemp to be registered with the Alaska Division of Agriculture. They are breaking the industry into three different fields including growers, manufacturers and retailers.
According to Rob Carter, a state agronomist and manager of Alaska’s Northern Latitude Plant Materials Center, “This will allow our industry to vertically integrate for efficiencies.”
Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy cut $375,000 from the state budget for Alaska’s Industrial hemp program in 2019. His reasoning was the absence of an existing industry to support the program in the state.
