MDARD Industrial Hemp Update #8

Hemp Testing Notice

9.26.19

The Michigan Constitution requires that a balanced budget be in place at the start of the fiscal year in order to expend funds to operate state government.  With October 1 quickly approaching, and no budget in place yet, we have started the planning process for a government shutdown.

If the State of Michigan does not have a budget by midnight on September 30, 2019, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Laboratory will be closed and will not be testing hemp samples.  Growers who have scheduled with the Lab to mail or drop off samples beginning on Tuesday, October 1  should check the State of Michigan website to see if state offices have re-opened.  MDARD will do its best to complete testing and report results by 5 p.m. on Monday, September 30 for any samples received prior to noon on Friday, September 27, 2019.

As a reminder, growers cannot harvest their crop until they receive a report of analysis from the state indicating plants do not have a THC content higher than 0.3%, which may not be available if the shutdown lasts for any length of time.  This could mean that hundreds of acres of the state’s first-ever hemp crop may need to be destroyed.

Please continue to monitor your local news outlets and the State of Michigan website for updated information regarding state government operations.

 

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If you know of others who are interested in receiving industrial hemp program updates, please direct them to www.michigan.gov/industrialhemp; there is an enrollment link near the top.  

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