EMAIL: laurad@staging-hempindustrydaily.kinsta.cloud
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Laura Drotleff

Laura has specialized in agricultural journalism for the past 20 years. Most recently she served as the editor of a B2B publication and multimedia properties focused on productivity, efficiency and profitability in commercial greenhouse cultivation. She has reported on multiple aspects of specialty crops including floriculture, fruit, vegetables, citrus and cannabis. She also has served extensively on various horticulture industry association boards. Laura is a Michigan State University graduate and is based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Canopy Growth gets green light to move forward with suit against CA hemp farm

Published November 14, 2019

Canadian cannabis giant Canopy Growth has the go-ahead to continue its lawsuit against a California farm it accuses of misusing a deposit and killing hemp plants worth millions, Law360 reported. Canopy Growth is suing Research and Development Farming (RDF) of California’s Central Valley, which contracted to grow 500 acres of hemp for the Ontario company in 2019. In […]

‘They just suffocated the farmers’: Proposed THC testing for hemp sparks industry backlash

Published November 13, 2019 | By Laura Drotleff

Farmers and ancillary hemp businesses are not happy with the THC testing standards outlined within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) interim federal rules for hemp production. The rules require that hemp crops not exceed 0.3% total THC, which is derived from the sum of delta-9 THC and THCA content, on a dry weight basis. Crops […]

FDA won’t be hurried to create CBD exceptions amid safety concerns, official says

Published November 8, 2019

A top official for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the agency is concerned that developing a legal exception for supplements containing CBD could send the wrong message, both to companies interested in entering the market and consumers. Lowell Schiller, the FDA’s principal associate commissioner for policy who is leading a panel investigating […]

NYPD seizes Vermont hemp shipment, mistakes it for marijuana

Published November 7, 2019

New York City police seized a shipment of what it believed to be 106 pounds of marijuana and arrested the buyer on criminal charges, but the Vermont farm that shipped the product said it’s legal hemp, not MJ. Fox Holler Farms, a hemp farm based in New Haven, Vermont, said every box of its product […]

Oregon hemp facility fined $825,000 for housing workers in condemned building

Published November 6, 2019

Five Southern Oregon hemp businesses have been fined $825,000 for allegedly making employees live and work in unsafe conditions. Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined five businesses connected to a processing facility in Josephine County, including Eighteen New Hope and Safe and Simple. The facility operators were identified as owners Yoram Levy and […]

Struggling farmers who bet everything on hemp this year experiencing bitter harvest

Published November 1, 2019 | By Laura Drotleff

For many first-time hemp farmers, 2019 is being written off as an expensive learning experience that they can apply to future crops.

Hemp farmers eligible for USDA programs under new federal rules

Published October 31, 2019 | By Laura Drotleff

Nationwide hemp production rules that took effect Thursday come with new federal protections for the crop. Starting in the 2020 growing year, cultivators licensed under federally approved production programs will have the same access to federal loans, crop insurance, disaster assistance and conservation programs that farmers of other commodities have under the U.S. Department of […]

Consumers research CBD more than many other wellness trends, study finds

Published October 31, 2019

Move over, meditation: American consumers are researching CBD more than many other alternative health trends and products, according to a new study looking at Google searches.

USDA hemp rules are out, and they account for some THC variance

Published October 29, 2019 | By Laura Drotleff

Farmers growing hemp would get a small cushion in THC limits under nationwide rules proposed Tuesday by federal agriculture regulators.

USDA grants nearly $1 million for organic hemp production research

Published October 29, 2019

Plant scientists at Purdue University have been selected to study organic production of hemp, a concern for most producers considering a lack of crop protection resources labeled for hemp production. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted nearly $1 million for researchers to: Develop organic practices for hemp production. Assess the integration of hemp […]

White House approves USDA hemp rules; release imminent

Published October 28, 2019 | By Laura Drotleff

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) federal hemp production rules, Hemp Industry Daily has learned. With approval from the OMB, which must sign off on new regulations from any federal agency, the public release of the interim production rules could come any day. Washington DC-based […]

New intellectual-property options help hemp breeders protect their genetics

Published October 28, 2019 | By Laura Drotleff

Hemp farmers across the United States require many varieties of the plant, such as those conceived to grow in distinct climates or with certain traits desired by the end customers, among others.