Nevada is a rare state reporting increased hemp production between 2019 and 2020, just as its revised plan to regulate hemp has been approved by federal authorities.
Nevada planted 284,830 acres of hemp last year, up nearly 7% from 266,668 acres in 2019.
Most states reported fewer acres in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic and falling CBD prices tempered excitement in the new crop. Nationally, licensed hemp acreage decreased year-over-year for the first time since the 2014 Farm Bill established a national hemp pilot program.
Nevada’s approved hemp plan calls for total THC testing and for all plots to be sampled and tested at the Nevada Department of Agriculture lab, which is registered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Farmers whose hemp tests above the limit will be allowed to follow the new, loosened guidelines for disposal, such as burning or composting.
The state will charge:
- $900 application fees for growers.
- $725 application fees for growers producing exclusively nursery stock.
- $5 per acre (or 33 cents per 1,000 square feet indoors) for growing hemp.
