Tennessee regulators are working their way through the state’s 53 hemp farms, checking on sizes, acreage and other aspects of the sites to ensure that all cultivators are staying within the rules.
Most farmers began planting earlier this summer, after the state legalized hemp cultivation in January. The farm inspections, part of the oversight process from the state Department of Agriculture, only began recently because of a delay in getting farmers the hempseeds they needed to sow their fields.
Inspectors measured the size of the new plants and also tested a few for THC levels, which came back at zero. By state law, the crops are allowed to have a maximum of 0.3% THC, but one farmer said it’s too early in the growing stage to test his hemp because it’s not fully mature yet.
Inspectors also noted GPS coordinates for the farms so that they wouldn’t be confused with illegal grows.
