By Jackie Whetzel, For The Register-Herald
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — Local hemp farmers say the West Virginia Department of Agriculture is requiring them to undergo more stringent testing than other states — and they’re not happy about it.
It’s now come out that the Monroe County Farm Bureau has asked the West Virginia Farm Bureau to support a request that the West Virginia Department of Agriculture revise its current hemp statute.
In a statement, Monroe County Farm Bureau officials said they too believe West Virginia farmers are being held at a “competitive disadvantage.”
They want the state’s Department of Agriculture to revise its current interpretation of the 2018 Farm Bill. The Farm Bill language requires states to come up with their own testing methods. They’re advised to use “postdecarboxylation or other similarly reliable methods, delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration levels of hemp.”Currently, West Virginia is testing total THC instead of delta-9 THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). …
