Surprise! Trump USDA Says Tribes Can’t Grow Hemp Yet Without State Approval

Last updated on 2019-06-09

Back during the great hemp debate of this year’s Session, we had some fun noting that tribes could go ahead and grow hemp come heck or high Kristi. But it turns out that the Trump Administration, like the Noem Administration, prefers government regulation and roadblocks to the free market:

This notice clarifies avenues for Tribal participation under authorities in the 2014 Farm Bill to grow industrial hemp for research purposes during the 2019 growing season. Under the 2014 Farm Bill, an Indian tribe can enter into a partnership or contract with an institution of higher education or a State department of agriculture both within or in a different State than the one in which the Indian tribe is located to produce industrial hemp on the tribe’s land. For an Indian tribe to be eligible to do so, the State in which the Indian tribe is located and the State in which the institution of higher education or State department of agriculture is located both must allow the production of industrial hemp.

…The law remains unchanged in that Indian tribes, individuals, and entities located in States that do not permit hemp production are ineligible to participate in the growing or cultivation of hemp under the 2014 Farm Bill program [USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, “USDA Clarifies Industrial Hemp Production for Indian Tribes,” 2019.05.28].

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe begs to differ. They read the 2018 Farm Bill—which legalized the growing of hemp but goes curiously unmentioned in the above USDA statement—saw the legalization of hemp and the authorization for tribes to start growing that fibrous and flexible crop, set aside 360 acres, and submitted the plan the 2018 Farm Bill said they could submit to get greenlighted to raise hemp. Having received no response, the tribe is going to court:

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe wants to grow industrial hemp and is seeking that right through a court hearing today.

On March 8, the tribe applied with the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a permit to grow the crop but did not hear back. The tribe, like a state, is allowed to apply for the right to grow hemp in its territory and it has to meet seven criteria.

If those criteria are met, which the tribe has done, the federal government is required to approve or disapprove the application within 60 days, according to the civil action filed against the agriculture department and Secretary Sonny Perdue. The government has not ruled one way or the other.

“The tribe has expressed and USDA is aware that the 2019 hemp growing season has already started on the tribe’s land, and the window to plant will end soon,” the complaint says [Brenda Wade Schmidt, “Tribe Waits on Plans to Grow Industrial Hemp,” Moody County Enterprise, updated 2019.06.05].

The tribe contends that the USDA has failed to follow through on the 60-day promise made in the 2018 Farm Bill. However, the USDA says it still has to issue rules to handle applications to grow hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill; thus, the 2014 Farm Bill still controls, and that bill says a tribe must have a partnership with their state to grow hemp… and Governor Noem totally opposes that sort of partnership.