AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The United States government has approved guidelines submitted by the Texas Department of Agriculture to allow Texans to grow hemp in the state, agriculture commissioner Sid Miller said Monday.
The state submitted the rules to the United States Department of Agriculture in December.
Miller, who held a public meeting last week to take public questions on the budding industry, called the approval of the rules a “victory for Texas farmers.”
“With USDA approval of our Texas Hemp Plan, we are one step closer to giving our ag producers access to this exciting new crop opportunity,” Miller said.
Calling hemp a future cash crop, Miller reminded Texans it is still not legal to grow the plant.
“Don’t put those seeds in the ground just yet,” Miller wrote, adding the state needs to get a licensing program up and running.
“But the dominoes are dropping pretty quick,” Miller continued. “We’re almost there.”
House Bill 1325, signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in June, allows farmers to grow industrial hemp. It also legalizes hemp-derived products like CBD oil.
More information on the state’s hemp program can be found on the Texas Department of Agriculture website.