Tag: Tennessee Department of Agriculture

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CannaBeat: State Sued for Rule Change on Smokeables

CBD and Delta-8 products on a shelf at Cumberland Cannabis (Photo: John Partipilo)

Tennessee’s hemp industry is making a last-ditch legal effort to halt sweeping new rules that would ban the sale of popular hemp products legally available in the state since 2019.

Attorneys representing Tennessee hemp retailers and producer associations are expected in a Nashville court Monday just ahead of new state product testing rules scheduled to take effect Dec. 26.

The rules would bar the manufacture, distribution and sale of many of the best-selling hemp products that have helped drive a nascent state industry to generate $280-$560 million in sales annually, based on survey data cited in legal documents.

The hemp products haven’t been outlawed by the Tennessee legislature or the federal government.

TN Agriculture officials want to curb CBD and THCA smokables, offer cryptic response to questions

Rather, new legislation designed to impose first-time regulations on Tennessee’s five-year-old hemp industry –—such as license requirements, taxes, and age restrictions — have been interpreted by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture in a way that would render certain hemp products illegal.

The rules require products to be tested for the first time for so-called TCHA content, a naturally occurring and still-legal substance found in all hemp plants. When hemp flowers are heated or smoked, the substance converts to THC — an illegal substance in Tennessee when it is present in greater than trace amounts.

The Tennessee Growers Association and the Tennessee Healthy Alternatives Association are seeking a temporary injunction they say is necessary to prevent widespread devastation to the burgeoning industry.

Should the new rules go into effect, “a large share of Tennessee’s hemp-derived cannabinoid market will be rendered illegal overnight, shuttering many businesses and forcing downsizing and layoffs at others,” legal filings by the Tennessee Healthy Alternatives Association read.

Hemp is a cannabis plant that has been legally available in Tennessee since the Legislature first approved its production, possession, and sale in 2019.

It’s distinguished from marijuana by its concentration of a compound known as delta-9 THC. Cannabis with a concentration of less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC is defined as legal hemp in Tennessee — and federally. Cannabis with concentrations greater than .3 percent is classified as marijuana and is illegal to grow, sell, or possess in Tennessee.

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Hemp flowers also contain THCA, a nonintoxicating acid that has not been outlawed in Tennessee. When heated or smoked, however, the THCA in the plant converts into delta-9 THC.

The state product testing rules unveiled by Tennessee’s agriculture department earlier this year will now make THCA products illegal based on their combined concentration of delta-9 THC and THCA, rather than solely their delta-9 THC concentration.

A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, which rejected hemp industry administrative appeals of the rules, declined to comment Tuesday on pending legislation.

Both industry groups argue the state’s agriculture department exceeded its authority in formulating the rules, essentially outlawing a product the legislature has determined to be legal.

“Here, it blinks reality to conclude that the General Assembly — in the very statute that expressly defines (THCA) as a legal hemp-derived cannabinoid without any concentration limits — delegated to the Department a clandestine power to outlaw (THCA) products that have been legally sold in Tennessee for years,” legal filings said.

The Tennessee Growers Association has also put forth a separate legal argument that the 2023 law intended to regulate “hemp-derived products” does apply to the unadulterated hemp plant itself.

“Hemp and raw flowers are not HDC’s (hemp derivative products),” the Tennessee Growers Coalition argued. “After all, hemp cannot be ‘derived’ from itself.”

The groups are seeking an immediate preliminary injunction in Davidson County Chancery Court to prevent the rules from taking effect.

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.

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CannaBeat: Cannabis Group Follows Through on Promise to Sue State

Credit: Budding on Unsplash

As promised, the Tennessee Growers Coalition (TGC), the state’s advocate for the cannabis industry, sued the state over new rules it says are “void” and threaten the industry. 

State lawmakers passed new laws last year to regulate the burgeoning cannabis industry in Tennessee. Among many other things, the new law made the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) responsible for regulating the cannabis industry in the state. Late last year, the department issued a draft of new rules for cannabis producers and products. 

The department updated those rules in July after a public comment period. However, TGC said state officials did not include ideas from the nearly 19,000 public comments in the new rules.

Instead of blending those ideas into a set of final rules, the TGC said agriculture officials issued emergency rules. The timing and procedure of issuing these new rules form the basis of the cannabis industry’s lawsuit filed Friday. The process, TGC said, “imposed an immediate and irreparable threat of harm” to the businesses of its members.

“TGC members’ businesses and livelihoods are at stake by being forced to adapt their business practices to regulations, change the type of products they sell, and how they manage compliance while paying a license fee under regulations that are void as a matter of law,” reads a statement from the group. “The (TDA) has nothing to lose while TGC Members risk losing everything.”

The new rules still include new THC standards for THCA and CBD flowers. New limits could see those products removed completely. The new rules would also allow police to arrest manufacturers, retailers, and consumers for selling or possessing these smokable products, according to Cultivate Tennessee, another hemp advocacy group.

The new state rules redefine THC to include a product’s total THC. This includes a lot of THCA — the cannabinoid that produces a “high” — smokeable products.

“They’re trying to redefine it by combining two different cannabinoids,” TGC executive director Kelley Mathis Hess told us last month, “two different things, when it should just be Delta 9, and Delta 9 only. They’re trying to put a limit on [THCA] but the limit would, basically, ban a lot of it.” 

Hess said these products are probably the most popular products on the market right now. Many small businesses have built their business around sales of these products, she said. Removing them could prove fatal to them. 

TGC promised to fight the rules in court last month. A court date for the lawsuit has been set for next Thursday, September 19th. 

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Cannabis Flower Products At Risk With New TN Rules

Photo by Budding on Unsplash

Cannabis flower products could disappear from store shelves in Tennessee next year thanks to new state rules, a threat to businesses and consumers, advocates say. 

State lawmakers passed new laws this year to regulate the growing cannabis industry in Tennessee. Some of those rules went into effect in July. For example, cannabis products are moved behind shelves of stores that aren’t 21 and up. A new, 6-percent tax on cannabis products was levied, too. 

The new law also made the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) responsible for regulating the cannabis industry here. On Monday, the department issued new rules for cannabis producers and products. 

They immediately drew the ire from the Tennessee Growers Coalition (TGC), the advocacy and lobby agency for the state’s cannabis industry. The group is now organizing its members to fight the new rules.

TGC’s executive director Kelley Hess said the new law focused only on the Delta 9 cannabinoid and said that’s how hemp is defined on the federal level. But state agriculture officials added new THC standards for THCA and CBD flower. This could pinch producers and retailers as these products are “at least 70 percent of the market right now” and “what people have been building their businesses around.”

The new rules won’t affect edible products, like gummies, she said. Those products are made with cannabis oils that can be measured, fine-tuned all along the production process, and remain stable on the shelf. Cannabinoid profiles in flower products, however, can change. 

“The organic, raw flower is what’s really at jeopardy,” Hess said. “[The TDA is] just calculating the cannabinoids differently than what we’ve been calculating them for the last five years.” 

The TDA has overseen the state’s hemp industry since 2015. However, that oversight began as an industrial hemp program, when the crop was most likely intended to make rope, concrete, and those hippy hemp pullovers. 

That changed with the federal Farm Bill and the discovery of cannabinoids that could be pulled from hemp. The word “industrial” was all but phased out and TDA teams now travel the state testing hemp plants to ensure the THC levels in them are below a federally mandated .3 percent. 

In the past, that’s where the department left it. Whatever happened to that legal hemp and its cannabinoids afterward was up to the farmer and the market. The new law now mandates TDA  to manage cannabis and an edible foods program (like gummies) from the plant all the way to the shelf. The new rules issued Monday basically outline the structure of that program. 

Hess said her group and producers across the state offered ideas for state officials for the program but they did not listen. The new THC standard, she said, is a “misinterpretation of the bill” and warned agirculture officials that “you cannot do that.” But “they still did not take that seriously.” 

Hemp growers already have to meet those strict state guidelines in the field, she said. The move cut the number of producers from around 4,000 in the state to around 400. Hess said the TDA is now trying to “copy/paste” similar rules to the product side.

“It’s another standard that these growers and producers have to meet, which is completely unrealistic and unattainable,” Hess said. “So, they can’t do it. Then, all of these products that are on the shelf now will become illegal and noncompliant. So, law enforcement can come with criminal charges. 

A public hearing on the matter is scheduled for February. That hearing comes during the next session of the Tennessee General Assembly. 

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Hemp Fiber Gets State Review for Tennessee Farmers

(Credit: Tennessee Department of Agriculture)

Hemp fiber production is under review in Tennessee to see if it can be used in car manufacturing here and how the fiber fits in the state’s overall economy.  

The Hemp Alliance of Tennessee (HAT) has partnered with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) to fund the research to be conducted by the University of Tennessee. The study began in June and will continue until the end of the year.

“We are an agricultural state, and we are proud to be a hemp-producing state,” said TDA Commissioner Charlie Hatcher. “This plant has numerous applications, and we believe fiber has potential to grow Tennessee’s industrial economy. 

“We are an agricultural state, and we are proud to be a hemp-producing state.”

Tennessee Department of Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher

The study will focus on creating a budget to grow hemp for Tennessee farmers. It will also look at transportation and supply chain logistics. The study will conclude whether or not Tennessee is suited for hemp fiber production. 

“Our organization and its members are invested in realizing the potential of this plant, and our hope is that this study will prompt significant industry investment in Tennessee hemp and its diverse applications,” said Frederick Cawthon, president of HAT. 

Tennessee was among the first states to create a hemp program under the 2014 Farm Bill allowing pilot programs for industrial hemp cultivation. State officials said hemp has been “recognized as a valuable crop to support Tennessee’s agricultural and industrial economy.” 

In 2015, the state had 49 producers licensed to grow on 660 acres. In 2019, after the 2018 Farm Bill lifted the controlled substance designation of industrial hemp, the number of producers peaked at 3,957 licensed to grow on 51,000 acres. As of May 2022, there are now 1,041 producers of industrial hemp licensed to grow 5 on,682 acres. The shift in recent years illustrated the potential for scale and interest from the state’s farmers and cultivation experts.

“After the 2018 Farm Bill was passed, there was a gold rush of growers wanting to enter the emerging market for consumable hemp products,” said Cawthon. “Tennessee is capable of becoming a leader in this industry if we engage our innovators and the industries that can benefit from the plant – and our legislature continues to help make the right investments in the plant’s myriad applications.”

According to the USDA, the value of hemp production in the United States totaled $824 million in 2021. Industry analysts estimated the global industrial hemp market size at $4.13 billion in 2021 and expect it to grow at a rate of 16.8 percent from 2022 to 2030.

Industrial hemp is grown for its seeds, fiber, shivs, flower, and oil. The applications for industrial hemp are varied including textiles, personal care, food and beverages, animal care, paper, automotive, construction materials, furniture, and more. 

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Seedy Seed Scam Hits Tennessee, Has ‘Scary Downside’ For Consumers

CREDIT: Tennessee Department of Agriculture/Facebook

Tennessee Department of Agriculture/Facebook

If a weird package of seeds showed up at your house from Amazon recently, you’re not alone. But you might want to check your account, and Tennessee agriculture officials are asking citizens to not plant the seeds.

A brushing scam is popping up all over the country. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) first reported the scam on July 2nd, and the organization says it has a “scary downside” for consumers.

The brushing scam works like this according to the BBB:

“The companies, usually foreign, third-party sellers that are sending the items, are simply using your address and your Amazon information,” the consumer protection organization said in a statement. “Their intention is to make it appear as though you wrote a glowing online review of their merchandise, and that you are a verified buyer of that merchandise. They then post a fake, positive review to improve their products’ ratings, which means more sales for them. The payoff is highly profitable from their perspective.”

Tennessee Department of Agriculture/Facebook

This is bad for consumers because it indicates that the companies probably have some of your account information, at least your name and address and, possibly, your phone number and password, according to the BBB. Also, “porch pirates” can use that information, then watch for a package and steal it.

If this happens to you, the BBB recommends contacting Amazon immediately and changing your account password.

The brushing scam came to the attention of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) this week, according to posts form the agency on Facebook. Officials said the seeds seemed to have been shipped from China and some were labeled as jewelry or beads.

“Imported plant materials — including seeds — go through rigorous testing and inspection to ensure they are not carrying any plant disease or pests and do not pose any threat to our environment and health,” reads the TDA post. “It is not clear that these seeds have gone through appropriate inspection, or if they are the type of seed they are labeled to be.”

~~~LATEST UPDATE ON UNSOLICITED SEEDS~~~

Citizens have contacted the Tennessee Department of Agriculture indicating…

Posted by Tennessee Department of Agriculture on Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Seedy Seed Scam Hits Tennessee, Has ‘Scary Downside’ For Consumers

After checking with the USDA, agriculture officials here said they believed the seeds were, indeed, part of a brushing scam.

“While we have no reason to suspect at this time that these seeds were sent with ill intention, we want to take every precaution to be sure an invasive or otherwise threatening plant species doesn’t take hold here,” TDA said.

Here’s the TDA’s guidelines for anyone who received the seeds:

• What should a person do if they received seeds?

Don’t plant them. Double bag the seeds and all packaging and send to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, to the attention of Plant Certification.

Our mailing address is:
P.O. Box 40627
Nashville, TN 37204

Our UPS or FedEx address is:
436 Hogan Road.
Nashville, TN 37220

We need your name, contact information, and where you live.

• What if a person received seeds but doesn’t want to ship them to us?

Please notify the Tennessee Department of Agriculture that you received unsolicited seeds. Call plant certification at (615) 837-5137 or email our plant certification administrator Anni Self at anni.self@tn.gov.

We need your name, contact information, and where you live, as well as what you received. Photos are also helpful.

• If you are not shipping the seeds to TDA and prefer to just dispose of them, please double bag them and put them in the trash. It’s not a good idea to compost them.

• What should a person do if they planted the seeds?

We recommend pulling up the plants, double bagging them and putting them in the trash. It’s not a good idea to compost them.

Tennessee Department of Agriculture/Facebook

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State: Keto, Paleo Diets Boon to Tennessee Farmers

New diets high in protein are giving lift to Tennessee meat producers.

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) reported Thursday that demand for Tennessee meat is on the rise thanks to “protein-packed diets” and that the “trend is expected to continue.”

The sale of animal and animal products already accounted for nearly 40 percent of Tennessee agricultural sales in 2017, TDA said. Those sales generated $1.4 billion in revenue.

“We have seen a change in what people want on their table,” said Elaine Dustin of Belfair Farm in Wayne County. “Several consumers are following the keto diet, which includes meats that are trimmed with a small amount of fat and meat that is well marbled. [That]’s making grain-finished meats a consumer favorite.”
[pullquote-1] Farmers told TDA that they are seeing an increase in demand for beef, especially.

“A three-ounce serving of beef — about the size of an iPhone — provides more than ten essential nutrients, including protein, iron, zinc, and vitamins B12 and B6,” said Valerie Bass, executive director of the Tennessee Beef Industry Council. “One serving of beef contains about half of your daily value for protein in an average of 170 calories.”

To find a local producer near you, visit www.picktnproducts.org.