{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Pushing Progress in the DC Swamp","description":"On this week\u2019s hemp show, we talk to a couple of hemp policy advocates who recently traveled to the swamps of D.C. in hopes of affecting change. This week we\u2019re joined by Geoff Whaling, chair of the National Hemp Association, and Andrew Bish, president of the Hemp Feed Coalition. Together they represent HEMI \u2014 the Hemp Education and Marketing Initiative \u2014 which recently released its \u201cPushing Progress\u201d framework, an industry-led effort to bring some structure to federal hemp policy. The Pushing Progress framework attempts to do several things \u2014 not the least of which is to impose order on an industry that\u2019s been a swirl of chaos since its inception. First, clear lanes must be established. Fiber and grain over here, cannabinoids over there \u2014 with their own rules. Next, make it easier for agriculture to adopt this crop by removing regulatory tensions and creating real access to markets \u2014 so a farmer can plant hemp with some confidence about where it\u2019s going and how it\u2019s going to get paid. As Bish puts it, \u201cWe\u2019re coming at it from the industrial aspect, trying to figure out how we make sure that we have farmers that can successfully grow industrial hemp products and that hemp products can be in the marketplace without a tremendous amount of restriction.\u201d Then, put some guardrails around the cannabinoid side. Not to shut it down, but to bring it out of this gray area where anything goes and everything gets called hemp. And maybe most importantly, get the federal agencies on the same page \u2014 USDA, FDA, the whole alphabet \u2014 so we\u2019re not dealing with this split-screen reality where one arm of government tolerates something and another one ignores it. Because right now, we don\u2019t have a system. We have fragments. And what they\u2019re trying to do \u2014 whether you agree with every piece of it or not \u2014 is build something that actually functions like an industry. And part of that \u2014 this is important \u2014 is money. They\u2019re asking for roughly $600 million in federal funding to help stand up the infrastructure this industry still doesn\u2019t have \u2014 processing, research, supply chains. That's a lot of money. But their argument is pretty straightforward: Every major crop we take for granted today had decades of public investment behind it. Hemp didn\u2019t. So if hemp is going to become a real agricultural commodity \u2014 not just an idea \u2014 we have to decide whether we\u2019re willing to build it, or just keep talking about it. Plus, we\u2019ve got a handful of news nuggets this week, including a slightly head-scratching, maybe-kind-of-important move from the FDA on CBD and a letter from seed guy Terry Moran, who read my Argentina episode and basically said, \u201cHold on a second\u2026\u201d and brought the whole conversation back down to earth. Listen up, y\u2019all. Learn More National Hemp Association nationalhempassociation.org Hemp Feed Coalition hempfeedcoalition.org Pushing Progress Framework (PDF) https:\/\/www.lancasterfarming.com\/farming-news\/hemp\/pushing-progress-framework\/pdf_b36257bd-ea94-4edf-b0c4-7bf88272f557.html News Nuggets FDA MEMO: Hemp-Derived Cannabidiol Products in Medical Research Models https:\/\/www.lancasterfarming.com\/fda-decision-memo-cbd-enforcement-discretion-memo-04012026-pdf\/pdf_cf01bcc8-7753-4fc8-970c-52bcdfe807af.html HempToday: Anti-cannabis groups sue over U.S. plan allowing hemp products in healthcare programs hemptoday.net\/anti-cannabis-groups-sue-over-u-s-plan-allowing-hemp-products-in-healthcare-programs\/ HempToday: Polish hemp textile maker draws heavy demand in public offering on Warsaw exchange hemptoday.net\/polish-hemp-textile-maker-draws-heavy-demand-in-public-offering-on-warsaw-exchange\/ Thanks to our Sponsors IND Hemp indhemp.com Americhanvre Americhanvre.com ","author_name":"Industrial Hemp Podcast","author_url":"https:\/\/www.lancasterfarming.com\/community\/podcasts_and_audio\/","html":"