Hemp Numbers Plummet Across the Board in 2022 USDA Acreage and Production Survey

The value of industrial hemp totaled $238 million in 2022, down 71% from $824 million in 2021.

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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) released the results of its second Hemp Acreage and Production Survey April 19, and the reported numbers for seed, floral, fiber and grain hemp are down across the board compared to 2021.

The USDA sent the survey to 9,114 hemp producers across the country to collect data on the total production, acreage, yield, price and value of hemp in the United States for 2022. The survey also includes state-by-state production data based on weighted averages.

Out of 9,114 producers, 69% percent responded. Last year, USDA-NASS sent the survey to 20,501 farmers, and 61% responded.

Lance Honig, USDA-NASS Crops Branch Chief, says NASS intensely focused on targeting hemp producers specifically for its second report, which is why the survey sample size was smaller.

"We had to work our way through finding out who the hemp producers are. … We had to sample or reach out to a lot of people that we weren't sure if they grew hemp or not, but we had some indication that maybe they did," he says. "That was one of the things we were able to learn from last year. We were able to fine-tune our list and find out more precisely who the actual hemp producers are, so then our list became a lot shorter for this year."

The 2022 survey results showed a downward trend in nearly all reported numbers for hemp's value, acres planted, acres harvested and more compared to 2021. Honig says the dip in survey respondents is not a factor in the decrease in percentages across the board but instead representative of a decline in acres and production.

"The main reason that our sample size dropped so much is that we had a lot of people in our sample in [2021] who, it turns out, did not grow hemp, and so that's why the sample became a lot smaller [for 2022]," he says. "In other words, a lot of those 20,000-plus people that we sampled didn't grow hemp. … So, that shouldn't be a factor at all. Cause, again, we were just able to do a better job of targeting that sample for people who actually grow hemp."

Honig adds that 2022 was also the first year all hemp producers surveyed were operating under the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill). In contrast, in 2021, there was a mix of producers operating under the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill) and the 2018 Farm Bill.

"[Also] in 2021, Idaho didn't have any production because they weren't operating under either at that point," he says. "So, this is the first year when we had literally all states operating under the 2018 Farm Bill, so we were able to measure across all states this year on that same level playing field."

Here are the key takeaways from the 2022 report: 

  • Overall industrial hemp value in the U.S.: $238 million (down 71% from 2021)
  • Value of outdoor hemp in the U.S.: $212 million (down 70% from 2021)
  • Value of indoor/greenhouse hemp in the U.S.: $26.1 million (down 77% from 2021)
  • Total acres planted outdoor: 28,314 acres (down 48% from 2021)
  • Total area of hemp grown indoors/in a greenhouse: 4.58 million square feet (down 71% from 2021)
  • Total acres harvested: 18,251 (down 45% from 2021)
  • Like 2021, hemp grown for fiber yielded the most total hemp produced at 21 million pounds, but that number is down 37%
  • Like 2021, hemp grown for flower made up the most acreage, taking up 7,105 acres, but that number is down 56%

U.S. acreage dedicated to hemp production in 2022, in order of greatest to least based on product, was:

  • Floral hemp—acres 7,105 acres (down 56% from 2021)
  • Hemp grown for fiber—6,850 acres (down 46% from 2021)
  • Hemp grown for grain—5,379 acres (down 35% from 2021)
  • Hemp grown for seed–812 acres (down 77% from 2021)

U.S. values of each hemp segment in 2022, in order from greatest to least, were:

  • Floral hemp—$179 million (down 71% from 2021)
  • Fiber hemp—$28.3 million (down 32% from 2021)
  • Grain hemp—$3.63 million (down 39% from 2021)
  • Hemp grown for seed—$1.48 million (down 96% from 2021)

U.S. yield totals for industrial hemp grown outdoors in 2022 in order of greatest to least based on product, were:

  • Fiber hemp—21 million pounds (with 20.5 million pounds utilized).
  • Floral hemp—6.78 million pounds (with 6.14 million pounds utilized).
  • Grain hemp—2.43 million pounds (with 2.36 million pounds utilized).
  • Hemp grown for seed—146,000 pounds (with 133,000 pounds utilized).

Geoff Whaling, chairman of the National Hemp Association (NHA), says the survey results are "disappointing" but that he understands the realities of the industry and the need to keep working toward addressing the challenges and barriers that prevent hemp from reaching its full potential, especially on the fiber and grain side.

"Given the hard work and effort that everyone has made to advance this new opportunity, certainly there couldn't be anything but disappointment that the reality is that hemp has not captured the attention it deserves," he says.

So, what factors are contributing to the downward trend?

"There's always competing interests out there. It's a supply-and-demand situation. But on top of that, I think a lot of producers found as they got into hemp early on, that there were some challenges associated with not only growing and producing it, but there were some challenges with marketing and various things like that," Honig says. "Those are additional factors that I think probably led to some folks scaling back. And in some parts of the country, the weather was not ideal this past year either. We saw a lot of shifts in a lot of crops in certain places. I mean, as prices change, as the weather changes, it doesn't matter what crop we're looking at; those factors always come into play."

And according to Whaling, the decrease in numbers is also likely related to many growers shifting their focus from cannabinoid hemp to fiber and grain. He says the NHA's member base is also growing with more fiber and grain farmers.

Whaling says one prominent factor leading to the growing interest in the hemp fiber and grain sectors is the oversupply issue in the cannabinoid hemp space—specifically, a challenge many growers dealt with in 2019 following the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill.

RELATED: Overcoming Hemp Oversupply

"I think overall, what this speaks to is a need to speak more about fiber and grain and less about cannabinoids. Certainly, there is a market for both sectors,” he says. “Still, we focused significantly on language that would benefit the cannabinoid industry in the 2018 Farm Bill, and this survey reflects the results of that.”

Jonathan Miller, general counsel of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, says hemp prices on the wholesale side have drastically decreased as well, with even some product categories like hemp oil and hemp biomass dropping between 92% and 96% since the peak of 2019, according to USHR.

“Hemp farmers are finding the hemp industry to be a lot less profitable than it was thought it be in 2019,” he says. “It’s the FDA’s (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) failure to regulate hemp extracts like CBD that has led to a collapse in prices and has bankrupted a number of companies and farmers.”

Fight for Change

The Industrial Hemp Act of 2023, introduced March 27 by U.S. Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Mike Braun, R-Ind., aims to bifurcate cannabinoid hemp from fiber and grain and enact better policies and remove barriers for fiber and grain farmers.

"There is a very distinct visual difference between hemp grown for fiber or grain and cannabinoid/floral hemp," Erica Stark, executive director of the NHA, said in a press release. "The current regulatory framework, which revolves around the perceived risk of cannabinoids, makes it untenable for hemp to be placed in a rotation with other common commodity crops like corn, soy or wheat."

Whaling says some of the biggest challenges the NHA has seen with farmers looking to start cultivating hemp or add it into their crop rotation, especially on the fiber and grain side, is the approval and regulations they need to complete, such as applying for a permit, getting a background check, submitting fingerprints and more.

"It's time that we reduce the burden on farmers who grow grain and fiber hemp," the release states. "The end-use products that result from their production have always been recognized and exempted from the Controlled Substances Act. Further, under the current USDA rules, if a crop fails the compliance test, the option is to sell only the stalk and seed. These facts reinforce the logic that when fiber or grain is the intended harvested material, there is no rationale to burden the farmers who grow fiber and grain crops with background checks or costly mandatory sampling and testing protocols."

Whaling says the NHA is also working on introducing a House companion bill with the same language as the Industrial Hemp Act of 2023. The NHA has also already advocated for language from the bill to be included in the 2023 Farm Bill.

RELATED: Industry Associations Weigh In on 2023 Farm Bill: What's to Come for Hemp?

"If we are able to gain enough traction in both [chambers], hopefully, the bill can either stand by itself or get added to another piece of legislation to get passed into law," he says.

Optimistic Outlook

The survey results provide the industry with a benchmark of where hemp production is and how it's evolving, Honig says.

"We certainly got to see what changed between [2021] and [2022], and as we continue to move forward, we're going to be able to see if this is a trend that's going to continue or if it's an isolated situation that occurred in 2022 and see what will 2023 bring. That's what next year's report is going to tell us.”

Looking ahead to 2024, Whaling says he's optimistic that the industry will see a shift.

"If there is a pathway that allows farmers to adopt hemp as a commodity crop, just like corn or soy or wheat, there will be a dramatic shift because what we know is that farmers want to grow it and that end users want to take sustainable natural fibers and start to adopt them into the products that they offer both to consumers and in manufacturing. And if we create that pathway, many people will be running to it," he says.

Like Whaling, Miller says he anticipates those numbers to climb upwards if there is a clear regulatory pathway for CBD, fiber and grain.

“I don’t think it will ever be at the level of 2019, … but I think you’ll see an increase in stability,” he says. “We’re still bullish on fiber and grain and it just takes time to develop the processes and infrastructure that’s happening. I think when that is in full force, there will be more opportunities for hemp farmers to grow fiber and grain. We’re hopeful with the farm bill that we will be able to reduce the regulatory challenges farmers have.”

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