Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress are now fighting to keep intoxicating hemp products legal until November 2028 in the name of allowing farmers time to prepare.
U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., introduced legislation on Jan. 15 that aims to delay the forthcoming federal prohibition by two years from its current effective date of Nov. 13, 2026.
The legislation, the “Hemp Planting Predictability Act,” mirrors what a bipartisan group of five House members introduced on Jan. 12, which intends to amend a continuing resolution that President Donald Trump signed into law in December to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
Attached to that resolution was a provision to prevent intoxicating hemp products from “being sold online, in gas stations and corner stores” by outlawing products containing more than 0.3% total THC or 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. The provision will also prohibit consumable hemp products from containing cannabinoids that are synthesized outside the plant (i.e., delta-8 THC) or that are not capable of being naturally produced (i.e., HHC).
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., spearheaded the hemp product prohibition language as a means to end a “loophole” in the 2018 Farm Bill that led to the proliferation of these products nationwide.
“As many states have stepped in to curb these dangerous products from reaching consumers, particularly children, it’s time for Congress to act to close this loophole while protecting the industrial hemp industry,” Harris said in June, when the House Appropriations Committee approved similar language to the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
After Trump signed what many industry stakeholders view as a hemp-killing provision in the FDA funding package, lawmakers in both parties and in both chambers are now attempting to right the timeline for farmers.
The bicameral legislation states:
“Section 781 of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agency Appropriations Act, 2026 (7 U.S.C. 1639o note; Public Law 6 119–37), is amended, in the matter preceding paragraph 7 (1), by striking ‘365 days’ and inserting ‘3 years.’”
While Klobuchar had yet to issue a press release on the legislation as of Jan. 16, she made her position known shortly after the hemp provision was included in the deal to reopen the government.
“A one-size-fits-all approach to hemp regulation doesn’t work for states like Minnesota that already have strong safety standards in place,” Klobuchar said in December. “We can protect our kids and support our small businesses – Minnesota’s model proves that’s possible. Under current state rules, small businesses like Wild State Cider are licensed, meet labeling and packaging standards, and ensure their products are available only to adults. I want our state’s small businesses and farmers to know: I’ve got your back.”
Klobuchar was joined by local business executives of a cidery in Duluth, Minn., which produces a line of THC-infused products.
Under Minnesota’s hemp law, which took effect in July 2022, those 21 and older can purchase, possess and consume hemp-derived edible and beverage products containing no more than 5 milligrams of THC per serving or 50 milligrams per package.
Like in many other states, the forthcoming federal hemp product ban collides with Minnesota’s regulations.
In the House, Rep. James Baird, R-Ind., introduced the Hemp Planting Predictability Act on Jan. 12 alongside Reps. James Comer, R-Ky., Angie Craig, D-Minn., Gabe Evans, R-Colo., and Tim Moore, R-N.C. The legislation now has 15 co-sponsors in the lower chamber.
Three days later, Comer held a press conference with hemp industry leaders and farmers to shine a light on the unknown future of the industry, advocating for a “responsible, workable regulatory framework” over prohibition. The congressman said that the 2018 Farm Bill provided Kentucky’s struggling tobacco farmers with an opportunity to “diversify, innovate and remain competitive” with a new agricultural commodity.
“Hemp is a major crop for our Kentucky farmers, and nearly every farmer I know who grew hemp last year was a former tobacco farmer,” Comer said. “So, hemp is doing exactly today what I predicted. It has become an alternative crop to tobacco for Kentucky farmers. … The last thing they need is inaction from Washington that puts a growing, multibillion-dollar industry at risk.”
Brian Furnish, an eighth-generation Kentucky farmer from Harrison County, joined Comer during the press conference. His family has grown tobacco since the 1700s, and he began growing hemp in the state’s pilot program in 2014: It now represents about 70% of his farm’s crop income, he said.
“Hemp is the only crop that we have found, grown for cannabinoids, that can rival tobacco and even be better than tobacco right now,” he said. “Our challenge is, if we don’t get a two-year extension, I, as a farmer, can’t sell my current inventory that I harvested legally and planted legally in 2025.
“As of right now, my farmland has lost over $600,000 in price in the last six weeks. Our buyers are also telling us that we can’t ship any more biomass to them until they move their inventory. And, so, it’s a ripple effect through the whole industry, from the people who make the retail product all the way back to the farmer.”
Furnish said if he continues to sit on his inventory, it’ll be “detrimental” to his farm.
“It’s the only crop we’re making money off of right now,” he said.
