This week on the Lancaster Farming Podcast, our guest is Morgan Tweet, executive director of the Hemp Feed Coalition, a non-profit organization whose mission is to gain federal approval for hemp and its byproducts as animal feed to create new markets. Last month, in response to the results the HFC helped achieve in Montana and Pennsylvania, the Association of American Feed Control Officials wrote an open letter to ag leaders and state policy makers concerning the allowance of hemp in animal feed. The letter calls for more research and education and asks stakeholders to move cautiously when considering hemp as a livestock feed. AAFCO lists three areas of concern — animal health and safety; safety of food from production animals entering the human food chain; and adverse impact of farmers, ranchers and the animal feed industry. Tweet and the HFC don’t dispute the need for further research and education, but they argue that AAFCO is conflating hemp grain with cannabinoid hemp. Tweet says hemp grain contains no detectable levels of cannabinoid content. Compounds like THC or CBD are produced in the flower of the plant, not the seed. Hemp grain was used widely as a livestock feed up until the mid-20th century, but was banned as the cannabis plant was vilified by anti-marijuana propaganda. Furthermore, the FDA has already granted GRAS status (Generally Recognized As Safe) to hemp grain. But under the current regulatory landscape, it is legal to feed hemp seeds to your children, but not to your livestock. Granting approval to hemp grain as a livestock feed would give producers a healthy, high-protein option for their animals, and would also open up markets for hemp grain producers, Tweet said. Hemp Feed Coalition https://hempfeedcoalition.org/ AAFCO's letter https://www.aafco.org/Portals/0/SiteContent/Announcements/Hemp%20Joint%20Open%20Letter%20-%20AAFCO%20-%20FINAL%203.pdf HFC's response to AAFCO's letter https://hempfeedcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/LETTER_FINAL_-HFC_signed-response-to-AAFCO_022822.pdf
For News Nuggets Links, go to the show page on Lancaster Farming.com: https://www.lancasterfarming.com/unpublished/podcast-hemp-feed-coalition-responds-to-letter/article_fb3d8f88-52e3-5629-bdbe-22684177b3f6.html Sign up for Americhanvre's Hempcrete training Session https://americhanvre.com/training/ Thanks to our sponsors: Americhanvre Cast-Hemp https://americhanvre.com/ IND HEMP https://www.indhemp.com/