In 2016, the Alabama Legislature passed the Alabama Industrial Hemp Research Program Act, Section 2-8-380 Code of Alabama 1975, tasking the department with the development of a licensing and inspection program to produce industrial hemp.

The program launched in 2019, after The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (i.e., Farm Bill) declassified hemp as a schedule I drug and deemed hemp as an agriculture commodity.

There is non-refundable application fee of $200 and a participation fee of $1000 per growing or processing area.

Under current regulations, if the crop tests higher than the 0.3% THC regulatory limit it must be destroyed. Alabama forthcoming regulations will mandate the sampling and crop destruction protocols.

The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI) granted 470 licenses, including 365 growers, and 105 processors in 2020, and 217 licenses, including 152 growers and 59 processors in 2019. ADAI reported that about 5,000 acres of industrial hemp were registered in the state in 2020 comparing to 2,000 acres in 2019.

In 2021, a total of 187 licenses were awarded to growers, according to ADAI. Meanwhile, processor and handler licensees grew from 59 to 112 during that three-year period.

Alabama’s Industrial Hemp plan was created, submitted, and accepted by the USDA and went into effect on January 1, 2022. In 2022, the Department granted 114 licenses, including 71 growers, and 43 processors. About 255 acres were planted according to the National Hemp Report.


Alabama Hemp Industry Infographics


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