Illinois Hemp Industry – Business Plan Templates

In August of 2018, Governor Bruce Rauner signed the Industrial Hemp Act. In March 2019, the Illinois Department of Agriculture has submitted their final draft of rules for the industrial hemp program. In April 2019, Illinois’ Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) approved final regulations to allow Illinois farmers to grow industrial hemp.

According to the rules, once an application is submitted, the department will have 30 days to either issue a license or deny the application. According to Illinois law, both hemp growers and processors must register with the Department of Agriculture. An application costs $100, a one-year license costs $375, a two-year costs $700 and also a three-year $1000.

The new rules allow farmers to also use seed that has “a certificate of analysis from an accredited certified laboratory from a state with a regulated industrial hemp program.” If hemp tests above 0.3% THC, the opportunity for a retest is available in some situations. If hemp tests above 0.7% THC, it must be destroyed.

In 2019, the Illinois Department of Agriculture received over 1,000 applications for permits to grow industrial hemp and issued 651 licenses, representing more than 10,000 acres with a total of 7,141 acres of hemp planted during the season and 5,233 acres harvested (73%). There have been 164 applications with 83 issued for processing permit.

According to the Department, the state issued 802 hemp growers licenses to plant over 20,000 acres for the 2020 season and 317 processors licenses. Hemp farmers reported 2,734 acres planted resulting in 2,392 acres harvested.

In November 2020, Illinois, through the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA), submitted a Hemp Plan to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which was approved. In March of 2021, a new set of rules was published by the federal government, which required revision of Illinois’s hemp plan. IDOA has submitted a new Hemp Plan, which USDA has approved.

In 2021 and 2022, the amount of approved acreage declined as a result of oversupply and market correction across the industry and totaled 1,100 and 320 acres planted and 940 and 150 acres of industrial floral hemp harvested correspondingly, according to the National Hemp Report.

Illinois Hemp Industry Infographics

Hemp/CBD Products Retail Business Plan Template Sample, Illinois

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Our hemp/CBD financial models and business plan templates will help you estimate how much it costs to start and operate your own hemp/CBD business, to build all revenue and cost line-items monthly over a flexible seven year period, and then summarize the monthly results into quarters and years for an easy view into the various time periods. We also offer investor pitch deck templates.