West Virginia authorized hemp cultivation in 2002. The West Virginia Legislature approved Senate Bill 447 recognizing industrial hemp having no more than 1% THC as an “agricultural crop.” This legislation also establishes licensing procedures to allow local farmers to “plant, grow, harvest, possess, process and sell” hemp commercially.

In 2014, Congress allowed industrial hemp research pilot projects to be established under state departments of agriculture through the 2014 Farm Bill.

In 2017, the West Virginia again Legislature expanded the pilot project to allow cultivation of industrial hemp for commercial purposes.

According to state law, growers are allowed to produce hemp if they are licensed by the West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture. The state requires separate licenses for cultivation and processing hemp. Each license costs $500 per registration plus $5 per outdoor acres and $3 per 1,000 sq. ft. for indoor.

Application fees are determined by one of the following options:

1. First time applicants: $100.00 + $5.00 per acre applied for on the application.
2. Renewal application or previous year’s “Full License” holder: $50.00 + $5.00 per acre applied.

Even though West Virginia allows seed and fiber production, almost all the hemp growers are growing plants for CBD extraction.

The Vote Hemp reported that 155 acres of hemp were grown in West Virginia in 2018 comparing to 14 acres in 2017.

During the 2019 application period, the WVDA saw a 300 percent increase in applicants versus the previous year. According to the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA), there are currently 158 registrants and 2,531 registered land areas comparing to 46 licenses and 155 acres in 2018.