Nevada’s fourth hemp harvest is underway

Nevada’s 2019 hemp growing season is under way with crops already being harvested in Southern Nevada.

A spokesman for the Nevada Agriculture Department said this is the fourth growing season since hemp was authorized as a research project in the 2014 Farm Bill. The plant, related to marijuana but with almost no THC, was removed from Schedule 1 in the 2018 Farm Bill.

Ashley Jeppson said there are 207 certified growers, 53 handlers and 37 seed producers.

“The program has grown more than 600 percent since 2017,” she said.

Hemp is used to make a variety of products ranging from traditional ropes to fabrics, construction materials such as fiber reinforced plastics and, increasingly, CBD creams and oils for topical pain relief.