News

The European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) welcomed the 8 September vote by the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI) to adopt an amendment defining hemp in a way that explicitly includes flowers as licit agricultural products — provided the variety is registered in the EU catalogue and complies with THC limits.

Massachusetts lawmakers have approved a bill to establish a pilot program for the regulated therapeutic use of psychedelics. The pilot program proposal from Sen. Cindy Friedman (D) advanced through the legislature’s Joint Committee on Health Care Financing on Thursday. It’s now been referred to the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing for further consideration. The measure is one of two…

A GOP senator says that if Congress moves forward with a proposal to ban hemp products with any amount of THC, nobody is going to buy the remaining CBD preparations—in large part because “even a little bit” of the intoxicating cannabinoid makes an important difference for health effects.

A new critical review, published in the journal CABI Agriculture and Bioscience, highlights the emergence and scientific basis of regenerative agriculture—proposing a working definition centered on ecological cycles and farm system outcomes. Dr. Nicholas Bardsley, author of the paper from the Department of Agri-Food Economics and Marketing at the University of Reading, suggests that as global agriculture faces intensifying soil degradation, climate disruption,…

Tasmanian hemp construction firm X-Hemp has closed a seed capital raise after securing what is understood to be the largest single private backing in the state’s hempcrete sector. The $1m contribution from Danehill Group, a private investment firm, has taken the total raised to $3.4m over the past two years.

Once a major cash crop in early America, used for industrial goods such as rope, textiles and paper, hemp is now the focus of renewed research at Oregon State University’s Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center (KBREC). This week, scientists at the center offered a guided tour to showcase advancements in crop science and sustainable agriculture.

A coalition of Missouri hemp business leaders and advocates formally filed four initiative petitions Tuesday that would ask voters to allow marijuana and intoxicating hemp products to be sold in the same stores as alcohol and tobacco. The goal of the effort, led by Kansas-City-based hemp business American Shaman, is to repeal the 41-page constitutional amendment that legalized recreational marijuana…

Intensive farming can cause damage, as synthetic inputs affect soil health, harm biodiversity and create a cycle of dependency that undermines farmer livelihoods and health. Regenerative agriculture improves soil health, enhances biodiversity and boosts farmer income in the long term, helping to reverse the damage caused by intensive farming.