Oral comments for 2018 Farm Bill Implementation Listening Session on Hemp

Nathan Gerhardt

Charlotte’s Web, Inc.

VP of Regulatory Affairs

Boulder, CO 80301

Good morning/afternoon. Thank you for allowing us to comment on this important new industry which is our livelihood. My name is Nathan Gerhardt, VP of Regulatory Affairs at Charlotte’s Web, Inc.  Charlotte’s Web is the market leader in whole-plant hemp derived products made from hemp grown exclusively in the USA. We have built one of the largest and most loyal customer bases in the industry and have done so by building vertically integrated farming operations at our core. We are committed to quality in our hemp cultivation and extraction processes. 

We have been cultivating hemp in Colorado since 2014 and since have expanded to Kentucky and Oregon. As we have expanded, we have experienced dramatic differences in regulatory compliance, especially in THC testing, depending on which state we cultivate in. It is safe to say that each farmer who wants to grow hemp is either at an advantage or disadvantage in the hemp industry depending on which state their farm is in, due to regulatory differences. We respectfully ask that the USDA consider these issues when constructing a federal regulatory program by putting in place uniform hemp sampling protocols that ensure every farmer has an equal chance to be successful in this industry. 

Furthermore, as the USDA puts in place its hemp sampling protocols, we ask that it do so in a manner in accordance with how the Industry uses, harvests and processes its final product. Since hemp is harvested and processed as whole plant material, we also feel that samples should be homogenized. We feel this is a critical issue in the hemp industry, since not homogenizing material can bias sample results. 

To illustrate this issue, I’d like to highlight the differences between the sampling protocol in Kentucky and the sampling protocol in Colorado, which yield drastically different THC results. 

Colorado Protocol:

We have found the protocols in Colorado, our home state, are not in favor of the farmer or Industry. Colorado’s hemp sampling protocols remove all fiber, seeds, stems and large leaves prior to testing THC potency for compliance. This protocol creates a hemp sample that is not representative of what the Industry actually harvests as hemp material and can skew the data toward non-compliance.

Kentucky Protocol:

Kentucky hemp sampling protocols takes the top eight inches of the flowering plant and homogenize the material prior to THC potency testing. This protocol is not only representative of the whole plant but is also representative of how the industry is processing harvested hemp material prior to commerce or long-term storage. 

While these differences may seem minor, they make a huge difference when determining tenths of a percent of THC content needed to pass or fail compliance requirements.  It is unfortunate that just 1 one hundredth of a percent of THC may determine if a crop is destroyed or usable.

For this reason, the industry is seeking broader expansion of compliance requirements that are more favorable for farmers to operate, without the constant fear of failing a test result.  I, on behalf of Charlotte’s Web and an emerging Industry, request that the USDA adopt federal testing and sampling compliance protocols that call for homogenizing the sample and utilizing whole plant parts so that farmers across this country can breathe a little easier.

Prior to passing of the 2018 Farm Bill, the U.S. imported more hemp than any country in the world. We are now bringing back an industry and a farming commodity. If the compliance protocols are not in favor of homogenizing the entire sample and representative of the whole plant, we, as a country run the risk of continuing to import more hemp rather than grow it on U.S. soil.

Thank you for your time and consideration, and for allowing industry input on USDA guidelines that will determine how successful, standardized and professional the hemp industry with be in the United States.