USDA releases hemp production rule

USDA releases hemp production rule

Southwest Farm Press
By Janet Kubat Willette

The Interim Final Rule for Hemp Production will be published in the Federal Register on Oct. 31. The rule goes into effect on that day, but public comments will be accepted for 60 days until Dec. 30. USDA will use the 2020 growing season to ‘test drive’ the interim final rule, said Greg Ibach, USDA’s Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. The interim rule will sunset in two years, he said. Key provisions of the rule include:

Licensing requirements,
Provisions for tracking the land where hemp is grown,
Procedures for testing THC concentration levels for hemp,
Procedures for disposing of plants that exceed the .3 THC concentration level, and
Procedures for handling violations.
The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from the Drug Enforcement Administration Schedule I controlled substance designation, expanding opportunities that were granted in the 2014 Farm Bill.

Agricultural Workforce Development funding available

Contact: Kristie Garcia

Public Information Officer, New Mexico Department of Agriculture

krgarcia@nmda.nmsu.edu

575-646-2804

Oct. 31, 2019

Agricultural Workforce Development funding available

Pilot program aims to provide hands-on educational opportunities

LAS CRUCES – The New Mexico Department of Agriculture is launching the Agricultural Workforce Development Pilot Program to offer incentives to agricultural businesses to hire interns. The program is the result of the Agricultural Workforce Development Program Act passed and signed into law in April 2019.

The pilot program is intended to provide hands-on educational opportunities for students aspiring to start careers in agriculture, as well as young or beginning farmers and ranchers.

Agriculture Secretary Jeff Witte said the desire to close a gap was at the heart of the Agricultural Workforce Development effort during the legislative session.

“New Mexico has a large population of aging farmers and ranchers, but we also have a large population of people who aspire to work in the ag industry,” said Witte. “Yet, at times it’s challenging to connect these two groups. This pilot program was created to bridge the gap between these groups that are both vital to our ag industry.”

The pilot program does not match businesses and interns, but it defrays the cost of agricultural businesses hiring interns that have already been identified. The program aims to incentivize the transfer of knowledge and skills from one generation to the next.

Agricultural business operators and potential interns should visit www.nmda.nmsu.edu/awd-applications/ for more information or to submit an application. The program launches Oct. 31, and applications will be accepted until funds are expended. 

 

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andra Postel's luncheon presentation

View this email in your browser Register Now! Don't miss Sandra Postel's luncheon presentation at this year's Albert E. Utton Memorial Water Lecture: Replenish: The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity Friday, November 8 at the 64th Annual NM Water Conference Pueblo of Pojoaque's Buffalo Thunder Resort  Sandra Postel opens her 2017 book, Replenish: The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity, by arguing that large dams, diversion canals, flood-control levees, and other feats of engineering have brought enormous prosperity to the world, but they have also broken the natural water cycle—the way natural systems move, store, and cleanse water.  On Friday, November 8, as this year's Albert E. Utton Memorial Water Lecture speaker, Postel will address the luncheon audience at the 64th Annual New Mexico Water Conference to demonstrate how farmers, cities, conservationists, and engineers across the US and around the world are showing that with innovation and collaboration, we can re-shape 21st century water management to meet the challenges ahead. Nothing is more important to life than water, and no one knows water better than Sandra Postel. "Replenish" is a wise, sobering, but ultimately hopeful book. - Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History If you would like to attend this year's Albert E. Utton Memorial Water Lecture, please register for the conference, or contact Mark Sheely: msheely@nmsu.edu, phone: (575) 646-1195 Register Here Copyright © 2019 New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted to be on our email list or you attended one of our recent water conferences. Our mailing address is: New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute PO Box 30001 MSC 3167 Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Copyright © 2019 New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted to be on our email list or you attended one of our recent water conferences. Our mailing address is: New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute PO Box 30001 MSC 3167 Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.