THE PURDUE HEMP PROJECT

2020 License applications are still available. Applications can be found at The Office of Indiana State Chemist website. You should also review the average THC by variety bar graph and the hemp THC results by variety table University of Illinois, in collaboration with University of Wisconsin, Michigan State University, Purdue University and Rock River Labs have a Midwest Cannabinoid Database

2021 Licenses will be available November 1, 2020. You must get a federal fingerprint background check within 60 days of applying for a license. This can be done electronically or by mail, please read the instructions on the background check carefully.

Important Information Regarding 2021 Hemp Licensing and Production

  1. Marijuana production is not legal in the state of Indiana.
  2. If you are growing unlicensed hemp, you are a marijuana producer.
  3. Indiana’s Hemp Plan was submitted to the USDA and we are awaiting approval.
  4. All licensees and key participants must have a federal fingerprint background check for 2021 licensing to be approved.These background checks must be done within 60 days of the license application date. FBI Background Check.
  5. Key participants include operation owners, or those in charge of growing the crop.
  6. OISC is required by statute to cover their expenses for the state hemp program. Application fees and field site change fees will be charged for the 2021 season. Application fees are $750 for either handler or grower or $1500 for both. Site change fees are $50.
  7. At this point, administrative rules have been created to facilitate legal hemp production, and will include licensing, background checks, recording of sites with proper GPS formatting, minimum acreage or square footage, and compliancy THC testing of plants.
  8. Hemp must test below 0.3% THC.
  9. Hemp growers will need to register with their local FSA.

Create your business plan now, get your contract in place, and start ordering seed for 2020. 

This website provides information to support 21st century hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) cultivation in the Midwest. All crops have issues with respect to production; however, with a crop like hemp, which was banned in the United States for over eighty years, large information gaps have developed with regards to production, pest management and economic impact. Unlike other agronomic crops, U.S. hemp production faces additional obstacles in form of U.S. government drug policies.

The goal of this website is to inform the public about industrial hemp as a crop, and to identify the challenges faced by modern industrial hemp producers in the North Central Region—from the legal production of the crop, to the pest management that will be necessary to produce long-term sustainable yields of hemp. We have tried to use our present experience growing hemp and years of additional experiences with other cropping systems to inform our production practices. What we have learned sometimes conflicts with “conventional wisdom”. We hope this website continues to improve on what we know and provides a sound foundation for those interested in growing industrial hemp.