Sovereign Nations. Different Laws. One Complicated Payments System.
Sovereign Nations. Different Laws. One Complicated Payments System. On Indigenous Peoples' Day, it's time to examine why tribal gaming, ...
Kentucky hemp farmers have sent a letter to Senator Mitch McConnell requesting a meeting and urging him not to insert language into spending legislation that would ban certain hemp-derived products, warning of "immediate and catastrophic consequences" for the industry McConnell helped create.
A group of 58 hemp farmers from 20 Kentucky counties signed the letter sent to the Republican senator on September 23, 2025, as Congress approached a potential federal government shutdown in October. Lawmakers were attempting to pass a short-term spending bill by September 30 with contents still in flux, creating opportunities for policy riders to be attached.
The timing coincides with harvest season for Kentucky hemp farmers, intensifying concerns about regulatory uncertainty. "If Congress moves to eliminate the end markets that make our crop viable, we will suffer immediate and catastrophic consequences," the farmers stated. "Any legislative change that pulls the rug out from under this market — especially mid-season — is a direct blow to our farms, families, and rural communities."
The mid-season timing creates particular hardship for farmers who have already invested in planting, growing, and preparing to harvest crops that could become unmarketable if legislative changes prohibit their intended end uses.
McConnell angered many in the hemp industry in July 2025 when he inserted language into an agriculture spending bill that critics said would "devastate" the industry. Senator Rand Paul, a fellow Kentucky Republican, successfully stripped McConnell's provision from the bill before it cleared the chamber three weeks later.
Paul was hailed by the hemp industry for his intervention, stating a similar House provision would "completely destroy the American hemp industry" and prohibit CBD product sales. Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell also criticized the legislative ban attempt, saying it would "criminalize non-intoxicating CBD products in our hemp program."
The intra-party conflict between Kentucky's two Republican senators highlights divisions even within the state that has positioned itself as a hemp industry leader following federal legalization.
McConnell was instrumental in first legalizing hemp through what has been referred to as a "loophole" in the 2018 Farm Bill that allowed hemp with low THC amounts—the psychoactive component in cannabis plants. The 2018 legislation removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, distinguishing it from marijuana based on THC concentration thresholds.
However, McConnell now advocates for closing this same loophole, citing "unintended consequences" of allowing intoxicating hemp-derived synthetic products to flood the market in subsequent years with no federal regulatory structure. He has taken direct aim at certain synthetic Delta-8 products that he said were marketed to children.
McConnell's language would have directed the FDA to set a "quantifiable limit" for THC allowed in hemp-derived CBD products. His spokesperson stated that "products such as CBD do not contain THC and would continue to be legal."
This claim has been strongly disputed by those in the hemp industry, who argue that common non-intoxicating CBD products contain natural traces of THC. Industry stakeholders fear such provisions could eliminate CBD products along with the synthetic intoxicating products McConnell is targeting.
The technical reality of hemp extraction and CBD production means that even products marketed as "CBD isolate" or "THC-free" may contain trace amounts of THC detectable through sensitive testing methods. Full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD products intentionally retain multiple cannabinoids including small THC amounts that producers argue contribute to therapeutic effects through the "entourage effect."
Establishing a "quantifiable limit" for THC in CBD products without specifying the threshold creates uncertainty about which products would remain legal. Industry stakeholders fear that any detectable THC amount could be interpreted as exceeding limits, effectively banning most CBD products derived from hemp rather than produced through synthetic isolation processes.
McConnell's July language that Paul successfully removed was slightly modified from a House version, delaying implementation of the new hemp definition for one year. McConnell said this delay would "help give our hemp farmers ample time to prepare for their future."
However, farmers argue that even with delayed implementation, the regulatory change would eliminate market demand for their crops, making current season investments unrecoverable. The one-year transition period does not address the fundamental concern that eliminating hemp-derived cannabinoid markets would make hemp cultivation economically unviable for many farmers.
In their letter urging McConnell not to insert similar provisions into other bills, Kentucky hemp farmers said they support "reasonable regulation" but that "outright prohibition is not the answer, and it will not make anyone safer."
"Banning legal hemp products that are already regulated at the state level will not protect consumers, it will empower the illicit market and destroy American farm income in the process," the letter stated.
The Kentucky General Assembly has passed laws in recent years strengthening regulation over hemp-derived products, including beverages and synthetic Delta-8 THC products. The farmers argue that state-level regulatory frameworks provide appropriate oversight without eliminating legal markets.
"Let us prove once again that Kentucky leadership is the answer to bad actors and unsafe products by enforcing and enriching the robust regulations that have set Kentucky apart and ahead of all others," the farmers' letter continued.
Nic Johnson, a longtime hemp farmer who signed the letter, grows acres of hemp at his Wilmore farm used in CBD products sold nationally. At his farm during early September harvest, Johnson said attempts by Congress and states to ban hemp sales with any THC amounts—used to relieve pain, anxiety, and insomnia—would devastate the wholesale side of the industry.
"If they did away with hemp completely, it would definitely decimate us," Johnson stated.
Johnson's operation represents many Kentucky hemp farmers who invested in cultivation infrastructure, developed relationships with processors and distributors, and built business models around CBD and hemp-derived cannabinoid markets that federal policy changes could eliminate.
When asked about the hemp farmers' letter, McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer told Kentucky Public Radio that the senator "continues to have conversations with interested parties on both sides of the issue."
"His hemp language simply restores the original intent of the original bill and closes the loophole," Steurer stated. "Under the language, industrial hemp and CBD products remain legal."
The assertion that the language "restores original intent" reflects McConnell's position that the 2018 Farm Bill was intended to legalize industrial hemp for fiber, seed, and non-intoxicating uses rather than to create markets for cannabinoid extraction producing products with psychoactive or therapeutic effects.
Congress had until midnight on September 30, 2025, to pass a spending bill into law to avoid federal agency shutdowns of functions deemed "non-essential." Short-term spending bills often become vehicles for policy riders addressing issues unrelated to appropriations, creating opportunities for controversial provisions to advance without standalone consideration.
The must-pass nature of spending legislation creates leverage for provisions that might not advance through regular legislative processes, but also creates political risks for including controversial language that could imperil the entire spending package.
The conflict highlights tensions between state-level regulatory approaches and federal intervention. Kentucky and other states have developed hemp regulatory frameworks including testing requirements, age restrictions, labeling standards, and product-specific rules attempting to distinguish between compliant hemp products and illegal marijuana.
Federal intervention overriding state regulations raises federalism questions about appropriate divisions of authority, particularly when states have invested in regulatory infrastructure and farmers have relied on state-legal markets for business planning.
Whether federal legislation should preempt state hemp regulations or establish minimum standards while allowing stricter state requirements remains a policy question with significant implications for farmers, processors, retailers, and consumers across states with varying regulatory approaches.
As Congress considers hemp policy changes that could fundamentally alter legal markets for hemp-derived products, farmers, processors, and retailers need regulatory monitoring systems to track legislative developments and adapt operations to changing requirements.
Qredible's Q-Trust quality management platform provides federal and state regulatory tracking, compliance documentation for hemp operations, testing verification for THC limits, and regulatory change management for businesses in the hemp and CBD industry.
Contact our team to learn how our hemp compliance solutions can help your business monitor legislative developments, maintain documentation demonstrating regulatory compliance, and prepare operational contingencies for potential policy changes affecting hemp-derived cannabinoid markets.
