Hemp Industry Pushes for Hemp Seed Certification
Hemp industry stakeholders have launched an initiative centered on seed certification to lessen the regulatory burden of hemp production. The campaign is called “Value the Seed” and aims to provide growers and producers with exemptions to sampling, testing, and fees if they use certified seed to plant their crops. Seed certification is a proven, age-old process of producing high quality, uniform, genetically pure seed which has been used in numerous crops. Research, breeding and selection have resulted in many good quality varieties that consistently produce low-THC-compliant crops without environmental influence. By planting certified seed of these varieties, a grower can consistently produce hemp that meets regulatory qualifications and will enable the grower to bypass several regulatory burdens and production risks.
Peak Global Population May Be Closer Than We Think
For several years the growing global population has been the mantra of many in the Ag community as the reason for maintaining policies to subsidize, support, and expand commodity production, and to eliminate regulatory burdens that hamper expansion. But what if the population peak was actually just around the corner?That scenario is what some demographers have suggested in alternate projections that utilize different assumptions than the popular U.N. projections that are typically cited. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reported on these alternate projections, which indicate two big questions loom large in projecting future population growth: (1) How rapidly will fertility decline in Africa, and (2) How fast will low fertility countries such as China recover? Another big factor is education levels, as increased in educational opportunities, especially among women, typically result in smaller families. Some projections suggest the population may never reach 9 billion, let alone 10 billion.
A world in which the population stops expanding raises profound implications for virtually every assumption underlying government and business policies. How would agriculture adjust to endless surplus commodities? What does competition look like in a fully mature or shrinking market of consumers? Wolfgang Lutz, one of the demographers of the alternative projections suggested that total population is meaningless. “It depends what these people are able to do, what their skills are, whether they have enough to eat.”
Online Portal for Submitting Farm Bill Comments
Members of the House Agriculture Committee have set up an online portal for submitting comments and suggestions for the next Farm Bill to be implemented in 2023. Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) and Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) have announced the online form as a way to get direct feedback from the agriculture community and stakeholders on what is important for the next Farm Bill and whether current legislation is meeting their needs.
