North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

North Carolina farmers have been cultivating industrial hemp since 2017. The North Carolina Industrial Hemp Pilot Program was initiated by the passing of the federal Agricultural Act of 2014 and subsequent NC legislation via SL 2015-299 2015- (Industrial Hemp Bill).

Since that time, the pilot program has grown and the federal government passed the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 which removed industrial hemp from the controlled substances act , making hemp a legal agricultural commodity under the general oversight of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Additionally, that legislation charged the USDA with creating a uniform set of rules by which all hemp production would be regulated nationally. For North Carolina, that means hemp production will be under the direct oversight of USDA.