This year marks the first season for Illinois farmers to legally grow hemp. The state department is currently doing spot checks throughout the state, checking levels of THC to make sure levels aren’t above .3%.
State Ag Director John Sullivan said that testers walk fields and snip off pieces from random plants to submit to the testing.
Sullivan says that there are severe consequences if the crops are out of compliance. “No exceptions, if it is out of compliance, the whole crop gets destroyed.”
Sullivan says fields with too much THC that are destroyed will not be eligible for federal crop insurance. Sullivan also said that hemp has had a tough season because of the weather just like all other crops in the state. The hemp grown in Illinois fields this year have mostly been earmarked for industrial use and not for the upcoming adult-use cannabis legislation that goes legal on January 1st.