New Farm Bill legislation redefines hemp, threatening to criminalize popular products and decimate the $28 billion industry by including THCA in THC limits.
The House Agriculture Committee has unveiled a new, five-year farm bill, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, and scheduled markup of the bill to begin on February 23. The bill includes provisions setting testing requirements for hemp and defining hemp as containing less than 0.3 percent total THC—not less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC.
The 2018 farm bill legalizing hemp defined it as cannabis plants containing less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC, period, but the hemp provision in last fall's bill to end the federal shutdown changed that to total THC, including THCA; banned "hemp-derived cannabinoid products" that were "synthesized or manufactured outside the plant;" and set a limit of 0.4 mg of intoxicating cannabinoids per container.
Defining hemp as containing less than 0.3 percent total THC—rather than just delta-9 THC—significantly harms the hemp industry by reclassifying many currently legal, non-intoxicating products as illegal marijuana and by placing near-impossible testing burdens on farmers. This shift, which includes the acidic form THCA in the total percentage, effectively outlaws popular products like THCA flower, full-spectrum CBD oils, and many edibles.
Many hemp plants naturally produce high levels of THCA (tetrahydrocannabinolic acid), which is not intoxicating in its raw form but converts to psychoactive delta-9 THC when heated (decarboxylated). The "total THC" definition means many hemp strains that previously complied with the 2018 farm bill will now be classified as illegal marijuana. According to industry estimates, this change could eliminate up to 95 percent of the $28 billion retail hemp market, eliminating products like popular high-THCA hemp flower and many full-spectrum CBD products that naturally exceed 0.3% total THC.
Similarly, the 0.4 mg per container rule is so low that it effectively bans many non-intoxicating, high-potency, full-spectrum CBD products (like tinctures or oils) that contain only trace amounts of THC. Taken together, the changes make farming and manufacturing difficult for many legal, non-intoxicating, or low-intoxication products.
In addition to embracing the new, restrictive definition of hemp, the farm bill draft would change testing standards for state and tribal governments regulating hemp products. Those entities would have to create a procedure to test for total THC instead of the current test, which looks only at delta-9 THC.
The impending decimation of the hemp industry—last fall's changes are set to go into effect in November—has already inspired a bill to delay the ban for two years from Agriculture Committee member Rep. Jim Baird (R-IN), as well as at least four other pieces of legislation aimed at undoing the restrictive language.
Baird's bill is an effort to get clarity for hemp farmers before the growing season begins in a matter of weeks. House Agriculture Committee Chair Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson (R-PA) has said the broader ban issue falls outside the committee's jurisdiction, but committee members could introduce amendments to delay the ban within the committee.