Illinois Department of Agriculture to host Hemp Summit

[November 16, 2019]    The Illinois Department of Agriculture will host a Hemp Summit on December 17th at the Orr Building on the Illinois State Fairgrounds. The Illinois Hemp Summit follows the release of USDA’s 2019 Hemp Rules that have raised questions and concerns amongst Illinois hemp farmers and their advocacy groups.

“We’ve heard from the hemp farming community and understand their concerns related to the USDA rules,” said Jeff Cox, IDOA Bureau Chief for Medicinal Plants. “The summit will provide a great opportunity to provide an in-depth presentation on the USDA’s rules and the implications for Illinois’ emerging hemp industry.”

The Summit’s agenda is structured to optimize the distribution of information and limit repetition—there will be three separate panels, each consisting of three to four presenters.

“We’ve assembled grower, processor and university researcher panels to share their unique perspectives, contributions, lessons learned and visions for the future of the hemp industry in Illinois,” said Cox.

Hemp Benchmarks, a leading provider of financial, business and industry data for the North American hemp markets will be the final presenter of the day with a presentation on market dynamics. Information on the additional panels will be available in the coming weeks.

Tickets for the Summit are $25 and include lunch. Those interested in attending can register online at https:// www2.illinois.gov/sites/agr/ Plants/ Pages/Hemp-Summit.aspx.  Space is limited and registration will be handled on a first come first served basis.

[Illinois Office of Communication and Information]