USDA Approves Tribe's Industrial Hemp Code

By Joe Morey

News Editor

The LCO Tribal Governing Board approved their Industrial Hemp Code on February 10, 2020, and submitted to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The code, which governs how the Tribe operates its hemp production program, was approved on Wednesday, May 27.

“We have reviewed your hemp plan and found it to be in compliance with the requirements in Subtitle G of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946,” the USDA announced. “With the approval of your hemp plan, the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians has assumed primary regulatory responsibility for hemp production within its jurisdiction.”

LCO Tribal Governing Board (TGB) member Tweed Shuman explained as part of a partnership with the LCO Ojibwe College, the Tribe will pick up 500 to 1,000 CBD seedlings at the UW-Madison’s Arlington Research Farm and put them in the ground on a 1.5 acre plot next to the LCO Police and Conservation Departments on Hwy K. The seedlings are scheduled to be planted on June 15.

The Tribe’s Industrial Hemp Code created an LCO Agricultural Division under the LCO Conservation Department to serve as the arm of the Tribe that regulates hemp production and policies on lands within the jurisdiction of the Tribe. The policies established under the Code governs how persons will plant, cultivate, harvest, sample, test, process, transport, transfer, take possession of, sell, import, and export hemp on Tribal lands.

To read more about the partnership with the College, visit https://www.lcotribe.com/post/tribe-to-begin-growing-cbd-hemp-in-partnership-with-college

To read more about the Tribe’s Industrial Hemp Code, visit https://www.lcotribe.com/post/tgb-passes-industrial-hemp-code