Study Explores Hemp as Animal Feed
Farm animals could soon heal from the nutritional benefits of hemp feed. A Colorado-based task force will study hemp as a potential source for animal feed as early as this summer. A newly proposed bill directs the Colorado Department of Agriculture to look into the potential of hemp in animal foods.
The economic ramifications, legal hurdles and the effect on animals will be explored. Even at 0.3 percent THC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently forbids hemp in animal feed and considers it an adulterating substance. The study was generated to prove to the FDA that hemp is completely safe for animals.
Hemp producers couldn’t be happier. “One of the real big problems with the hemp industry is there’s hardly any processors out there that are buying materials straight from the farmer,” Mike Sullivan of Hemp Farm Colorado told The Denver Post. “This would be a great leap forward.”
The Industrial Hemp Animal Feed Act was signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper on March 20, 2017. The bill creates a group to study the feasibility of using hemp as animal feed. The group answers to the commissioner of agriculture. The group will include a hemp producer, a processor, a legal expert, a person from an institution of higher education who has studied hemp policy, a veterinarian, a livestock producer and anyone else that the commissioner chooses to add.
Rep. Jeni Arndt, the bill’s primary sponsor, said she wants to create more opportunities for Colorado’s hemp producers. The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) lists new guidelines on hemp in animal foods and mentions the risks and the ways the FDA can be informed of hemp additives.
Wendy Mosher, CEO of Colorado-based hemp firm New West Genetics said that hemp improves the quality of chicken eggs and improves the shine on horse coats. The group will make recommendations by December 31, 2017.
