Wisconsin kicked off its fourth season of growing industrial hemp since Former Governor Walker signed a law legalizing the crop in November 2017. The industry significantly grew at first, but that’s a different story today. Looking at applicant numbers from 2020 to 2021, they’ve dropped by almost 50%. In 2020, Wisconsin had 1,537 applicants, while 2021 only saw 803 residents apply to grow the crop. This year also saw 134 new growers apply, while the rest are renewing their certification from past years.
Officials say they aren’t only seeing a dip in applications in Wisconsin but across the United States. One of the issues is that producers need to find buyers, which is a struggle right now. Another likely reason for the fewer growers could be that farmers may have decided to switch a hemp field to corn or soybeans because of the higher price for those commodities this year.
