The North Carolina House recently voted 78-31 in favor of a resolution urging Congress to oppose a proposed Securities and Exchange rule that could potentially hurt small farms.. Lawmakers say the rule would require small farms to report their greenhouse gas emissions, something they are not equipped to do.
Farmers across the country, including North Carolina, are “taking it on the chin” when it comes to diesel and fertilizer prices, which have risen to unprecedented levels. The U.S. is dependent on and a major importer of foreign fertilizer. Factors driving costs up include Russia’s war with Ukraine, a limited supply of the relevant minerals...
The General Assembly will soon consider a bill that seeks to protect women’s sports by preventing boys and men from being allowed to compete on female teams in middle school, high school and college. House Bill 358 would require public schools fielding sports teams to identify teams as male, female, or co-ed. The same would...
The General Assembly is one step closer to settling the smokable hemp dispute after months of deliberation. In a 40-10 vote Monday, Oct. 28, the Senate passed the farm bill, which includes a provision to ban smokable hemp in June 2020. Law enforcement officials have been pushing to ban the smokable hemp flower because it’s...
Lawmakers have reached a compromise on smokable hemp, but their agreement may not make everyone in the hemp community happy. For now. Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, and Rep. Jimmy Dixon, R-Duplin, have agreed to a June 1, 2020, smokable hemp ban, an Oct. 24 conference committee report shows. Legislators since March have debated about how...
Smokable hemp continues to stall lawmakers trying to pass the farm bill. The Senate unanimously voted Tuesday, Oct. 1, to reject the House’s version of the 2019 Farm Act, which would ban smokable hemp by May 2020. Now, it’s up to the House and Senate on whether they will appoint conferees to sort out the...
North Carolina’s farm bill has passed the House, but it now may be frozen in the Senate. Senate Bill 315, “North Carolina Farm Act of 2019,” was approved Wednesday, Aug. 21, by a 63-48 vote, but only after House members revised the omnibus legislation to outlaw the sale and use of dried, smokable hemp flowers...
If passed, North Carolina’s hotly contested hemp law will probably end up in court, says the state legislator leading efforts to ban the plant’s smokable flower. Meanwhile, a new statewide poll shows voters wish the government would stay out of the weeds. A new version of Senate Bill 315, North Carolina Farm Act of 2019,...
The future of smokable hemp in North Carolina remains unsettled, nearly a month after lawmakers last took it up. Two Senate bills dealing with hemp are stuck in the House Rules Committee. One, Senate Bill 352, would effectively ban smokable hemp in December. Senate Bill 315 — the farm bill — could either transfer language...
Fiery arguments over hemp regulation smoldered out Wednesday, July 24, when House members reversed feverish efforts to criminalize the plant’s smokable flower. In discussion that left some members scratching their heads, Rep. Jimmy Dixon, R-Duplin, backed away from arguments that smokable hemp should be instantly banned. Last week, Dixon carved up parts of Senate Bill...
If North Carolina bans smokable hemp, hundreds of farmers will lose money on their crops — and faith in their legislators, says Blake Butler, executive director of the N.C. Industrial Hemp Association. Hemp and marijuana are different plants, but some House lawmakers want to throw both into the same pot. A House committee on July...
