2: Insect pests of industrial hemp

Since 1937, industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) also commonly referred to as “hemp” along with other members of the Cannabis family has been regulated as illegal under the Marihuana Tax Act and formally made illegal in 1970 under the Controlled Substances Act. With the passage of the new Farm Bill and specifically the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 broad scale hemp cultivation was legalized, and the crop was removed from the controlled substances list, although the new Farm Bill did not create a completely free system. Individuals, universities and businesses alike, can now grow hemp, but the commodity remains heavily regulated for both personal and industrial production. Any cultivation of the crop must be coordinated and done with prior approval (apply for and be approved for a license) from individual state departments of agriculture. In 2019, the first year of the hemp program in Alabama, producers and individuals that received licenses to grow the commodity embarked upon production. As this is a new area of production, the occurrence of insect pests and the subsequent associated pest pressures associated with this commodity are largely unknown.
Herein we report on the most commonly encountered insect pests found in hemp production in Alabama in 2019 and the types of damage expected/noted.