October 2022 | Montpelier, VT - The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, beginning in 2023 will no longer license and regulate hemp producers in Vermont. All interested producers will need to apply for and obtain a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Domestic Hemp Production Program license and may begin the licensing process before January 1, 2023. To help with this transition, the USDA Domestic Hemp Production Program will host an in-person meeting on November 3 at in 5:00 pm- 8:00 pm at the Cornwall Town Hall, located at the junction of VT Route 30 and VT Route 74, about 4 miles south of Middlebury.
Registration to Grow Hemp with USDA Domestic Hemp Production Program
Producers can get a head start with the USDA application. USDA provides the below basic instructions to start. This process is done online using our new Hemp e-Management Platform (HeMP).
There is no fee for the USDA hemp license, but there is an $18 charge for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Identity History Summary Check. The process for obtaining this background report is completed through the FBI website and requires fingerprinting. https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/identity-history-summary-checks. USDA only needs the results from the report to be uploaded as part of the online application. An FBI report is needed for all Key Participants, as defined by USDA, in your hemp operation. Below are instructions to sign up for the HeMP online account.
- Create an eAuth account. Create an eAuth account as a “Customer”. You may also view an eAuth sign up video for detailed registration instructions.
- Verify your identity through eAuth. Once your eAuth account is created, verify your identity by logging in and choosing Verify My Identity. From here you can choose to either verify your identity online by answering a few identity-related questions or through your nearest USDA Service Center.
- Once you have completed the eAuth process, you can log in at https://hemp.ams.usda.gov/ using your eAuth login information. There you will click “Sign-up” and create your HeMP account, complete the online application attach the results from the FBI report for all Key Participants and submit the application.
For questions about registering with USDA’s Domestic Hemp Production Program, please contact Farmbill.Hemp@usda.gov.