KEY TAKEAWAYS: A federal restriction set for Nov. 12 would effectively ban many hemp-derived cannabinoid products by imposing a new THC limit. Hemp businesses and farmers warn the change could devastate the industry, particularly producers dependent on cannabinoid products. A pending stopgap f unding bill could delay implementation by 30 days, giving Congress additional time to negotiate regulations. Lawmakers remain divided between imposing the restrictions and establishing a national regulatory framework allowing some hemp products while banning synthetic cannabinoids.   Cornbread Hemp’s cofounders spoke for more than 15 minutes about the future of their industry in early August, but their comments could be summed up in two words lit up next to them: “SAVE HEMP,” the jumbo LED sign displayed. Speaking to a receptive crowd at their Louisville headquarters, Jim Higdon and Eric Zipperle, two Kentucky cousins who founded the hemp company in 2018, said a looming November federal ban on many hemp products would put their multimillion-dollar company out of business, along with farmers across the commonwealth. “This is about health care, not gas stations,” Higdon said, referring to critics’ claims that dangerous intoxicating products are being sold with little oversight, sometimes to children, at improper businesses around the country. “… Cornbread has done none of those things and yet we are targeted with the same blanket ban.” The company and hemp farmers who attended the Aug. 4 rally in Louisville, held 100 days before the ban was set to go into effect, are hoping for some relief in a stopgap funding bill currently pending in the U.S. Senate. A provision in it would push back the date the ban would go into effect by 30 days, from Nov. 12 to Dec. 11. It isn’t much, Higdon acknowledged. But he added the extra month is “plenty of time after the election (to) solidify around a consensus on how to regulate these products appropriately.” Hemp, a cannabis plant often used for industrial purposes as well as commercial products such as clothes, seed oils and “CBD” (a nonintoxicating product believed to help in some cases with issues such as stress relief and trouble sleeping), is big business in Kentucky. Nearly 5,000 acres of farmland across 60 counties were used to grow the crop in 2025, according to the state’s Department of Agriculture. With small amounts of THC, the hemp plant is similar to marijuana. A federal farm bill passed in 2014 allowed states to launch pilot programs to explore its industrial uses, and additional legislation approved in 2018 that was championed by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell removed the plant from the Controlled Substances Act with a goal of helping farmers, including many in Kentucky who had been hit hard by the tobacco crash. That 2018 bill inadvertently legalized a host of intoxicating products similar to marijuana, though. McConnell, who’s been sidelined from the Senate recently due to health issues (he was discharged from a rehabilitation center on Aug. 6), has worked for years to close that loophole, arguing dangerous products are being marketed to kids through misleading packaging. He unsuccessfully attempted to include language in a bill last summer that would have changed the law to outlaw many hemp products legalized in the 2018 bill, a push that put him at odds with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky’s junior senator. Industry advocates celebrated the failure, but months later, a bill signed on Nov. 12 to end a lengthy federal government shutdown included a clause limiting the amount of THC that can be used in hemp-based products to 0.3 milligrams. It included a one-year implementation delay to give farmers time to pivot. More than 97% of hemp harvested in Kentucky in 2025 was produced for floral and cannabinoid products, according to the Department of Agriculture, many of which would be outlawed if the ban goes into effect. Jay Grundy, a Marion County hemp farmer who attended the Aug. 4 rally, said his more than 300-acre farm south of Louisville would be at risk. “We just need a little bit more time. That’s all we’re asking,” he said. An extra 30 days could allow more negotiations on allowing some hemp products to remain legal while banning “synthetic” products similar to marijuana that were unintentionally legalized eight years ago, he said. Potential legislative fixes have divided Congress. U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, the GOP nominee for McConnell’s Senate seat following his retirement at the end of 2026, has put forward a bill alongside Minnesota U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, that would codify a regulatory framework for hemp products. The bill would ban synthetic cannabinoids and similar compounds while creating separate regulatory categories for industrial hemp and consumable hemp products, with new labeling standards and sales restricted to adults 21 and up, among other measures. “Kentucky has demonstrated that hemp can be successfully regulated while supporting farmers and protecting consumers,” Barr said in a release. “This legislation builds on that success by creating a national framework that rewards responsible producers, eliminates bad actors, and ensures consumers have confidence in the products they purchase.” Paul has been a vocal supporter of hemp and was a cosponsor of a similar bipartisan bill earlier this year in the Senate, though the legislation did not advance. U.S. Rep. James Comer, who helped Kentucky establish its own regulatory framework for hemp production during his time in the state legislature, is also circulating a draft of a bill that would put regulations on hemp products, Marijuana Moment reported, and has been vocal in his support. U.S. Reps. Thomas Massie and Morgan McGarvey signed a letter last September urging lawmakers to keep current standards in place as well. They appear to have a powerful ally in the White House. Axios reported President Donald Trump called Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina this week to urge him to support delaying the hemp ban, arguing more time is needed for lawmakers to review and address THC use in medicinal products. McConnell has been staunchly opposed. Dangerous intoxicating products have “flooded the market in the absence of a regulatory structure,” he said last summer, noting a one-year implementation timeline would “give our hemp farmers ample time to prepare for their future.” He isn’t alone. Punchbowl News reported more than a dozen other senators, including Budd, were backing an amendment as of Aug. 6 to stop the hemp provision from passing with the funding bill still pending in the Senate. Meanwhile, 35 attorneys general wrote a letter calling on Congress to reject the proposed implementation delay and close the loophole. Their letter noted states and businesses around the nation are working to get in alignment with the looming ban and argued efforts to keep the products legal will lead to “renewed litigation, inconsistent enforcement, regulatory uncertainty, increased youth access to intoxicating products, and disruption of lawful businesses.” Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman was not among those who signed it. This story may be updated. Reach Lucas Aulbach at [email protected]. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Hemp facing critical moment as federal ban on most products looms Reporting by Lucas Aulbach, Louisville Courier Journal / Louisville Courier Journal USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect ...read more read less