October 11, 2021 6:00 a.m. 

On Friday, Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced that Oregon State University will receive a $10 million federal grant for research on sustainable hemp production.

A release said the grant is part of more than $146 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to invest in research aimed at addressing agriculture-related issues, including climate change impacts.

Merkley said, “Hemp is already becoming a crash crop in Oregon, and its many different uses – from hemp hearts on a salad to fiber for a t-shirt to therapeutic CBD oil – create a lot of potential for farmers across the state”. Merkley said he is pleased that this award will support OSU’s trailblazing hemp research.

Wyden said, “These federal resources earned by Oregon State are a well-deserved investment in the university’s world-renowned hemp research that also supports farmers in Oregon and nationwide”. Wyden said he is gratified that the USDA has “…recognized OSU’s research in this growth crop, and am committed to continuing the work needed to get federal regulators to treat this crop fairly”.

The release said Merkley and Wyden helped create a pilot program to legalize U.S. hemp production in the 2014 farm bill. Then, in the 2018 farm bill, they secured bipartisan support to successfully include the Hemp Farming Act of 2018, officially recognizing hemp as an agricultural product in the United States. Since then, hemp has quickly become one of Oregon’s leading crash crops.

The $10 million grant funds research over a five-year period.