THC ban will destroy Texas' hemp agriculture industry, farmers say

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LUBBOCK — Six years ago, Texas lawmakers opened a door to a new lifeline for farmers: growing hemp. Farmers invested time, money and land into growing the drought-resistant crop and developing the state’s budding hemp industry.

The same lawmakers are now slamming the door shut. All products containing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, could soon be banned in Texas. As a result, farmers are bracing for impact as they wait to go out of business.

“We wouldn’t be in the hemp business in a million years if they hadn’t passed that bill,” said Ann Gauger, co-owner of Caprock Family Farms in Lubbock. “Now we’re one of the largest hemp producers in the U.S., and their ban is going to shut that down.”

The Texas hemp industry, in its current form, has effectively been handed a death sentence with the upcoming passage of Senate Bill 3, authored by Lubbock Republican Sen. Charles Perry. On Sunday, the Legislature sent the bill, which bans consumable hemp products that contain even trace amounts of THC, to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. However, hemp can’t be produced without traces of THC, farmers say, regardless of the product.

The plant has been a target for lawmakers since the start of the legislative session, with the charge led by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Patrick pulled out all the stops to make the ban pass, including with surprise visits to dispensaries in Austin and vows for a special session if it failed. Patrick and Perry say the hemp industry exploited a loophole in the bill that did not establish a threshold for hemp derivatives, other than delta-9 THC.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has also walked back his opposition to an outright ban on THC, now aligning with Patrick’s position. He deleted a post on X where he called the THC ban a “sledgehammer” to farmers, and now Miller said the bill will not be detrimental to farmers. Miller said the hemp industry will thrive as it’s moving toward producing industrial hemp, a fiber type of hemp that does not contain THC. It could be used in construction materials, rope and more. He said they never intended to have THC available across Texas, and called it a dangerous situation.

“This just puts us back to where we started,” Miller told The Texas Tribune. “It’s going to be detrimental to a lot of businesses that have opened their business model on selling THC products. Those businesses will have to shut.”

In lawmakers’ pursuit of a ban, growers like Gauger were caught in the crosshairs. Gauger, who runs the business with her husband and two sons, felt ignored by most of the Legislature. Gauger says they did everything they could to get lawmakers to hear them over the last few months and testified to the House committee overseeing the bill. It did not work.

“Charles Perry says he has an open door policy. That is an absolute lie,” Gauger said. “We live in his district, and he will not see us. We’ve gone to his office in Austin, but he refuses to see us.”

Gauger said House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, and his team were the only ones to speak with the family. Kyle Bingham is another frustrated hemp grower in the South Plains that took a chance on growing the crop. Bingham, who is also president of the Texas Hemp Growers Association, called the bill overreaching and unenforceable. He also said lawmakers involved in writing the bill ignored farmers during the process. Bingham is one of Perry’s constituents.

“We were left out of this conversation,” Bingham said. “Yes, you can go to public hearings, but not having a lot of say and being stonewalled out of the initial bills was frustrating.”

Throughout the session, Patrick has rallied against THC products, saying the products put children in danger. Gauger acknowledges there are bad actors in the industry, but says the bill will have a ripple effect. The industry also includes manufacturers, hemp processors, and people to run extractors.

“Throw the low lifes in jail if you want to stop the bad actors,” Gauger said. “But don’t take out the American farmers. Don’t take out the ag producers.”

Under the legislation, adults would face up to a year in jail for possessing hemp products with any amount of THC in it. This has put a stop to all of Gauger’s plans — the family farm was set to plant a large project that would produce 20 million pounds of CBD biomass. Since CBD is produced from hemp seeds, Gauger is worried she would be breaking the law. It wouldn’t be ready for harvest until October, a month after the law goes into effect.

“We would be felons if we planted that,” Gauger said. “The land’s already been prepped, herbicides already put out. Once you do that, you can’t plant anything else on that land for the season.”

Bingham is in a similar position. He uses about 5% of his 2,000-acre farm for hemp, but he saw it as a good alternative in the drought-ridden region. Now, he says he has to walk away from his investment if it’s illegal to possess any detectable amounts of THC in the field.

“At this point, they’re threatening a felony so I’m out,” Bingham said. “I’m not risking a felony over this, and I think most farmers in Texas will stop growing too.”

Bingham said he’s now considering what to do in September when the bill is slated to go into effect. Any products he still has with THC will either have to be sold by then or he will be burning it. He’s going to focus more on cotton and wheat, even though he wanted hemp to be in their rotation of crops.

Gauger is expecting a downfall for the hemp industry across Texas. Just like growers have to consider the legal consequences, the same applies for retailers and grocery stores that sell consumable hemp products. This includes hemp hearts, hemp seed oil, and even some big brands with hemp in their products.

Perry’s team did not respond to a request to comment.

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