Modern hemp breeding is just getting started.  Cannabis has been subject to intense selection pressure for thousands of years, but for much of the twentieth century, hemp saw no meaningful advances in plant breeding.  At the outset of the 2019 growing season, DEA permits were still required to import industrial hemp seed into the U.S.

That quickly changed as federal agencies scrambled to pivot to the new normal, issuing new guidance congruent with the changed regulatory status of hemp.  That process is still ongoing, but it illustrates some of the headwinds facing early hemp breeding efforts.

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