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Industrial hemp, from which we will get a new seed to feed birds, is included in the Congressional conference committee version of the 2018 farm bill, approved and sent to both houses for final passage. Vote could come next week. Farmers are expected to plant hemp now that it is legal. Seed hopefully will be available after harvest next year.

The plant has many applications beyond bird food. It is not the plant from which marijuana is extracted.

Hemp is sold as bird food in Canada. It recently was tested here in a trial feeding program. Birds didn't go crazy for it, but a variety of species ate it.