Could Animal Feed Be Hemp’s Way Out of the Oversupply Trap?

The US post-2018 Farm Bill hemp boom helped create a problem the industry is still wrestling with: too much flower and too few buyers.

During that time, CBD-rich hemp biomass reportedly sold for $30–$40 per pound, while hundreds of thousands of acres were licensed at the industry’s peak. But the economics changed quickly. Prices fell, acreage contracted, and large volumes of hemp biomass began losing their value after harvest and processing.

Seven years down the line, the problem has not disappeared. USDA data show that U.S. floral hemp production reached 33.2 million pounds in 2025, a 60% increase from 2024. More production means more material competing for buyers, particularly in a market where demand for cannabinoid-rich flower and biomass remains limited.

That raises an increasingly important question: what if some of that excess hemp could become animal feed?

The idea is not as far-fetched as it sounds. Hemp processing generates several potentially useful byproducts, including hempseed meal, hempseed cake, leaves and spent biomass. 

The opportunity could be significant since more than 60% of US hemp has historically been grown for CBD production, creating substantial quantities of processing byproducts. Instead of sending some of this material to compost or landfill, processors could potentially turn it into another revenue stream.

Why hemp for Animal Feed Makes Sense on Paper

The nutritional case for hemp as animal feed is genuinely strong, explaining why researchers have spent years on it. Hemp seed cake for instance, contains about 34% crude protein with roughly 12.7% residual lipids and carries a favorable omega-3 fatty acid profile. Scholarly reviews show it has better rumen bypass protein than rapeseed meal, making it a potential protected protein source for high-producing dairy cows. Hemp leaf is a secondary feed fraction with about 13% crude protein and high fiber, suitable for ruminants.

Early feeding trials reinforced the case. In lactating dairy cows, diets containing up to 143 g of hempseed cake per kg of dry matter increased energy-corrected milk yield; inclusion above that level diluted milk fat and protein percentages.

A study from the University of Manitoba reported hemp meal could replace canola meal at up to 10.2% of diet dry matter with no negative effects on intake, rumen fermentation, digestibility, or blood metabolites making it “a high-quality and safe protein supplement.”

While this looks great, the deal breaker has always been THC and CBD transfer into animal products such as milk, meat, and eggs. On the alarming side, a 2022 study in Nature Food found that feeding hemp silage to dairy cows produced measurable THC, CBD, and related cannabinoids in milk, and estimated that worst-case THC intake from that milk could exceed the conservative acute reference dose.

But the more recent US work points towards withdrawal periods as a practical solution. Researchers from  Oregon State University fed nine Jersey cows a diet with 13% spent hemp biomass for 28 days. THC did appear in milk during feeding though less than 1% of ingested cannabinoids transferred but it became undetectable roughly 12 days after the biomass was removed, and the team concluded a two-week withdrawal window would eliminate consumer risk.

In a parallel beef trial, steers fed spent hemp biomass showed no adverse behaviour or weight-gain effects; cannabinoids concentrated in fat tissue, cleared from all tissues after 33 days of withdrawal except trace CBD in adipose tissue.

This leads us to a scientific consensus that hemp byproducts are likely safe for most ruminant species, with manageable residue risk provided low-cannabinoid material (seed fractions) or defined withdrawal windows (whole-plant material) are used.

Science may establish whether hemp has nutritional value, but regulators determine if that value can become a market. In 2025, the regulatory picture began to change. AAFCO officially recognized mechanically extracted hemp seed meal as an animal feed ingredient for laying hens, allowing inclusion at up to 20% of the diet, provided the ingredient contains no more than 20 ppm total CBD and 2 ppm total THC.

The development is significant, but it is not a blanket approval for hemp in animal feed. The FDA has not approved CBD or cannabinoid-rich hemp ingredients for animal food, citing unresolved safety concerns. However, the regulatory picture began to shift in 2025: FDA solicited new safety and usage data on hemp-derived products in animals.

For an industry searching for uses for surplus hemp, that distinction matters. Hemp seed meal now has a defined regulatory pathway into animal agriculture. The bigger question is whether other hemp byproducts, particularly the large volumes generated by cannabinoid extraction, can meet the same safety and regulatory requirements.

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Structural frictions to adopting hemp as animal feed

There are three main structural frictions that keeps the federal process slow; 

1.  CBD is treated as a drug: Because CBD is the active ingredient in the FDA-approved epilepsy drug Epidiolex and has been the subject of substantial clinical investigations, FDA considers the addition of CBD to animal food prohibited while AAFCO’s 2025 approval is limited to mechanically extracted hemp seed meal, with strict CBD and THC limits, and does not extend to CBD-rich plant material or spent cannabinoid-extraction biomass.
2. Approval is ingredient– and – use specific: Bringing a new animal-feed ingredient to market can require a substantial safety dossier and a formal FDA review, with the petition submitted and supported by the sponsoring company or organization. The approval applies to the specific ingredient, intended use, and conditions evaluated, rather than to an entire category of hemp-derived materials.
3. Research is expensive: In the U.S., animals used in studies of hemp feed ingredients generally cannot enter the food chain unless researchers obtain a Food Use Authorization. Without one, animals exposed to investigational hemp byproducts may have to be euthanized and their remains disposed of rather than entering the food supply, adding substantially to the cost of generating the safety data needed for regulatory approval.

Several states have moved ahead of the federal government. Alaska, Tennessee, New Jersey, Ohio, West Virginia, Montana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia have adopted policies allowing certain hemp-derived ingredients in animal feed, although the permitted ingredients, species, and conditions vary considerably.

Kentucky, for example, allows hemp seed meal and hemp seed oil under its state feed rules, while Oklahoma permits hemp grain and its derivatives for livestock feed. Texas has issued guidance allowing hemp seed meal for horses and chickens, and Montana permits certain hemp and hemp-derived ingredients in feed for pets, specialty pets, and horses while excluding CBD products.

The picture is similarly fragmented internationally. Canada has cultivated hemp since 1998, but CFIA’s current guidance states that hemp products are not generally approved as livestock feed ingredients, with each proposed hemp ingredient requiring separate assessment. The European Union permits qualifying low-THC hemp varieties, generally capped at 0.3% THC for cultivation under the Common Agricultural Policy, while hempseed-derived feed products can enter the EU feed market under existing rules, although national requirements may differ.

Australia currently does not permit industrial hemp as stock feed, largely because of concerns about cannabinoid residues entering the human food chain, but that position is now under active review. In July 2026, an Australian Senate committee recommended that the government examine regulatory changes affecting the hemp industry, following evidence and submissions on the potential use of hemp in animal feed. New Zealand has also permitted low-THC hemp seed as human food, but this does not amount to a general authorization for hemp as animal feed.

Conclusion 

While animal feed could become part of hemp’s answer to the oversupply problem, it is unlikely to be a simple outlet for the industry’s excess biomass. The much larger question is whether other hemp byproducts, particularly material left after cannabinoid extraction, can generate the safety, residue, nutritional, and toxicological data needed for approval. That will require more than proving that animals can eat hemp. 

Researchers and regulators need to establish how different hemp ingredients affect animal health, whether cannabinoids transfer into meat, milk, or eggs, what inclusion levels are appropriate, and how those products can be tested consistently. At the same time, feed manufacturers will need to determine whether hemp can compete economically with established protein, fiber, and oil sources.

The opportunity, then, may not be about finding one market capable of absorbing all of hemp’s surplus. It may be about developing a more circular hemp industry where different parts of the plant are directed toward their highest-value uses. If science, regulation, and economics eventually align, animal feed could turn some of today’s low-value hemp byproducts into a commercial resource. Until then, it remains a promising possibility rather than an escape route from the oversupply trap.