USDA’s Domestic Hemp Production Program offers online training to sampling agents as required under the Final Rule (86 FR 8896) published January 19, 2021. Sampling agents can be law enforcement officials, state or tribal employees, laboratory employees, state contractors, tribal contractors, or others.
Licensed hemp producers may not act as sampling agents.
In order to sample USDA licensed producers, you must take USDA’s Sampling Agent Training.
USDA licenses hemp producers in the States of Hawaii, Iowa (beginning January 1, 2025), Kansas (beginning January 1, 2025), Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska (beginning January 1, 2025), New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin, and for the Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes, the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of Flathead Reservation, the White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa, the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw, and the Walker River Paiute Tribe.
To become a sampling agent for producers licensed under other USDA approved States or Tribal hemp production programs, you must contact the appropriate State or Tribal hemp program and fulfill their training requirements. States and Tribes with an approved plan may require the sampling agents used by their licensed producers to take the USDA training, or they may develop their own custom training.
The training consists of four lessons and four assessments. After completing the four lessons, you must achieve a score of 80% or higher on each assessment. Once all assessments are complete, you will receive a certificate of completion.
To enroll, please visit the USDA Blackboard Training site and sign up for an account. Please use your e-mail address as your username.
Once your account is established, send an email to farmbill.hemp@usda.gov using the subject line “Sampling Agent Training Enrollment” to request access to the training.