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Florida farmers are struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic, with restaurants closed or reduced business decreasing the demand for produce, but news the federal government may soon approve Florida’s hemp cultivation plan farmers could be a saving grace.

Florida’s farmers are having to throw out up to 70 percent of their crops due to a lack of demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“A lot of our farmers were selling directly to restaurants, were selling directly to the cruise line industry or even to Disney,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried.

Fried said saving the Ag industry is pivotal in order to restart the economy.

“Agriculture has always been the second economic driver with two million jobs across the state, 47,000 working farms and ranches. That’s a $137 billion economic impact. And when the economy is so reliant on tourism, and unfortunately now tourism is at a dead stop, agriculture is gonna be, if not already, the number one economic driver,” said Fried.

But farmers could soon find help in hemp, with the federal government expected to approve the state’s cultivation plan as early as this week.

“This can potentially be a 20 or 30 billion dollar industry for the State of Florida,” said Fried.

And hemp grown in Florida means stores selling hemp products like CBD will be able to end their reliance on out of state product.

“The hemp economy market here in the states has been booming, but all of the money has been leaving the State of Florida and going elsewhere,” said Gabe Suarez, owner of Natural Life, a Florid based CBD chain. “Every time one of my businesses purchases any kind of hemp it’s purchased from a farm outside of the state. We can finally keep that money in Florida, which indirectly will help all economies throughout the state.”

The Commissioner of Agriculture anticipates 3,000 initial cultivation applications and expects to begin approving them by the end of the month.

To qualify for a hemp cultivation license the crop must be grown on land zoned for agriculture or industrial purposes and license holders cannot have been convicted of a narcotics felony within the past ten years.