Wisconsin is just one of 10 states where marijauna is illegal for both medical and recreational use. But since 2018, a federal loophole allowed cannabis products to become an industry worth millions in the state — that is, until Congress closed the legal loophole at the end of the 2025 federal government shutdown. As 2026 begins, business owners are scrambling before the ban takes effect in November.
“We were still planning on growing, we were actually already making adjustments for next year,” said Joni Sayers, owner of Hemp Haven Farms in Deerfield.
Sayers and her husband Jeff were among the first hemp farmers in Wisconsin after the 2018 Farm Bill made hemp legal to grow for industrial use. The technical loophole in the law invited a new kind of industry to take hold…