U.S. hemp fiber manufacturing has grow to be the nation’s dominant hemp output by bodily quantity, a brand new U.S. Division of Agriculture (USDA) evaluation confirmed. However whereas farmers are quickly increasing manufacturing, fiber stays a low-value crop.
Hemp manufacturing used for fiber reached about 65 million kilos in 2025, up from roughly 20 million kilos in 2022, in accordance the report, from USDA’s Financial Analysis Service (ERS). Harvested fiber acreage rose from fewer than 7,000 acres to almost 22,000 over the identical interval, the report confirmed.
The evaluation, included as a particular article in ERS’s September Cotton and Wool Outlook, attracts on annual Nationwide Hemp Report information from USDA’s Nationwide Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). It places hemp into the company’s broader evaluation of U.S. and international fiber markets.
Twin-cropping query
USDA additionally stated twin cropping of grain and fiber – a technique promoted in some circles – “has failed to realize reputation as a result of agronomic limitations.”
“These constraints outcome from variations in desired plant outcomes corresponding to rising tall vegetation with slim stems for fiber versus vegetation with average branching for grain/hempseed oil. Plant density and harvest timing are additionally limiting components,” in keeping with the article. “Because of this, dual-purpose hemp manufacturing shouldn’t be as agronomically viable as specializing in one product.”
Fiber takes lead
Fiber accounted for at the very least half of all U.S. out of doors industrial hemp acreage harvested from 2023 by 2025. By quantity, it represented 60% to 80% of utilized industrial hemp manufacturing from 2022 by 2025, in keeping with the particular article.
ERS additionally discovered that U.S. hemp fiber manufacturing surpassed home wool manufacturing in 2023, placing hemp second solely to cotton amongst agricultural fibers produced within the nation.
Fiber manufacturing is concentrated in a handful of states. Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas accounted for 56% of U.S. hemp fiber output in 2025, with Kansas alone representing about 30%, in keeping with USDA. State comparisons are troublesome, nevertheless, as a result of USDA withholds some information to guard particular person producers.
Extra for much less
The growth has not translated into stronger returns for growers.
NASS reported earlier this yr that 2025 fiber manufacturing reached 67.3 million kilos, up 11% from 2024, whereas harvested acreage elevated 14% to 21,693 acres – whereas the farm worth of the crop fell 13% to $13.5 million.
That continued an imbalance already evident within the annual USDA crop statistics: output and acreage have expanded whereas fiber costs stay depressed.
ERS calculated that growers obtained a mean of simply 24 cents per pound for fiber throughout 2023-2025, in contrast with $24.50 per pound for floral hemp. Fiber represented solely 2% of the $646 million worth of all out of doors hemp manufacturing in 2025, whereas flowers – a sector in peril and more likely to be worn out altogether – generated $574 million, or 89%.
Room to develop
Hemp stays a tiny a part of the broader fiber economic system. World fiber manufacturing reached 132 million metric tons in 2024, with petroleum-based synthetics representing about 69%. Hemp accounted for simply 0.2% of all international fiber manufacturing and about 1% of pure fibers, in keeping with USDA.
In accordance with USDA, France led reported international hemp fiber manufacturing in 2024, adopted by China, the US and the Netherlands. Collectively, the 4 international locations accounted for roughly 80% of worldwide output.
