BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the U.S government by two North Dakota farmers seeking to grow industrial hemp.

Judge Daniel Hovland said the farmers should take their fight to Congress.

His ruling mirrored comments he made when he heard arguments in the case earlier this month. Hovland told lawyers that the best remedy might be to change the definition of industrial hemp under the Federal Controlled Substances Act, which does not distinguish the plant from the illegal drug marijuana.

"Congress can best address this problem," Hovland wrote in his decision to dismiss the lawsuit.

Legislation introduced in Congress would exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana, but no hearings have been held on the bill. Hemp can be used for a variety of products, from rope to lotion, and farmers view it as a possibly lucrative new crop.

North Dakota farmers Wayne Hauge and Dave Monson, who also is a state legislator, had sued to bar the federal government from prosecuting them for growing industrial hemp under state regulations approved last year.

The farmers' state licenses are worthless without approval from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, and the agency has not acted on the farmers' applications.

Hemp falls under federal anti-drug rules because it has trace amounts of the mind-altering chemical THC that is found in marijuana.

Eric Steenstra, president of Vote Hemp, the nonprofit lobbying group that funded the farmers' lawsuit, called Hovland's ruling disappointing, saying it overlooks the original intent of Congress.

However, Vote Hemp said it was pleased that the DEA has sent a "memorandum of agreement" for North Dakota State University to sign that could clear the way for industrial hemp research.

NDSU, which was required by state lawmakers to study industrial hemp as an alternative crop, has unsuccessfully sought DEA permission since 1999. The school filed a legal brief in support of the farmers.

Ken Grafton, NDSU's dean of agriculture, said the proposal that DEA sent to a university researcher is being evaluated. "No one in administration, to my knowledge, has seen it," he said. "It's not a done deal."

Rick Johnson, a special assistant attorney general who represents NDSU, and Burton Johnson, an associate professor in NDSU's plant sciences department, did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment on specifics of the proposal.

Hauge, of Ray, said he was disappointed but not surprised by the Hovland's ruling., and said it should spur congressional action.