Ready to switch to hemp? Farmers plan to grow fewest burley tobacco acres on record

Kentucky farmers plan to grow the lowest amount of burley tobacco on record this year, according to a new report.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service recently released its “Prospective Plantings” report showing burley tobacco growers in Kentucky intended to set 57,000 acres for harvest — 6,000 acres below last year and 1,000 acres lower than 2015, which was the previous record low. Burley tobacco is primarily used for cigarettes and Kentucky produces more than two-thirds of the nation’s output.

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles said despite the dip in production, tobacco still remains a significant economic driver for Kentucky. However, he said the state has done a good job of diversifying its agricultural portfolio in the years since the tobacco buyout.

Farmers in Kentucky intend to plant 1.28 million acres of corn and about two million acres of soybean, according to the report. Farmers also intend to harvest 2.1 million acres of all hay.

“There’s no shortage of what Kentucky farmers are growing these days,” Quarles said. “I like to say that in Kentucky, we grow apples to zucchini and everything in between.”

The ag commissioner said his administration has placed an emphasis on experimental crops, such as industrial hemp, hops and kenaf.

“Other states are looking to Kentucky when it comes to expanding their ag portfolio,” Quarles said.

Hemp’s future

Earlier this month, Quarles announced preliminary analysis of the 2017 Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Program in Kentucky showed a multi-million-dollar economic impact for the state.

According to early analysis of the 2017 processor production reports, Kentucky licensed processors paid Kentucky growers $7.5 million for harvested hemp. Additionally, Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Program processor licensees reported $25.6 million in capital improvements and investments and $16.7 million in gross product sales.

“When I became Commissioner of Agriculture, I wanted to make Kentucky a national leader in industrial hemp research,” Quarles said. “These numbers demonstrate the economic potential of this emerging industry right here in Kentucky. It is time to remove industrial hemp from the list of controlled substances for our farmers and processors, so we can remove uncertainty from this versatile crop.”

Hemp producers may finally get that certainty after U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore. and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., this month introduced the bipartisan Hemp Farming Act of 2018, which would legalize and clearly define hemp as an agricultural commodity and remove it from the list of controlled substances.

“I am proud to introduce the bipartisan Hemp Farming Act of 2018, which will build upon the success of the hemp pilot programs and spur innovation and growth within the industry,” McConnell said when announcing the legislation. “By legalizing hemp and empowering states to conduct their own oversight plans, we can give the hemp industry the tools necessary to create jobs and new opportunities for farmers and manufacturers around the country.”

In 2017, 198 growers in Kentucky planted the highest number of acres on record at more than 3,271 acres. The 2017 planting acreage was up from 2,350 acres in 2016, 922 acres in 2015, and 33 acres in 2014.

Quarles said it would be a big boost to Kentucky farmers if hemp were removed from the controlled substances list.

“The biggest hurdle to our industrial hemp industry is the uncertainty at the federal level about what Congress intends to do,” he said. “Our goal is make Kentucky the epicenter of the industrial hemp industry in the United States, and this legislation would be a giant step toward that goal.”

The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 hopes to build upon the past successful bipartisan efforts by McConnell, Wyden, and Merkley, who in 2014 helped legalize hemp pilot programs and in 2016 sought clarification for farmers after three federal agencies issued new guidance that conflicted with current laws governing the growing and selling of industrial hemp.

Content from: http://www.richmondregister.com/news/ready-to-switch-to-hemp-farmers-plan-to-grow-fewest/article_bec55ccc-44e2-11e8-b68e-5b0682d109b3.html.

FDA Says Marijuana Ingredient CBD Doesn’t Meet Criteria For Federal Control

Last week’s decision by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to place a marijuana-derived drug in the least restrictive category under federal law was largely based on a recommendation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But according to a recently released internal government letter, the FDA actually concluded that cannabidiol, or CBD, doesn’t meet the criteria for federal control at all.

CBD is a non-psychoactive ingredient in cannabis that serves as the basis of a new FDA-approved epilepsy drug, Epidiolex. In order to bring the drug to market, the FDA had to first evaluate its medical utility and potential for abuse and then submit its findings to the DEA.

Although the federal health regulatory agency’s review concluded that CBD shouldn’t be scheduled in any manner, the drug enforcement agency—citing international treaty obligations—opted to put Epidiolex in Schedule V and otherwise continue to classify CBD itself under the most restrictive category of Schedule I.

What the FDA determined about CBD:

Studies demonstrated that “CBD and its salts… do not have a significant potential for abuse and could be removed from the [Controlled Substances Act],” the FDA wrote to the DEA in May.

But the letter also mentioned that the FDA had been advised by then-DEA Acting Administrator Robert Patterson that federally de-scheduling CBD altogether would represent a violation of international drug treaties to which the U.S. is a party.

In April, the DEA “asserted that the United States would not be able to keep obligations under the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs if CBD were decontrolled under the CSA,” the FDA letter reveals.

Therefore, the FDA amended its recommendation, advising the DEA to place CBD in Schedule V, the least restrictive category under federal law, instead.

“If treaty obligations do not require control of CBD, or if the international controls on CBD change in the future, this recommendation will need to be promptly revisited.”

There were three main takeaways from the FDA’s review of CBD: The substance has “negligible potential for abuse,” has a “currently accepted medical use in treatment” and abusing it “may lead to limited physical dependence” similar to other Schedule V drugs.

Altogether, there were eight factors that the FDA considered when making its scheduling recommendation. “Upon consideration” of those eight factors, the agency said CBD alone “could be removed from control” under the CSA.

“We reach this conclusion because we find that CBD does not meet the criteria for placement in any of Schedules II, III, IV, or V under the CSA.”

In its conclusion, the FDA also reiterated that the scheduling placement of CBD should be “revisited promptly” if international treaty obligations change.

The FDA and the DEA don’t always see eye-to-eye when it comes to marijuana.

While the DEA has consistently upheld the Schedule I status of cannabis in line with FDA recommendations, the health agency previously recommended altering the scheduling system, arguing that the current approach should be re-evaluated in order to “identify ways to encourage appropriate scientific research into the potential therapeutic benefits of marijuana and its constituents,” for example.

This year, the FDA rejected a petition from an anti-legalization group that called for further restrictions on cannabis. And FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb signaled tentative support for decriminalizing marijuana during an interview earlier this month. (Though also argued that youth marijuana consumption was more concerning than the use of e-cigarettes).

The DEA ultimately accepted the FDA’s scheduling recommendation and placed Epidiolex in Schedule V on Friday. But in its final notice, the DEA repeatedly emphasized that the rescheduling decision did not affect the legal status of marijuana or any CBD products except for Epidiolex and future generic, FDA-approved versions of the drug.

“DEA will continue to support sound and scientific research that promotes legitimate therapeutic uses for FDA-approved constituent components of cannabis, consistent with federal law,” DEA Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon said in a press release. “DEA is committed to continuing to work with our federal partners to seek ways to make the process for research more efficient and effective.”

Content retrieved from: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/fda-says-marijuana-ingredient-cbd-doesnt-meet-criteria-for-federal-control/.

Governor Brown Signs Landmark Hemp Legislation SB 1409

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Vote Hemp, the nation’s leading grassroots hemp advocacy organization working to change state and federal laws to allow commercial hemp farming, celebrates the passage of SB 1409 in California, which legalizes hemp farming in the state. A major victory for the hemp industry, Governor Brown signed Vote Hemp sponsored legislation Sunday, September 30, 2018, and the law will go into effect January 1, 2019, finally allowing California farmers to enter the rapidly growing hemp industry on a wide scale. To read the full bill, please visit:
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB1409.

SB 1409, brings California’s hemp laws up to date by adding pilot program status to California Department of Food and Agriculture’s registration program in conformance with federal requirements and striking outdated state statute provisions that conflicted with the expanded definition of hemp that includes extracts and derivatives from the non-psychoactive flowers and leaves. The bill allows California farmers to grow industrial hemp and to produce hemp seed, oil, fiber and extract.

“Agriculture is a hugely important sector of the California economy, and we are thrilled that farmers can now benefit from the economic opportunity of hemp farming,” said Eric Steenstra, President of Vote Hemp. “We are grateful to the bill’s co-sponsors, Ojai Energetics, Hoban Law Group and Politico Group for their legal and lobbying support, and to Senator Scott Wilk for authoring this legislation and championing its passage in California.”

Currently at the federal level, the Hemp Farming Act (S. 2667) has been included in the Senate version of the Farm Bill now being negotiated, and is well poised to become law in 2018, with the passage of the “must pass” bill. If passed, the bill would place federal regulatory authority of hemp solely with USDA and require State departments of agriculture to file their hemp program plans with USDA but allow them to regulate hemp cultivation per their State specific programs. In addition to defining hemp as cannabis that contains no more than 0.3% THC by dry weight, the bill asserts a ‘whole plant’ definition of hemp, including plant extracts; and would remove roadblocks to the rapidly growing hemp industry in the U.S., notably by authorizing and encouraging access to federal research funding for hemp, and remove restrictions on banking, water rights, and other regulatory roadblocks the hemp industry currently faces. The bill would also explicitly authorize crop insurance for hemp. The full text of the bill may be found at: https://www.votehemp.com/hempfarmingbill.

To date, forty states have defined industrial hemp as distinct and removed barriers to its production. These states are able to take immediate advantage of the industrial hemp research and pilot program provision, Section 7606 of the Farm Bill: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.

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Confusion surrounds policies on CBD shops

Kim Sisson and her brother were walking along the Venice Beach Boardwalk, helping their 78-year-old father get some sun, when they spotted a store called Topikal Everything Hemp.

Their dad lives in an assisted living facility in Porter Ranch, suffering from dementia that causes, among other things, anxiety. His doctor at UCLA recommended against using marijuana, which Sisson said her dad, as a younger man, occasionally smoked. But the doctor did give the go-ahead to use CBD, a compound found in the cannabis plant that’s believed to have a number of medical benefits without making people high.

Sisson had seen CBD products online and in smoke shops, and she knows that most dispensaries carry them. But she said the Venice Beach store is the first she’s seen dedicated solely to CBD, with shelves full of infused oils, capsules, bath bombs and creams.

Standalone CBD shops remain rare, but a few have opened in Hesperia, Tarzana and other Southern California communities as word of mouth — backed by scant but growing scientific evidence — spreads about the compound’s potential to ease seizures, calm anxiety and reduce inflammation.

Marijuana businesses are now heavily taxed and regulated in California because they deal with products that contain THC, a compound that can make consumers high. But businesses that deal in CBD products made from hemp, a strain of cannabis plant with less than 0.3 percent THC, have so far been largely left to their own devices.

The industry is growing despite a number of hurdles, including federal bans, a lack of clarity in California law, and a confusing patchwork of local policies.

The federal government insists that virtually all products derived from cannabis are illegal, with narrow exemptions carved out by the 2014 Farm Bill for hemp that’s cultivated for research. But so far, federal authorities have issued only warnings to CBD businesses that make unsubstantiated health claims, with an acknowledgment that federal authorities are focused on more dangerous substances.

While California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control oversees the marijuana industry, and the federal Department of Food and Agriculture oversees hemp cultivation, hemp-based CBD products aren’t currently regulated by any state agency. To date, the only crackdown from the state has been a July warning against adding hemp-derived CBD to any food products.

Otherwise, CBD vendors don’t need a special state license to set up shop. And, while Topikal and most other stores choose to sell products that have been tested for safety and purity, there aren’t laws that force them to do so.

That has left most decisions about how and where CBD businesses can operate up to local authority. And those policies are all over the map.

Cities such as Los Angeles, where Topikal Everything Hemp now has two locations, are treating businesses that deal with hemp-derived CBD as they do any other retail or manufacturing operation.

That’s also the rule in Hesperia, where this spring Christopher Malman and his wife opened their store, CBD Wellness Center.

Malman said other cities — including Hesperia, initially — turned them down because they associated the business with marijuana. But after officials in Hesperia did some research, the city granted the Malmans a business license for their CBD store on Main Street.

Hesperia’s cannabis ordinance doesn’t address CBD products made from hemp, according to city spokeswoman Rachel Molina. So, under the current policy, CBD shops are subject to the approval process that applies to all retail businesses. And Molina said they haven’t had any issues since that first shop opened its doors.

But other cities aren’t distinguishing between marijuana and CBD, despite state law clearly delineating the two product categories. Instead, some cities are saying their bans on marijuana businesses also cover retailers hoping to sell CBD products.
In February, city officials in Victorville — next-door to Hesperia — shut down Lisa Carlson’s kiosk, which sold CBD products at the Mall of Victor Valley.

Carlson began using CBD about six years ago to ease the symptoms she experienced as a result of fibromyalgia and other illnesses. The products were so effective, she said, that she wanted to share it with other people. So she got a permit to sell CBD products out of her Adelanto home and at local events under the name Carlson Total Harmony.

Carlson believed she’d been cleared for a business license in Victorville when she set up her kiosk at the mall. But she soon got slapped with a violation notice. And when she went to clear up the licensing issue, city staff told her that, aside from medical marijuana deliveries operated by outside vendors, no commercial cannabis businesses are allowed in Victorville.
She explained the difference between hemp-derived CBD and marijuana to city staff, and she said they were receptive to the information. But they still refused to grant her a license.

“Unfortunately, the cities — first with cannabis and now with hemp — are often clueless,” said Michael Chernis, a Santa Monica-based attorney who works with the cannabis industry. And when cities don’t fully understand an issue, he said, the default response is often to turn the businesses away.

For now, Chernis said there is no state prohibition against selling CBD products derived from hemp as long as the merchant gets the proper local business licenses. And he said there is no state prohibition against processing CBD products in California, so long as the company gets the hemp from a state such as Colorado or Kentucky, where hemp is approved for cultivation and exports.

Chernis expects California at some point will start to regulate hemp-derived CBD products more like marijuana products, requiring some level of testing and licensing. But he doesn’t expect California to follow the path of states such as Ohio, which recently ruled that CBD products can only be sold in licensed medical marijuana dispensaries.

Until there’s some clarity from the state, many other cities are leaving their policies — and any potential CBD business owners — in limbo.

That’s true in Laguna Hills, where Medterra distributes CBD oils and other products out of a facility off Lake Forest Drive. David Chantarangsu, community development director for Laguna Hills, said the city banned all forms of commercial cannabis two years ago. But the local ordinance was tied to state law, which exempts hemp products.

So, with California still developing final regulations for both the marijuana and hemp industries, Chantarangsu said Laguna Hills’ policy is on hold. And while it’s legal for a CBD business to operate in the city, he added, they’re doing so at their own risk until final rules are in place.

“We’re just looking for certainty so we know what to tell the business owners and my staff.”

None of that has scared off Gary Avetisyan, 24, and his brother, Greg, 26, who own the growing chain of Topikal Everything Hemp stores.

Gary Avetisyan said they were drawn to CBD because they saw how the products helped with his brother’s rheumatoid arthritis. They also didn’t want to open just another dispensary, and they thought hemp-based CBD products didn’t bring the same headaches that come with selling marijuana on the regulated market.

But when they started, CBD wasn’t well known. And in 2016, when they opened their first shop in Tarzana — perhaps the first CBD shop in California — business was slow.

“Honestly, it came to a point where we were kind of hesitant, where we thought maybe this business isn’t going to go for us like we thought it was,” Gary Avetisyan said.

But that changed, and business at the Tarzana shop blew up. He said when they opened their Venice Beach location in the spring, traffic was strong from day one, with most customers looking for relief from arthritis and anxiety.

The brothers now make a line of their own CBD products. And they’re planning to open a third shop somewhere in Orange County. “We’re learning as we go,” Gary Avetisyan said. But he added, “We’re really glad we took the risk.”

Content from: https://www.dailydemocrat.com/2018/09/26/confusion-surrounds-policies-on-cbd-shops/.

Maldonado growing hemp—not cannabis—on his SLO ranch, county says, raising questions about rules for both crops

Former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado’s large Central Coast ranch just happens to straddle the San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara county line.

That’s a seemingly mundane fact—except when you’re talking about cannabis.

Over the last three weeks, two developments have come to light about the man who was recently on the short list to become President Donald Trump’s secretary of agriculture: Maldonado has a licensed medical cannabis grow on the Santa Barbara County portion of his property. And on the SLO County side, he has a (much larger) industrial hemp farm.

Late last month, the latter site—estimated at 30 acres in size—drew scrutiny from SLO County law enforcement. In stark contrast to Santa Barbara County, which leads all California counties with 1,379 temporarily licensed cannabis farms, SLO County has clamped down on cannabis since voters passed Proposition 64: Only 19 grows in its boundaries were licensed as of press time. Maldonado is not on SLO County’s list of registered growers, so when Sheriff’s deputies spotted Maldonado’s young hemp farm, the county opened a cannabis investigation, which was first reported by New Times on Aug. 9.

The county asked Maldonado to prove the plants were hemp and not cannabis.

“Frankly, it does require a lab test,” Code Enforcement Supervisor Art Trinidade told New Times for that story, garnering media attention across the county.

Since then, Maldonado handed over lab test results to the county. The plants are in fact hemp and not cannabis, both parties say. The difference between the two crops? Hemp is a particular strain of cannabis containing less than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content (the chemical compound that gets you high), and it’s harvested for industrial and medical purposes.

In a statement sent to New Times on Aug. 23, SLO County Planning and Building Department Director Trevor Keith confirmed the county had closed the investigation.

“Our code enforcement staff in coordination with county counsel reviewed documentation that provided evidence that the plants are a hemp cultivation site and there is no violation of county code,” Keith said via email.

In a press release the same day, Maldonado rebuked county officials for their handling of the case and announced that he’s “a strong advocate for industrial hemp and all its many commercial uses.”

“At no time did Runway Farms or myself ever have an illegal 30-acre cannabis grow on my ranch as reported … by local media outlets,” Maldonado said in a statement. “The county staff member who falsely misrepresented that my industrial hemp crop as something other than hemp was 100 percent wrong.

“In the near future, I plan to publicly share more about my passion for industrial hemp farming,” he added.

Hemp for research

Like cannabis, hemp is also in the process of coming out of the shadows of prohibition. Proposition 64’s passage in 2016 put in motion a new regulatory scheme for hemp—but the rules are still under development.

Until the state finalizes its regulations, hemp can only be legally cultivated for research in association with “an established agricultural research institution.” It cannot be grown commercially yet.

When Maldonado handed over lab tests of his hemp farm, he also showed county officials a hemp research agreement with Terra Focus LLC. A Mendocino County-based company, Terra Focus registered with the state as an LLC on April 25. Maldonado started his hemp farm in May, according to Brandon Gesicki, his government affairs representative. On July 26—the same day Sheriff’s deputies found the farm on routine patrol, sparking the investigation—Terra Focus filed more paperwork with the state labeling the business as an “agricultural research center.”

Unlike cannabis, hemp production isn’t regulated in SLO County—but it almost was. On June 19, the Board of Supervisors shot down an urgency ordinance that would have banned all hemp production with few exceptions, such as in association with a public research institution like Cal Poly (which does not sponsor hemp research). At that meeting, several local hemp cultivators came out to oppose the ordinance; its provisions would have made private research hemp farms—like the one on Maldonado’s property—illegal.

One of those farmers was Frank Brown, a local hemp grower supplying product for research on cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive chemical in hemp and cannabis with medicinal properties. Brown said he’s aware of several hundred acres of hemp being grown in SLO County.

“The supervisors said, ‘You know what, let them grow it. There’s nothing wrong with it,'” Brown told New Times. “Hemp is not cannabis. There’s a world of difference.”

Wayne Richman, the executive director of the California Hemp Association, told SLO County supervisors that the limbo period for hemp laws is making it difficult for the industry to find its legs.

“Our farmers are faced with a dilemma,” Richman said. “The dilemma is there’s a $1 billion market and we’re being caught up in bureaucratic stuff.”

Content retrieved from: https://www.newtimesslo.com/sanluisobispo/maldonado-growing-hemp-not-cannabis-on-his-slo-ranch-county-says-raising-questions-about-rules-for-both-crops/Content?oid=6045105.

Local hemp farmer has high hopes for industry in West Virginia

COOL RIDGE, WV – The hemp industry is growing like a weed, but could West Virginia be the new frontier?

According to hemp farmer, David Munsee, hemp could be the future of agriculture in the state.

“It’s time as a farmer to stand up and grow a productive crop and make some money,” Munsee said.

Munsee owns and operates Cool Ridge Hemp Farms on Flat Top Road. Munsee said it is part of a $2.1 billion industry that he wants to bring to West Virginia.

“I can imagine 5,500 farmers doing five to ten acres across the state,” Munsee said.

As the CEO of Advanced Growers Inc, he currently employees three people. Munsee explained he is looking to expand his business and hire more people.

“I see next year being an opportunity to employ six to ten people,” Munsee explained.

Munsee said he believes hemp is a commodity plant, meaning it can be imported and exported. He added the uses for hemp are endless.

“This is not a marijuana plant, this is not medical marijuana,” Munsee said. “This plant is used to make creams and lotions, shampoos and conditioners..tinctures.”

Munsee said he brought his company here because West Virginia has some of the most tolerant hemp laws in the country, which is helpful for farmers.

According to state law, growers are allowed to produce hemp if they are licensed by the West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture. West Virginia Growers must use seeds which produce plants containing less than one percent THC.

“It won’t get you high,” Munsee said. “This is not a plant to be scared of. This is used to make paper, fiber, etc.”

Munsee said he has high hopes for the hemp industry in West Virginia.

“This will boost their economy as a farmer, this is also an employment opportunity,” said Munsee.

Munsee plans to expand to Greenbrier County in the near future.

Content retrieved from: https://www.wvnstv.com/local-news/raleigh-county/local-hemp-farmer-has-high-hopes-for-industry-in-west-virginia/1349773506.

UF Hosts Hemp Workshops for Growers, Industry in August

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is taking the first step to introduce industrial hemp to growers and industry across the state.

The UF/IFAS Industrial Hemp Pilot Project will host a series of workshops for grower and industry project partners. UF/IFAS faculty will provide an update about the industrial hemp program at UF, facilitate a discussion about the direction of the new industry, and identify how folks can get involved in the program, said Zachary Brym, UF/IFAS industrial hemp coordinator.

“Our goals are to establish a process to expand the scope of the UF program through Project Sponsors, and to directly engage growers and industry groups as ‘Qualified Project Partners,’” Brym said.

Three sessions of the workshop will be offered. Participants are encouraged to pre-register:

Aug. 9, Quincy: https://ufindustrialhempnofl.eventbrite.com

Aug. 10, Citra: https://ufindustrialhempcentfl.eventbrite.com

Aug. 13, Homestead: https://ufindustrialhempsofl.eventbrite.com

The morning session, from 8 a.m. to noon, will focus on grower interests and partnership opportunities. The afternoon session, from 1 to 5 p.m., will focus on industry interests and partnerships.

Registration is $10, and lunch will be provided. Sponsorship opportunities are available upon registration. For more information, contact Zachary Brym at 786-217-9238.

Hemp: Florida’s new agricultural powerhouse?

Hemp is making headlines, and interest in it is growing. National hemp legalization has brought together Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell and his Democratic counterpart, Chuck Schumer, to advance a bill. Florida is among 30 states authorized to conduct research pilot projects on growing and selling hemp. To find out more what’s called “industrial hemp” could mean for the state’s agricultural future, the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board sought out Zachary Brym, an assistant professor of agroecology for the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’ Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead.

Q: What exactly is industrial hemp? What’s the origin of hemp, and how has it been used through the ages? What consumer uses or agricultural applications can it have today?

A: Industrial Hemp is a Cannabis sativa plant with less than 0.3 percent of THC, which is the psychoactive chemical that at a higher level defines marijuana. Hemp has been cultivated for more than 10,000 years as a fiber and grain crop. Modern hemp production could be used for fiber, building materials, forages to feed cattle, food products for people, and oil extraction for CBD.

Q: What’s the difference between hemp and marijuana?

A: Good question. Both hemp and marijuana are Cannabis sativa. But hemp is not marijuana. It really comes down to a difference in chemical composition and use. THC is the chemical in marijuana that is credited for causing the marijuana high. Marijuana has a THC content of 5 percent to 20 percent, whereas hemp is defined by a threshold of THC less than 0.3 percent. In contrast, hemp has a higher CBD content. The specific uses for THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids are still under investigation, but hemp can be used for much more as I listed before.

Q: Why try to grow hemp in Florida? McConnell seems to believe it can be Kentucky’s cash-crop equivalent of tobacco.

A: We’re certainly not the first, but we hope to establish ourselves as a leader. Florida has a potential advantage in environment, from water availability and warmer weather, and in markets. It can turn out to be a valuable and impactful alternative crop for the state. Yet, before we can encourage farmers to grow hemp, we have to do some preliminary trials of the crop and the cropping system. Consequently, we are collaborating with industry groups and stakeholders to assess the economic break-even point for farmers and identify commercialization opportunities for industry.

Q: How do you know hemp can be a valuable Florida crop? Are there standards in place?

A: Another good question. This is exactly what we hope to find out in the first couple years of our research program. We have to identify the varieties and cropping systems that can be effective for Florida and establish a process for getting quality products to market. As we’re the first to do this in Florida, we have to work together with state and federal regulators and prospective industry partners to put the standards in place that are required for commercialization. If there is one way that we know hemp can be a valuable Florida crop, it is by the remarkable enthusiasm that we have seen in growers and the processing industry. We have a lot of support from them to do this work and will do everything we can to deliver.

Q: What is UF’s “strategic plan” for hemp as a Florida crop?

A: Our plan is to develop a strong program that gets the best available information to the growers and industry groups in a reasonable timeline so they can get to work. We plan to get plants in the ground at UF in the spring 2019. Then, we have a two-year window from planting to make a report to the state about what we think happens next. We are moving along well with getting the project underway with approval from the UF Board of Trustees, federal and state legislation. We hope to establish the first industry sponsorship for the project in the next couple of weeks. A team of seven faculty members based in Gainesville and at research centers across the state will focus on various aspects of hemp production, including variety selection, cropping-system establishment, and environmental responsibility. Research plots will be established in four different locations across the state to capture the range of environments and farming infrastructure in Florida.

Q: Is there any oversight from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration or state agency about the pilot program?

A. Yes. As we understand it currently, the DEA will be regulating and monitoring the seed import and distribution related to the project. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is responsible for regulating the planting sites. We have submitted applications for licensing and permitting to the DEA and FDACS and continue to make progress. This has been a great learning experience for our administrative team about establishing a new crop in the state. We feel fortunate to be working with very kind and thoughtful officers at DEA and FDACS. It’s really about having a conversation and figuring out how we can get our work done in this new space.

Q: As Florida’s new hemp research coordinator, what’s your background?

A. I hold a Ph.D. in ecology from Utah State University with specialization in crop physiology and cropping systems. I am an agroecologist by training and am interested in developing new cropping systems through rigorous experimentation and trialing. My background gives me the tools to establish best management practices, environmental consciousness and social responsibility that is needed for a new industry in a new place. I am very excited for this opportunity to work with hemp.

Content from: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-ed-hemp-florida-crop-qa-interview20180730-story.html.

Florida farmers and entrepreneurs hoping for hemp

Zack Brym wanted to gather a few farmers together to talk about growing industrial hemp in Florida. He thought he’d sit down with a dozen or so people.

Nearly 300 signed up.

In three workshops across the state, prospective hemp growers and other interested parties flocked to the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to find out if the long-banned crop could become a profitable industry in Florida. One farmer whose citrus groves were wiped out by frost recounted how she switched to growing ferns, only to see her shade houses swept away by hurricanes — twice. Others told of steadily losing their groves to citrus greening, the disease UF/IFAS estimates has cost Florida growers $8.9 billion.

They’re hoping hemp can be their deliverance. Brym’s workshops were the first step in creating a partnership between researchers and people who want to grow, process or sell hemp for uses from joint-pain creams to building materials.

“The enthusiasm is real. The motivation is real. This can be the next big thing for Florida,” says Brym, an agroecologist and plant physiologist who coordinates UF’s industrial hemp pilot project with Rob Gilbert, chairman of UF’s agronomy department.

There’s just one catch: Outside of research projects like this one, growing hemp is still illegal in Florida.

Hemp products are a $700 million industry in the United States. Hemp can be woven into textiles, pressed into paper products, used for animal feed and bedding, planted as a cover crop or eaten (for food, not for a high) in the form of seeds, greens or protein powder. The oil from its seeds is used in cosmetics and cooking, and the cannabidiol extract from its flowers — commonly called CBD — is used for pain and stress relief. Hemp could even provide a biodegradable alternative to plastic.

However, growing hemp in the U.S. has been forbidden for decades, thanks to hemp’s better-known relation, marijuana. You can’t get high on hemp, which contains less than .3 percent THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychotropic component of marijuana. But hemp and marijuana are the same species, largely indistinguishable by sight and smell. Even drug-sniffing dogs can’t tell the difference.

Hemp hasn’t been grown in Florida on a large scale since Prohibition, but in 2014, the federal Farm Bill opened the door for hemp research. In 2017, UF and Florida A&M University got permission from the state to launch a two-year study, which UF’s trustees approved in March 2018.

For UF/IFAS, two years isn’t much time to deliver everything growers need to know. For would-be hemp farmers, it feels like a lifetime.

At the second workshop, held at the UF/IFAS Plant Science Research and Education Unit in Citra, one farmer asked a question Brym has heard before: Hemp used to grow here, so why can’t we just use the historical data? As an agroecologist, Brym looks not just at the crop, but the world around it, and he knows 70-year-old data can only take the industry so far. Case in point: When hemp was last grown in Florida, no one had ever heard of CBD oil, one of the more lucrative potential uses.

Brym assured the workshop participants that the project will collect knowledge that’s already available on industrial hemp. In the first year, Brym — with the backing of a team that spans the state, as well as disciplines from economics to pharmacy — will evaluate more than 30 varieties to identify which are best for grain and fiber. In the second year, the team will launch further trials of the most promising varieties.

Green Roads — a Florida-based company offering more than 50 CBD products — signed on as the inaugural sponsor, helping to secure authorization for the pilot program. Team members from Green Roads also shared their knowledge during the three workshops.

“Hemp is an emerging industry that is going to benefit people in the state of Florida in so many different ways,” said Green Roads co-founder Arby Barroso, who also holds the title of “chief evangelist” for the company.

While states such as Kentucky and North Carolina have a head start, “if we do this right, the University of Florida and this pilot program will be able to quickly close that gap,” Barroso said. “That’s why our partnership with UF is so important. It will be transformational for so many industries.”

To expand the scope of the research, UF/IFAS needs additional sponsors to sign on. Prospective growers, processors and product developers can get involved by applying to become project partners, attending field days at the research plots, or volunteering for the project’s advisory group.

Gathering data on so many potential varieties and uses will require plenty of community support, Brym says. It’s just one of the challenges of building an industry from the ground up, especially one as tightly regulated as hemp. The researchers can’t import a single seed without a Schedule 1 license from the Drug Enforcement Agency, and coordination with law enforcement on the location of hemp plots and movement of plant material is critical.

Growers also may have to deal with thieves who mistake a field of hemp for marijuana.

“We’ll have to see how well we can educate people,” Brym says.

He’ll be drawing on UF/IFAS’ century-long history as the research arm of Florida agriculture, which includes the successful introduction of the state’s $82 million blueberry industry. Now UF/IFAS hopes to win again with hemp — and the clock is ticking.

“We have the opportunity to impact the state and push us to be a leader in a new industry,” Brym says. “That responsibility is really terrifying, but it’s also really exciting.”

Content retrieved from: https://ufnews.atavist.com/hoping-for-hemp.

Industrial hemp advocates hope this is their year in Annapolis

The industrial hemp plant has a lot of boosters.

They praise it for its hardiness and versatility. They say its oils yield food and medicine, its fibers produce clothing and plastic-like auto parts. They contend that when planted strategically, it can absorb manure and other pollutants before they flow into the Chesapeake Bay.

So why is it contraband, they ask?

Advocates for industrial hemp hope this is the year they can overcome the hemp plant’s association with marijuana and win passage of a bill that would make it legal to grow and process in Maryland. At a forum Friday in Annapolis, they expressed confidence this will be the year state lawmakers join a growing national movement to distinguish hemp’s industrial version from the plant beloved by millions of potheads.

“Hemp is an extremely useful plant and hemp isn’t about getting stoned,” said Rona Kobell, who wrote a report for the Abell Foundation making the case for the plant in Maryland. “There’s no reason it should be illegal.”

But illegal it is at the federal level and in most states, Maryland among them. While a growing number of states have dropped their statutory prohibitions on growing industrial hemp and processing it for use in products, Maryland law still treats the plants as identical to their buzz-producing cannabis cousins.

Kobell, a former Baltimore Sun reporter who moderated the forum in a dress and boots made of hemp, said Maryland has missed the opportunity to be first in developing a homegrown hemp industry but still has time to avoid being last.

She noted that conservative-leaving Kentucky is moving forward with developing a hemp industry with the support of Republican U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul. Another 18 states — including Virginia and Pennsylvania — have given the green light to hemp, notwithstanding federal law. Unless the state bill passes, Maryland law would change only if Congress ends the federal prohibition.

Sarah Manekin, research director of the urban-oriented Abell Foundation, said she was surprised when Abell President Robert C. Embry Jr. asked her to launch a hemp study. But Manekin said the foundation’s research found ample benefits for Baltimore, pointing to empty warehouses that could be used for processing plants and Under Armour’s interest in innovative textiles.

“All these things can also support Baltimore city,” she said.

Michael Renfroe, a professor of biology at James Madison University in Virginia, said industrial hemp and marijuana plants are both of the species Cannabis sativa. But the resemblance ends there, he said. Even though they’re the same species, he said, marijuana and industrial hemp are as different and easily distinguishable as a chihuahua and a golden retriever.

Marijuana plants in the field are short and bushy, Renfroe said, while industrial hemp grows tall and straight. The high users get from marijuana comes from the hallucinogenic substance THC. Industrial hemp has only trace amounts, he said.

“You can’t get high from it,” Renfroe said. “This requires THC.”

This year, as for the last several years, Del. David Fraser-Hidalgo is taking the lead in sponsoring legislation that would authorize both growing and processing operations for hemp.

The Montgomery County Democrat said that in past years, lawmakers couldn’t get over the association with marijuana, which the federal government still puts in the same category as heroin. Last year, he said, the bill lost momentum when the state Department of Agriculture put a high price tag on the laboratory work needed to certify industrial hemp as THC-free.

Fraser-Hidalgo said that this year he’s optimistic that the cost issues have been resolved and that the administration of Gov. Larry Hogan will be on board.

The Governor’s Office is neither endorsing nor opposing the measure.

“Our office is aware of the issue and looks forward to seeing it debated in the General Assembly,” Hogan spokesman Doug Mayer said.

It is not clear whether law enforcement agencies would take a stand. Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger, who frequently speaks for the state’s prosecutors, said he was not familiar with the issue. A spokesman for the state’s sheriffs could not be reached.

Proponents of industrial hemp contend the plant has environmental value to match its usefulness. Renfroe said its resistance to weeds makes dangerous herbicides unnecessary. With a short growing season, he said, it has potential as a cover crop to protect the bay from excess fertilizer runoff.

Anna Chaney, an Anne Arundel County landowner who is interested in growing hemp on her farm, said she sees industrial hemp as a potential soil decontaminant. She said many Southern Maryland farmers would welcome the opportunity to add the crop.

Alex Hempfield, a Montgomery County entrepreneur, whose Livity Foods LLC makes 40,000 hemp-based Everbar protein bars a day at his Rockville facility, said that if Maryland legalizes hemp-growing he’ll be able to tap local growers such as Chaney for raw materials. Now, he said, he gets most of his hemp from Canada. (Unlike marijuana, it is not illegal to merely possess industrial hemp.)

“We’ll employ more people and we’ll make other hemp products,” said Hempfield, who changed his name from Alex Joseph for commercial reasons.

Colby Ferguson, government relations director for the Maryland Farm Bureau, said the organization supports giving farmers the freedom to grow industrial hemp. But he said the group may not take a formal position backing the bill out of a concern its members could get in trouble with federal authorities.

“We’re definitely not going to be trying to kill the bill by any means,” Ferguson said. “If it passes, we’ll be happy.”

Content from: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-hemp-bill-20180202-story.html.