Licensed Hemp Farming

[ponto]

Did you know Kentucky is one of seven states that have authorized industrial hemp farming.

The others are Hawaii, North Dakota, Maine, Maryland, Montana and West Virginia.

Last month, the N.D. Agriculture Department finished its work on rules farmers may use to grow industrial hemp, a cousin of marijuana that does not have the drug's hallucinogenic properties.

The sturdy, fibrous plant is used to make an assortment of products, ranging from paper, rope and lotions to car panels, carpet backing and animal bedding.

Applicants must provide latitude and longitude coordinates for their proposed hemp fields, furnish fingerprints and pay at least $202 in fees, including $37 to cover the cost of criminal record checks.

Canada made it legal for farmers to grow the crop in March 1998. Last year, Canadian farmers planted 48,060 acres of hemp, government statistics say.

Wake up America

Vote Hemp: http://www.votehemp.com

[Foxy]

Could give new meaning to the "Herb Farm on Strodes Run" if they chose to grow it... sorry, ya know I had to do it!! LOL It is these danged smileys they are addicting....:attention: :Banane43: :Banane44: :Banane37:

[Chuck]

Getting in on the ground floor with Hemp will be a big thing for Mason County. I hope people don't chuckle too much the sweep the idea under the floor. There is some interesting R&D going on around Hemp that could make it a very valuable crop.

[wmjsmallwood]

better hemp than tobbaco,at least it don;t kill people

[F_Farkell]

better hemp than tobbaco,at least it don;t kill people


Oh yea??
Tell that to all the horse thieves hung with a hemp rope.

Fred

P.S. ]tobacco [/U]is grown in Mason County.

[Chuck]

Oh yea??
Tell that to all the horse thieves hung with a hemp rope.



Thats my family your talk'n about.

[evilmonkey]

Hemp has gotten a bad rap over the years, because in the past it has been thought that only hippie tree hugers and stoners were the only people that used hemp.The truth is that alot of big companie's have been using it for years it has only has in recent year that public opion has begin to change. With the world becoming more envoirment friendly and health minded.The more people learn seemingly endless uses for the plant I think we will start to more an more products made entirly out hemp.The best part of all is that hemp can be grow every year it will cut down on the need for chemical based products in alot of indiustries.

[dawg]

I think that this could be great for local farmers. Some facts:
Industrial hemp contains a miniscule amount of THC. The only effect that you would get by smoking it would be maybe a headache.
It can be raised with equipment that most farmers already own: plow, disc, wheat drill, disc mower or haybine, hay rake, and a round baler.
It is sown in a heavy population to discourage growth of the leaves because the part that is used is the stalk.
It is mowed down and allowed to lay for a week or so(rain doesn't hurt it) to allow the fibers to separate more easily from the "hurd"(the interior part of the stalk)
It is then put up in a round bale for transportation to a processing facility.
At the processor, the outer fiber is separated from the hurd. The hurd can be used for animal bedding or mulch and the fiber can be woven into yarn or thread.
We experimented with this several years ago at Parker Tobacco Co. and we took the "cottonized" fiber where they were able to make an outstanding product.
I had met at the time with both Pete Worthington and then-Commissioner of Agriculture Billy Ray Smith. They both were of the opinion that it would be so politically unpopular that they couldn't support it.
Also, at the time there was a Hemp Cooperative formed and they tried to get the legisture to let UK experiment with it at the Bluegrass Army Depot(a secure site). This, too, was denied.
I was unaware that this has made so much progress recently. It could make us much less dependent on tobacco (and the high labor costs).