State Ag Officials See Massive Increase in Hemp Growing/Processing Applications
Tuesday, March 5th, 2019 -- 8:03 AM
(WRN) -State ag officials say they've had a massive increase in the number of applications to grow or process industrial hemp.State ag officials say they've had a massive increase in the number of applications to grow or process industrial hemp. Spokeswoman Donna Gilson says the idea of farming hemp appeals to many current farmers.
"Certainly it offers farmers an alternative. A lot of people who are applying are people who have not been farmers previously, this is their first venture into farming."
Gilson says only 350 people applied for the program during its first year.
"We have about 21-hundred applications from growers, people who want to be growers and processors both."
Gilson says around 21-hundred people have applied to either grow or process the plant, and that's attributed to a change in federal law.
"You might remember that Congress included as part of the 2018 Farm Bill, late in the year, removing industrial hemp from the controlled substances list."
Gilson says people are more confident in growing this season because Congress officially removed industrial hemp from the federal controlled substances list as part of last year's Farm Bill. Gilson says it will take a number of weeks before all those applications are processed, and most people will have a response by the time it's start to plant this spring.
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