Source: lethbridgeherald.com
Ron Lanier is used to motorists stopping to check out his field south of Coaldale.
When the wind is blowing east to west he can expect to see vehicles slowing down and even stopping to give his 600 acres of hemp the once over.
“Lots of people stop in and ask what it is,” he said, because they are curious if he is actually growing marijuana. Even the police have stopped in now and again to follow up on reports that someone is growing the illegal crop in the area.
He even got a call while in the Montreal airport in July because the police had shown up at his farm. He had to confirm the crop was hemp and he had his paperwork in place to be approved to grow the crop.
Because hemp does resemble marijuana, he has to have a criminal records check and register with the province.
“I’ve been growing hemp for seven years.”
He grows a variety that was developed in the Ukraine. It is lush green and develops a yellow hue when it’s ready to be harvested. He said this year’s crop is about two weeks away from harvest as it currently stands.
He first got into growing the crop because of Roger Snow in Stirling who operates Rocky Mountain Grain Products and processes hemp hearts. The company has been selling hemp hearts for a couple of decades under the obvious name – Hemp Hearts.
“It’s a neat processing plant,” he said of the Stirling operation.
Lanier’s interest in the crop began with hemp hearts, which he likes to eat but he has also worn hemp clothing and used other hemp-based products. His wife, Lori, owns Naturistas, a health store in downtown Lethbridge which has marketed hemp products for the last six years.
“It’s just added to the interest in growing healthy foods.”
As a farmer, Lanier likes the idea of growing healthy crops. Hemp is just one of five crops he has in rotation on his land along with flax, lentils, peas and durum – grown for processing into pasta flour.
He said he finds it more interesting to grow healthy foods on his land and he likes that aspect of farming.
“I’m growing healthy foods.”
Growing hemp is not without its unique pros and cons.
“It’s a challenging crop to grow.”
He said it’s been worth it to work hemp into his crop rotation, especially once he got the learning curve flattened out. It can been a little sensitive to too much moisture when it’s small and it doesn’t like a lot of the herbicides available to keep crops clean.
The variety he grows, both for the hemp heart and the fibre, also make it a challenge to combine. He has to modify his Case combine to handle the crop and not start a fire.
Lanier said he likes the fact that hemp is not only healthy but has so many uses. In the last six years he has grown 600 acres of the crop.
“It seems to be good in rotation.”
He said crops that follow it in the field seem to like being grown in the hemp stubble. Lanier, who operates under a no-till policy, said the crop is good fit in his overall farming operation.
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