Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Cocke County hemp farm doesn't see desired yields

By Jeff Mondlock
Source: wbir.com

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A field of hemp plants sits on Mason's farm. Seeds can still be extracted, but not nearly as much as hoped for. (Photo: WBIR)

Throughout the month of October, farmers begin to harvest their inaugural hemp yields. Throughout the state, farms are seeing different results.
Charles Mason owns Happy Holler Hemp Farm in Parrottsville. His farm is the second biggest hemp farm in the state.
He had bad luck on his first crop. It was so small Mason was unable to harvest it.
"Should have held off for the upcoming year and made more plans rather than just rushing into it," said Mason.
The season started this year with great fanfare.
He said it cost his farm somewhere around $30,000. None of that money was made back because of the failed harvest. He said getting the proper equipment would have costed more than it's worth this year for harvesting the 60 acres of hemp. Seeds can still be extracted from the plant itself.
Mason believes he went through the steps exactly as he should have. He thinks things could have been done differently on the state level that would help farmers succeed, such as nearby facilities to help harvest the crop and a speedier delivery on the seeds in the first place.
"We didn't get our seed in time. Our planting and growth season was pretty much over, but we went ahead and tried. You see the results," said Mason.
He also dealt with people stealing from his property.
"A lot of people got the general idea - when they hear the word hemp they think marijuana - and you know we had people coming and trying to get a bag full of this and pack it up as if it was marijuana and put it on the market," said Mason.
It's not the same as marijuana, however.
The remaining hemp in the fields will be used to feed his cows.
"Right now this is probably going to be a cow pasture. It does have a lot of protein, but it's about if I could get my cows to eat it. It seems they want the Johnson Grass instead," said Mason.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture is still gathering the final numbers of yields from throughout the state. They should have all of that information by the end of November. Department spokeswoman Corrine Gould said they hope to get farmers seeds earlier than this year. Delays were caused through complications while shipping the seeds from Canada.


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