Morgan Leach, executive director of the West Virginia Hemp Farmers Cooperative, examines tthe seeds growing on a hybrid hemp plant at in Vienna, W. Va., recently. West Virginia has become the latest state to explore the re-introduction of hemp as a farm crop. (Associated Press/Charleston Gazette-Mail, Chris Dorst)
ELGIN, N.D. (AP) — A rural Elgin, N.D., farmer is taking part in a statewide pilot program to see if hemp has potential as a crop for growers in North Dakota.
Clarence Laub views the 10-acre hemp plot near his family farm as an experiment. He is one of seven growers in LaMoure, Grant, Foster and Benson counties who are participating in the hemp program sponsored by the North Dakota Department of Agriculture.
Since the crop was planted on June 1, emerging growth has been fairly uneven and spotty across the field because the seeds have received less than an inch of rain for most of the month, but recent precipitation has made a big difference. Laub has seen new plants coming in and patches where plants are at least a foot tall, and he’s hopeful that he’ll have enough hemp seed to process after a small harvest.
“The first time you will have failures, but you have to be able to go through it and learn from it. It’s trial and error,” he said.
Laub is rethinking his planting technique for future hemp crops.
Next year, he plans to use a no-till drill and get more depth consistency in the range of three-fourths of an inch. This year, he put the crop in with a hoe drill, and he thinks that might have placed the seed a little too deep for best germination.
“I’m hoping I could get a more uniform stand,” Laub said.
If he has a decent harvest, Laub will also experiment with using a cold press to run the seed through it to separate the oil from the meal, because each element has a marketable use.
Rachel Seifert-Spilde, plant protection specialist for the state Department of Agriculture, said the hemp crops in LaMoure County are more than four feet tall.
In West Virginia
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — The half-acre plot of fledgling plants along a hillside at Cedar Lane Farm puts into perspective the return of hemp to West Virginia soil — a resistance-riddled movement struggling to rise out of infancy.
Owner Dave Hawkins arrives with a few signs to post around the plot warning trespassers that the area is under surveillance.
“Industrial Hemp Research Project; No THC Content — Stay Out!” they read.
After a busy year full of uncertainties, including a rules bill passed during this year’s legislative session that nearly killed hemp research before the seeds were even planted, Hawkins is among a handful of growers around West Virginia who are pioneering the return of hemp.
But jumping through the hoops required by the state Department of Agriculture to attain permits was the easy part.
With the research plots under way, growers are collecting data to be studied by Susanna Wheeler, a master’s agronomy student at West Virginia University.
The data will be crucial to help state lawmakers understand hemp’s potential as a viable crop with myriad uses.
“It validates the purpose of what we’re doing,” said Hawkins, who also owns Mother Earth Foods, the oldest natural food store in the state. “You can say you did research, but if you’re haphazard with it, it doesn’t have much merit.”
While hemp and marijuana come from the same species of plant, Cannabis sativa, hemp is a separate variety with its own chemical makeup, and it has different cultivation practices than marijuana.
During World War II, hemp was viewed as a vital resource.
Production in the U.S. reached more than 150 million pounds in 1943, according to a 2015 Congressional Research Service Report titled “Hemp as an Agricultural Commodity.”
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