Hemp: Florida's new agricultural powerhouse?

By Michael Joe Murphy
Source: orlandosentinel.com

Hemp is making headlines, and interest in it is growing. National hemp legalization has brought together Senate GOPleader Mitch McConnell and his Democratic counterpart, Chuck Schumer, to advance a bill. Florida is among 30 states authorized to conduct research pilot projects on growing and selling hemp. To find out more what’s called “industrial hemp” could mean for the state’s agricultural future, the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board sought out Zachary Brym, an assistant professor of agroecology for the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’ Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead.

Q: What exactly is industrial hemp? What’s the origin of hemp, and how has it been used through the ages? What consumer uses or agricultural applications can it have today?

A: Industrial Hemp is a Cannabis sativa plant with less than 0.3 percent of THC, which is the psychoactive chemical that at a higher level defines marijuana. Hemp has been cultivated for more than 10,000 years as a fiber and grain crop. Modern hemp production could be used for fiber, building materials, forages to feed cattle, food products for people, and oil extraction for CBD.

Q: What’s the difference between hemp and marijuana?

A: Good question. Both hemp and marijuana are Cannabis sativa. But hemp is not marijuana. It really comes down to a difference in chemical composition and use. THC is the chemical in marijuana that is credited for causing the marijuana high. Marijuana has a THC content of 5 percent to 20 percent, whereas hemp is defined by a threshold of THC less than 0.3 percent. In contrast, hemp has a higher CBD content. The specific uses for THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids are still under investigation, but hemp can be used for much more as I listed before.

Q: Why try to grow hemp in Florida? McConnell seems to believe it can be Kentucky’s cash-crop equivalent of tobacco.

A: We’re certainly not the first, but we hope to establish ourselves as a leader. Florida has a potential advantage in environment, from water availability and warmer weather, and in markets. It can turn out to be a valuable and impactful alternative crop for the state. Yet, before we can encourage farmers to grow hemp, we have to do some preliminary trials of the crop and the cropping system. Consequently, we are collaborating with industry groups and stakeholders to assess the economic break-even point for farmers and identify commercialization opportunities for industry.

Q: How do you know hemp can be a valuable Florida crop? Are there standards in place?

A: Another good question. This is exactly what we hope to find out in the first couple years of our research program. We have to identify the varieties and cropping systems that can be effective for Florida and establish a process for getting quality products to market. As we’re the first to do this in Florida, we have to work together with state and federal regulators and prospective industry partners to put the standards in place that are required for commercialization. If there is one way that we know hemp can be a valuable Florida crop, it is by the remarkable enthusiasm that we have seen in growers and the processing industry. We have a lot of support from them to do this work and will do everything we can to deliver.

Q: What is UF’s “strategic plan” for hemp as a Florida crop?

A: Our plan is to develop a strong program that gets the best available information to the growers and industry groups in a reasonable timeline so they can get to work. We plan to get plants in the ground at UF in the spring 2019. Then, we have a two-year window from planting to make a report to the state about what we think happens next. We are moving along well with getting the project underway with approval from the UF Board of Trustees, federal and state legislation. We hope to establish the first industry sponsorship for the project in the next couple of weeks. A team of seven faculty members based in Gainesville and at research centers across the state will focus on various aspects of hemp production, including variety selection, cropping-system establishment, and environmental responsibility. Research plots will be established in four different locations across the state to capture the range of environments and farming infrastructure in Florida.

Q: Is there any oversight from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration or state agency about the pilot program?

A. Yes. As we understand it currently, the DEA will be regulating and monitoring the seed import and distribution related to the project. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is responsible for regulating the planting sites. We have submitted applications for licensing and permitting to the DEA and FDACS and continue to make progress. This has been a great learning experience for our administrative team about establishing a new crop in the state. We feel fortunate to be working with very kind and thoughtful officers at DEA and FDACS. It’s really about having a conversation and figuring out how we can get our work done in this new space.

Q: As Florida’s new hemp research coordinator, what’s your background?

Zach Brym. (UF/IFAS Photographer / UF/IFAS File Photo)

A. I hold a Ph.D. in ecology from Utah State University with specialization in crop physiology and cropping systems. I am an agroecologist by training and am interested in developing new cropping systems through rigorous experimentation and trialing. My background gives me the tools to establish best management practices, environmental consciousness and social responsibility that is needed for a new industry in a new place. I am very excited for this opportunity to work with hemp.

Colorado medical marijuana companies embroiled in federal patent dispute

By Kirk Mitchell
Source: denverpost.com


A Colorado cannabis company has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit in Denver federal court claiming a rival in Conifer filched its cannabinoid medical product formula.

United Cannabis Corporation of Golden (UCANN) filed the lawsuit in Denver U.S. District Court Monday against Pure Hemp Collective Inc. of Conifer. The lawsuit seeks an injunction prohibiting Pure Hemp from copying its formulas that are part of the so-called “911 Patent.”

UCANN is also seeking triple damages against Pure Hemp on the basis that its actions are “willful,” according to the lawsuit filed by Broomfield attorney Orion Armon.

A message seeking comment left with Pure Hemp on Tuesday was not immediately returned.
UCANN is a biotechnology company that develops cannabis as a medicine and owns a federal patent for “highly enriched extracts of plant cannabinoids,” the lawsuit says. UCANN’s phytocannabinoid therapies treat diseases including chronic pain, paralysis, Crohn’s Disease, glaucoma, autism and cancer by imitating compounds in the human body, the lawsuit says. Over the course of decades, UCANN has developed proprietary liquid formulations of enriched extracts of plant cannabinoids, it says.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a cannabis-based drug for the first time in June 2018 after concluding the abuse risk is negligible, the lawsuit says.

“Defendant Pure Hemp is a wellness company that makes, markets and sells a variety of cannabis products. Upon information and belief, some of these products are comprised of cannabinoid formulations identical to the inventions claimed in the ’911 Patent,” the lawsuit claims.

UCANN bought Pure Hemp’s Vina Bell product and ran chemical composition tests to see whether the cannabinoid formulations are covered by the 911 Patent and determined that it “directly infringes,” the lawsuit says.

On Aug. 15, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued the 911 Patent called “cannabis extracts and methods of preparing and using same,” the lawsuit says. The patent application had been filed two years earlier.

“The risk of infringement was either known by Pure Hemp or so obvious to it that the risk should have been known to Pure Hemp,” the lawsuit says.

Farm bill conference stalls in Senate

By Liz Crmpton With help from Doug Palmer and Maya Parthasarathy
Source: politico.com

Senate Ag Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) was hopeful that the Senate last week would vote to start formal farm bill conference talks and name its conferees. That may have kept Congress on track to pass a farm bill by the Sept. 30 deadline.

That didn’t happen. Now, the House is out for summer recess, which means the first public meeting of the conference committee won’t take place until September at the earliest. The Senate is likely to vote this week — but only if Roberts and ranking member Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) can sort out some lingering issues that have held up next steps for the farm bill.

What’s been the holdup: One reason for the delay was that Senate leaders failed to reach a deal on addressing Sen. Deb Fischer’s request for a vote on her bill that would ease regulations on service hours for agricultural truckers.

Roberts has also had to juggle an attempt from Sen. John Kennedy to revive his amendment that would require SNAP recipients to show photo ID when making purchases using benefits. Roberts said last week that he was discussing the matter with Kennedy, and reminded reporters that the SNAP amendment, co-sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, failed on the floor by a wide margin.

Conference musical chairs: Roberts and Stabenow also have to determine who will make the final cut and be named to the conference committee, which is proving to be a difficult task because more lawmakers want to be on the panel than there are seats available.

Roberts has tossed around having a target of nine senators on the conference, meaning five Republicans and four Democrats would earn spots awarded by seniority (the 2013 farm bill conference had 12 senators). They will have to be able to hold their weight against the 47 House members chosen by Republican and Democratic leaderships to serve on the committee.

Northern Wisconsin Tribe Reaches Settlement Over Plans To Grow Hemp For CBD Oil

By Danielle Kaeding
Source: wpr.org


Dylan Lovan/AP Photo

St. Croix Tribe Filed A Federal Lawsuit Earlier This Year

A northern Wisconsin tribe has reached a settlement with Wisconsin’s attorney general over its plans to grow hemp to produce cannabidiol, or CBD oil. The St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin filed a federal lawsuit in February against state Attorney General Brad Schimel, saying he objected to the tribe’s plans for processing hemp.

St. Croix tribal attorney Jeff Cormell said parties reached an agreement that the tribe will oversee hemp production for CBD oil on reservation lands.

"That as long as the tribe is only dealing with hemp, that the state will not exercise any jurisdiction," said Cormell.

The lawsuit was filed prior to Schimel releasing guidance to law enforcement in May, in which he noted growing hemp to produce CBD oil is illegal under federal law except under very limited circumstances. Schimel reversed course a short time later after pushback from state lawmakers who feared Schimel’s stance may harm farmers and those using the oil to treat medical conditions like seizures. Now, farmers can grow hemp to produce CBD oil in Wisconsin as long as they obtain a license from state agriculture officials.

Cormell said it was clear the state was concerned the tribe was making a veiled attempt to grow marijuana in its plans to grow hemp for CBD oil production.

"We assured them that is not what our interest is," said Cormell. "We consider marijuana, much like the state, to still be illegal in the state of Wisconsin (and) also on the reservation. They made it very clear that if at any time we were growing marijuana, they would exercise jurisdiction, and we consented to that."

In its lawsuit, the tribe argued the state had no authority on reservation lands over growing hemp for CBD oil. States like Wisconsin do have authority over criminal matters on reservations under a federal law known as Public Law 280. However, Cormell said Wisconsin’s regulation of hemp production and CBD oil made those civil matters that fall under the tribe’s authority as a sovereign nation.

The settlement said the state will take no action to interfere with a tribal ordinance that governs a control program and regulatory body to oversee hemp cultivation and processing, as well as businesses operating under it. Under the agreement, the tribe also agrees to notify the state of any changes to its ordinance.

Cormell said the tribe hopes to generate new streams of revenue for housing, health care and law enforcement with its plans to grow hemp for CBD oil production.

"New streams of revenue are always needed and definitely this is something that St. Croix is looking at as a new, very lucrative area to provide additional funds to help support tribal membership," he said. "That being said, the tribe is also a large believer that CBD oil has significant health benefits."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a purified form of CBD to treat seizures associated with severe forms of epilepsy at the end of June.

CBD oil can be extracted from hemp or marijuana, but it has very little or none of the psychoactive ingredient THC.

A spokesman with the Wisconsin Department of Justice did not return a request for comment on the settlement.

 

Hemp Biofuel Could Ease Our Dependence On Fossil Fuels

By Ellijah Pickering
Source: ministryofhemp.com

After legalization, hemp biofuel could be a key part of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.

Fuel is everything. America would not be the hyper-efficient economy it is today without something to power our cars, computers, and our Roomba vacuum cleaners. We would be nothing but Neolithic farmers without our electricity and gasoline. But, anything that is truly valuable always comes at a price. Traditional fuel sources hurt the environment, and they’re running out. Air pollution from processing fossil fuels harms the troposphere, and indirectly depletes ozone from our atmosphere. The price for hyper efficiency is evident, which is why alternative fuel sources are becoming so important. Today we focus on a fuel source that hits close to home. That alternative is hemp biofuel.

A biodisel fuel pump at a filling station. Biodiesel is one very appealing option for hemp biofuel.

The cannabis plant is the gift that keeps on givin’. This magic plant gives us CBD oil, THC, hemp fibers and even fuel! Researchers have made hemp into two types of biofuel: biodiesel and ethanol.

HEMP BIODISEL

Biodiesel is produced by the pressing of hemp seeds to extract their oils & fats. After the extraction, the product is then put through more steps to make it into a usable hemp biofuel for your car. If you’re curious to learn about the specifics of biodiesel production, the process is thoroughly explained by hemp.com.

The argument for hemp-derived biodiesel comes down to convenience. If processed correctly, biodiesel can be put into any diesel-powered automobiles. It can be stored and transported like diesel, so there isn’t a need to create a new system for transportation. It even replaces the smell of traditional diesel with the smell of hemp.

USING HEMP TO MAKE ETHANOL

Ethanol is traditionally made from wheat-based crops such as corn and barley. It’s traditionally used as an additive to gasoline, which gave way to our “flex-fuel” vehicles of today. Hemp can be made into ethanol by various forms of fermentation. Using hemp as the main source of ethanol, instead of food crops like wheat & corn has clear advantages. Not using food crops as a fuel source allows more efficiency in food production, and hemp can be grown in lower quality conditions unlike corn or wheat. Hemp-derived ethanol also shares the advantages of transportation and usability as biodiesel.

A row of yellow and green fuel pumps. Hemp biofuel could present more sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels in the near future.

HEMP BIOFUEL OFFERS A MORE SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVE

Fuel alternatives like this can seem like a no-brainer to replace our traditional fossil-fuel sources, but there are drawbacks to these alternative techniques.

To set up a large-scale industrial hemp farm, you will experience the same ethical dilemmas that the farming industry faces. Deforestation and pesticide use will increase, and we’ll inevitably replace some of our food-crop land with more hemp-crop land. Farmers can grow hemp biofuel on land that is not fit for other crops. This “marginal land” is essentially land that isn’t tilled and cleared out for farming. Despite the versatility, hemp produces a much bigger harvest in ideal farming settings. Additionally, marginal land is actually home to important plants, trees, and living creatures that are vital to the ecosystem. Read “Is Hemp The Best Biofuel?” from sensiseeds.comfor a more in-depth look into the argument for hemp biofuel.

Clearly, hemp biofuel alone won’t solve our environmental crisis, but we believe it could be part of a transition to a cleaner way of living.

HOW THE AUTO-INDUSTRY ALREADY USES HEMP

While hemp biofuel may not be a popular ralternative just yet, the automotive industry already uses hemp. Automakers weave hemp plastic into a bendable material similar to fiberglass. Almost all European car makers use hemp fibers as interior door panels and trim pieces. And companies like FlexForm technologies operate as a dedicated producer of hemp-fiberglass that they sell to automotive companies to be made into car doors and exterior panels. Cars that feature hemp-based materials include the BMW i8 supercar and the Lotus Evora. The advantages that come with hemp-made materials is that they are lighter, bio-degradable, and comes from a much easier renewable resource. Hemp grows in roughly 3 months while metals take thousands of years to form.

Thanks to continued bipartisan support for hemp legalization paired with a culture that is growing increasingly accepting of the cannabis plant, we’re witnessing the beginning of  hemp revolution. While hemp biofuel can’t solve the entire energy crisis (we believe the answer to that problem will require multiple solutions), it can provide us with a great renewable fuel source in addition to it’s already useful applications.

While we spent our time here discussing hemp biofuel, let’s not forget the other ways people have been using hemp. There’s hemp beer, hemp blankets, and, this reporter’s personal favorite, hemp food! The future is indeed green.

Anthony Néron’s Hemp Revolution

By Mona Zhang
Source: cannabisnow.com



Hempcrete blocks are stacked in preparation for insulation projects. Photos Art Du Chanvre

Most teenagers haven’t decided what they want to do with their lives. And if they have, it’s likely that their aspirations will morph and change as doors open and close, as youthful idealism makes way for pragmatic considerations.

But as a teenager, Anthony Néron already had a plan: “I knew very early on that hemp was an answer for environmental, social and economic crisis,” he says. “It truly was my intention to bring my contribution to make this world a better place.”

And so, Néron started a hemp clothing line at 18 years old, learning the clothing design trade and honing his sewing skills. For two years, he toiled at the sewing machine, crafting hemp clothes that he hoped could bring a revolution of sorts, until his big dreams crumbled under more practical realizations.

“Clothing from China was way too cheap for me to [compete with],” he explains. “I couldn’t make a living out of it.”

Anthony Néron feels the wall to properly place billions of grains of sand, carve the corners and polish the entire surface with a river pebble until the wall becomes a solid and impervious stone.

But as fate would have it, a new door was opening for him: Néron received an invitation to visit the first hempcrete house in Quebec. He became a helper on the site and developed relationships with the craftsmen. He followed them along to other job sites and apprenticed for four years.

It was a natural fit. His mother was a designer and would often bring him along on projects, giving him small jobs on construction sites. And after learning the ins and outs of hempcrete construction, he was ready to strike out on his own with his vision: Art Du Chanvre.

After working on many hempcrete job sites, Néron saw a need for a different kind of look. Most houses he worked on were out in rural areas and had a rustic vibe. “It was not for everyone,” he said. With his Quebec-Canada based Art Du Chanvre (which translates to Art of Hemp), Néron combines hemp and lime construction with a more refined and minimalist aesthetic.

“My goal was to make something very universal,” he said. “It was my intention to bring hempcrete into contemporary design. I never gave up on my dream on making hemp a solution for everyone.”

Art Du Chanvre believes choosing to build with healthy ingredients and surrounding yourself with materials that respect the environment is a way of caring for the future.

It’s clear that Néron is focused on the plant’s revolutionary properties, and for good reason. Hempcrete offers a wide variety of benefits compared to traditional building materials. It’s fire- and vermin-resistant. It keeps interiors cool in the summer and warm in the winter. It’s simultaneously airtight yet breathable, making it virtually immune to mold and other humidity-related problems. So why aren’t all homes built with hempcrete?

Right now, it costs about 10 percent more to build a house out of hempcrete compared to traditional materials. However, that cost is expected to drop as more people adopt the material, and more people likely will switch to hempcrete with the realization they can save money in the long run on energy costs while getting a structure that will last centuries.

“People are kind of afraid of change,” says Néron. But he hopes that his clean and modern constructions will help bring hemp to a broader audience. With Art Du Chanvre, Néron prefers to focus on beautiful lines and textures, while using whites and grays to create a canvas for eccentric furniture, colorful décor and elegant art.

Natural materials — lime, hemp and clay — are loaded into a van.

There’s also the issue of education – many are simply unaware of the material. Néron says a significant part of his job is teaching others about hempcrete, so he travels frequently to speak at various conferences.

“Construction can literally lead a revolution,” says Néron. “If we’re using hemp and making buildings, we’re not just stopping pollution – we’re also cleaning the earth.” Hemp captures carbon at it grows, while releasing oxygen, and can also help remove heavy metals and toxins from soil. Meanwhile, traditional construction materials that hemp oil can replace are petroleum byproducts such as floor wax, caulking material and house paint.

“You have the petroleum industry in the construction industry and they have too much power,” says Néron – citing yet another challenge he runs up against in his hemp revolution.

Anthony Néron holds a tool used to work with hempcrete – a medium that can keep interiors warm in winter months and also cool during hotter seasons.

The good news is that hempcrete is catching on. Néron says he is seeing more and more interest, especially in the United States. “The most receptive and open-minded people are the Americans,” he says. “I have more and more calls from the U.S.”

And while hemp and psychoactive marijuana are two very different plants, the liberalization of cannabis laws are propelling both forward. “[Legalization] opens a lot of doors. People are going to stop considering cannabis and hemp as a drug,” says Néron. “It really is a good thing and we have beautiful years ahead of us.”

Alaska oil and gas company inks deal for hemp-based additive

Source: hempindustrydaily.com

A North Carolina company that uses hemp to make an additive for drilling fluid for oil and gas operators has signed a distribution deal with an Alaska drilling company.

Under the agreement, Quadco, an Anchorage company that maintains and repairs oil and gas wells, will distribute Hemp Inc.’s DrillWall product across Alaska.

Hemp Inc. grows and processes the plant in Spring Hope, North Carolina.

The finished product is a solid that can be added to drilling fluid as a lubricant. The product also prevents the drilling fluid from seeping into other geological formations.

The DrillWall will be manufactured in North Carolina and shipped to Alaska.

Other terms of the agreement were not released, including how much DrillWall is expected to be sold.

The product also includes kenaf, a fiber plant related to hemp and jute that is also grown by Hemp Inc.

Hemp Inc. trades on over-the-counter markets as HEMP.

Here's why a handful of innovative South Carolina farmers are going all in for hemp

By Anna B. Mitchell
Source: independentmail.com

Marijuana's square cousin could grow into a $1.8 billion industry by 2020

(Photo: Ken Ruinard/ Staff)

CENTRAL — Lee Ford has been farming all his life, but he said tending to one of the state's first legal hemp crops in nearly 50 years has been the hardest work he's ever done.

"Right now, Sundays we're out here, Saturdays," he said. "I don't know the last time we've had a day off."

The cattle and hay farmer is in and out of his family's 16-acre experimental hemp field in Central from sunup to sundown, weeding rows of the plants alongside his father, Clemson coaching legend Danny Ford, and nephew, Jordan Ford. 

Their hope: holding onto and helping their farm thrive while contributing to an emerging $1.8 billion hemp industry.

Their challenge: overcoming steep up-front costs, a multidecade knowledge gap and enduring regulatory uncertainties. Hemp is the close cousin to marijuana but does not cause a high when ingested. 

The South Carolina Agricultural Department issued 20 permits in 2018 to farmers interested in cultivating up to 20 acres of industrial hemp. The pilot program will expand to 40 farms in 2019. (Photo: Anna B. Mitchell)

Nat Bradford, a produce grower in Sumter County whose family is perhaps best known for their heirloom watermelons and collards, said a South Carolina hemp industry is long overdue — and the outpouring of support he's received on social media shows many agree.

"I never had this many people come out of the woodwork patting me on my back for growing okra," the Clemson graduate said.

From outlaw to legal

Bradford and the Fords are among the first 20 South Carolina growers to put seed to ground this past spring, and come September they will be the first farmers in 48 years to harvest hemp legally in the state.

They secured permission to plant the crop this past spring from the state Department of Agriculture, part of a pilot program — legalized in 2017 — for industrial hemp in the state.

Industry uncertainty: Court rules CBD is Schedule 1 controlled substance, cannabidiol sales only where pot legal

Because hemp remains a controlled substance, in the same "schedule 1" category as heroin and LSD, the program is highly regulated. It was limited in 2018 to 20 growers, each of whom was allotted a maximum of 20 acres and had to report the GPS coordinates of their fields. The program will grow to 40 growers and a maximum 40 acres in 2019.

From right, Lee Ford, his father, Danny Ford, and his nephew Jordan Ford look for any plant problems this summer between cutting weeds among rows of hemp plants at the family farm in Central. (Photo: Ken Ruinard/ Staff)

Despite the red tape, though, farmers want in: More than 160 applied this summer to be part of the program's class of 2019, according to the state ag department.

The Fords and their friend Tom Garrison, who runs the Denver Downs vegetable farm about three miles away, are growing female plants to extract medicinal cannabidiol, or CBD, from resin glands. CBD is a substance widely lauded (and recently FDA approved) for its medicinal qualities.

Other South Carolina farmers, like Bradford, are growing hemp for its seeds, which he says are high in protein and have an oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

"We are going from something that was outlaw, illegal, and it's becoming legal," Lee Ford said. "That basically means that we've got to pave the way. So everything we learn has got to be vetted. You've got to make the 50 extra phone calls, and we've got to make sure that what they are saying is correct."

Virgin fields

Because they are growing hemp for human consumption, these farmers must plant their crop on land that has never been touched by insecticides and herbicides.

"These chemicals stay in soils a long time, even in trace amounts or parts per million," Garrison said. "It has to be on virgin land — either on a hay field, or fallow or pasture."

No one knows how much the plants might absorb chemicals in the ground, and the federal government has not yet established any tolerances for pesticide residues, according to the state ag department.

Danny Ford works his way through rows of hemp with a weed trimmer. The Ford farm in Pickens County is one of 20 selected by the state Department of Agriculture to take part in the 2018 SC Industrial Hemp Pilot Program. (Photo: Ken Ruinard/ Staff)

Garrison cleared an untouched 16-acre area of his vegetable farm off Clemson Boulevard in Pendleton to grow his hemp. The Fords' fields were OK because they have only ever had cows and hay on their 174-acre farm.

"I've heard it described like it's a liver in your body," Danny Ford said. "(The plant) will filter everything in the ground, so they are afraid to put anything in the ground because the roots will bring those to the plant and then it wouldn't pass the chemical testing when you get ready to harvest it."

Cannabis costs

The upfront costs in irrigation systems and seeds from a largely untested supply chain (which, they have found, includes disreputable suppliers) are another hurdle for growers.

The Fords said teamed up with Garrison to find a supplier and bought 27,000 seeds — a purchase they plan to avoid next year by planting cuttings of their best-performing hemp plants.

Denver Downs Farm owner Tom Garrison is one of 20 farmers in the state to get permission to grow hemp, and one of two in Anderson County. (Photo: Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail)

"I've got a boatload of money sunk in this crop," Garrison said. "I don't think I've ever put this much money in a crop per acre basis."

Garrison estimates he has invested $3,000 to $5,000 per acre on his 16-acre hemp crop — including the $1 per seed he ended up paying.

"We were sweating it back in April because our plant people fell through on us," Garrison said. "So we had to scramble to get seed."

For Lee Ford, though, the risk he and his father have taken is worth it if it leads to a high-yield cash crop down the road.

"We are all looking for more time with our families," Lee Ford said. "More time to feel secure. It's what everybody's looking for. That's really why we took such a big chance this year so that we can be secure in what we do next year."

Knowledge gap

Because of federal law, there is a 50-year gap in (legitimate) hemp experience in South Carolina — no one knows for sure how these plants will react to current weather and soil conditions in the state.

"Our questions going in are totally not our questions now," Lee Ford said. "We have a whole new set of questions, we have a whole new set of problems. We've dealt with bug problems, weed problems, rain problems, irrigation problems, plastic problems. We've dealt with problems every time we walked out the door.

"You are going to have to be out here every day and working in it."

An early mistake: not arranging the hemp plants far enough apart to run a lawnmower between the rows. The Fords followed the five-foot spacing recommended by seed suppliers from California, Colorado and Oregon, but those areas have less rain and fewer weeds.  

Danny Ford examines the hemp plants on his farm. Maintaining the plants is hard work, and the Ford family is out from sunrise to sunset clearing weeds from each row. (Photo: Ken Ruinard/ Staff)

Bradford is keeping his efforts this year small and scientific: He is maintaining nine plots  on a half-acre plot with three strains of seed. His goal is to find a hemp seed that grows well in South Carolina — currently a complete unknown. If he and other farmers can crack that code, their plan is to share their knowledge with other farmers and to further adapt and breed better, more high-yielding strains in the next three or four years.

"There's no hemp germplasm that's accessible that we know of maintained by any seed bank or germplasm bank that's adapted for South Carolina," Bradford said. "The No. 1 thing is to find strains or varieties that show promise to be good for South Carolina."

Bradford laughed when he described marijuana growers and "pseudo-horticulturalists" emerging on his Facebook page to offer tips on growing hemp. Similarly, Danny Ford said he's had to politely decline offers of help from folks who used to grow marijuana.

"That's dangerous," he said. "It's amazing how back in the '60s and '70s, what all went around in our little community here."

Controlled substance

Hemp was a standard American crop up until World War II, especially during the war when Japanese troops occupied the Philippines and blocked hemp exports to the United States, said Lucas Snyder, founder and executive director of the South Carolina Hemp Growers Association. "Hemp for victory" newsreels encouraged farmers to grow the plant for rope and uniform production, he said.

"After World War II, we could get our hemp supply from overseas again, so production declined," Snyder said. "Then in 1970 with the Controlled Substances Act, hemp was classified as a schedule 1 narcotic."

That along with widespread use of nylon rope all but ended hemp growing in the United States, he said.

Lee Ford, who works with his father Danny Ford growing hemp for oil at the farm in Central in July, looks at a small plant in the greenhouse. (Photo: Ken Ruinard/ Staff)

The 2014 Farm Bill allowed states to study the hemp industry but provides no federal — i.e., state-to-state — standards for processing hemp, let alone selling it out of state.

"They've basically gone through and said each state do what you want, make your own laws and see how it goes," Lee Ford said. "That's where we are at at this point."

South Carolina's Industrial Hemp Program is a byproduct of that 2014 Farm Bill.

Cannabis is "marijuana" if its THC is above 0.3 percent; anything below that is industrial hemp, according to state and federal statutes. 

To stay legal, the Fords regularly send samples of their hemp bushes to labs checking for the amount of CBD in their plants as well as the presence of THC, the psychoactive compound (tetrahydrocannabinol) that causes a high when people ingest the buds of marijuana.

"People know what's going on, a lot of people are talking about it," Lee Ford said. "Everywhere we go, people are asking where we are, when we are harvesting. They just want to know more."