Hemp provision in farm bill clears way for crop in ND

GRAND FORKS - The new five-year, $480 billion farm bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday includes a tiny provision authorizing North Dakota and a few other states to grow research plots of cannabis as a farm crop.

By: Stephen J. Lee
Source: inforum.com

GRAND FORKS - The new five-year, $480 billion farm bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday includes a tiny provision authorizing North Dakota and a few other states to grow research plots of cannabis as a farm crop.

No, it’s not pot, but the version of the same cannabis species used for marijuana that is known as industrial hemp, doesn’t make you high and is used in many food and industrial products from shampoo to health supplements to fibers used cars.

But it hasn’t been legal to grow in the United States for decades.

North Dakotans long have pushed for the crop’s production and legalized it years ago, even though federal drug laws made it practically impossible to grow.

It used to be a major American crop, grown by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and most farmers when sailing rope and paper made from hemp were essential.

But by the mid-20th century, new products such as plastics and wood-based paper combined with growing concerns over marijuana led to federal restrictions on hemp production based largely on concerns it would encourage pot smoking.

Legal obstacles

Even though North Dakota made hemp production legal a decade or more ago, federal drug laws imposed so many restrictions on its growth it hasn’t made economic sense, said Doug Goehring, state agriculture commissioner.

“It was so restrictive, so cost-prohibitive, no one wanted to put resources toward that,” Goehring said, citing federal drug laws requiring expensive permits, high fences and constant monitoring of hemp plots.

The few paragraphs deep in the new farm bill weren’t expected, Goehring said last week of the bill that the Senate passed Tuesday.

“It’s kind of interesting, it came out of the blue and I think it shocked and surprised a lot of people,” Goehring said. “It would authorize colleges and land grant universities to grow industrial hemp for research purposes in those states that already permit it.”

The main mover on the hemp provision was Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the minority leader who sees it having a big future in his state.

But hemp does great in Canada and will grow well in North Dakota, Goehring said.

According to the Vote Hemp organization, North Dakota is one of 10 states that have authorized production of hemp as a crop, but about 20 other states have introduced or passed pro-hemp laws.

Already, using hemp products imported from Canada and other countries, there is a $500 million retail market for products made from hemp seed or fiber imported from Canada and other countries, according to Vote Hemp.

Hemp has no, or very low, levels of THC, the chemical that gets people high when they ingest marijuana, a variation of the same plant species. The farm bill says only hemp with less than 0.03 percent THC is legal.

Big in Canada

It is a major minor crop in Canada, where acreage has been up and down but has increased 10-fold since 2003 to nearly 66,761 acres last year, said Russ Crawford, president of the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance, an industry association including most of the 197 growers as well as processors and retail users.

The size of the acreage is dwarfed by major crops such as wheat, corn and canola. But for the few farmers who grow it, it’s a money-maker right now, Crawford said: grossing $700 to $1,000 an acre, with a few irrigators grossing $2,000 per acre or more, at a price of about 70 cents a pound for the seed.

“Nothing compares to that,” he said Tuesday.

The crop also can be grown and harvested for the fiber in the tall stalks.

Jon Page, a scientist researching hemp and marijuana biology at the University of Saskatoon, said it grows well in northern climes. The growing move to legalize marijuana has helped dismantle arguments against hemp production, Page said.

N.D. potential

David Monson, a state legislator and farmer who lives near Osnabrock in northeast North Dakota, has been pushing for hemp production for 20 years and is excited about the new provision in the farm bill.

“I think it’s going to make a big difference, hopefully in the next year or less,” he said last week. “This is certainly a huge step forward for us.”

Still, it will be years before it’s a production crop for farmers in the state and it’s never going to replace wheat, corn or soybean acres, he said.

“It’s a niche crop.”

But firing up the research plots in the state will pave the way, Monson and Goehring said.

The new deal “may spark some interest with our producers in the state to look at this as a cash crop, if they see (North Dakota State University) and other researchers finally doing some things,” Goehring said, adding that, among others, defense contractors are huge consumers of fiber products.

That means it’s not just farmers, but processors who could benefit in the state, Monson said. “This is something we could turn into some local jobs in North Dakota. We could be a producer of fiber-board, carpet, all kinds of things that would be made from it.”

For example, a chip board made out of hemp fiber used in construction is much lighter and used much less glue than such boards made out of wood products, Monson said.

In Canada, most of the crop is raised for the seed, which is crushed for its oil, used in many industrial and food products and the hulls also are used in health foods, Crawford said.

If U.S. production of hemp gears up, that probably will help, not hurt, the Canadian hemp industry, he said, by priming consumption.

Nutiva, a U.S. company, specializes in food products made from hemp seed, he said.

It’s not an easy crop to harvest, Crawford said, but farmers can use the same equipment they use to plant and harvest wheat, corn and beans.

“John Deere has a hemp setting on its combines.”

Rep. Thielen Welcomes Hemp Research in Farm Bill

Source: hawaii.news.blogs.civilbeat.com

The Federal Farm bill, passed by the U.S. Senate today and headed to the president’s desk, includes legalization of industrial hemp for research purposes.

Hawaii state Rep. Cynthia Thielen, a longtime hemp proponent who has pushed for its legal use locally, welcomes the federal legislation.

“With its ability to cleanse the soil of toxins, industrial hemp could be an environmentally friendly replacement for sugar and pineapple,” Thielen said in a statement, referring to hemp’s potential in Hawaii. “Hemp is often grown without pesticides or herbicides due to its natural ability to ward off unwanted insects and weeds. Furthermore, hemp’s potential as a biofuel feedstock could be a game-changer for Hawaii.”

Photo: Rep. Cynthia Thielen with hemp products. (House Minority)

—Chad Blair

Farm Bill Clears Senate, Final Vote Tuesday

By Paul Ebeloing
Source: livetradingnews.com

US delayed farm legislation cleared a procedural hurdle Monday in the US Senate, with final passage of the nearly $1-T bill expected as early as Tuesday.

The House of Representatives last week overwhelmingly passed the sweeping measure that trims food stamps for the poor, expands federal crop insurance, consolidates agricultural conservation programs and ends direct payments to farmers.

Also, pursuant to the passage of the farm bill, the cultivation of industrial hemp will become legal, and clears the way for industrial hemp pilot programs in states such as Colorado, Washington, California, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont and West Virginia, where growing the plant is already  legal.

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) worked to retain and strengthen the provision in the bill, He was the lead negotiator in getting Hemp included on the Farm Bill was quoted, “We are laying the groundwork for a new commodity market for Kentucky farmers.

The 72-22 Senate vote in favor of advancing the bill suggests it should have no trouble passing the Democratic-led chamber when it comes up for a final vote, which could come Tuesday.

The White House has said President Barack Hussein Obama would sign it into law.

“This is a new kind of farm bill designed to meet new challenges of a changing world,” Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and one of the four principal negotiators of the legislation, said on the Senate floor before the vote.

“We are also making major reforms, eliminating unnecessary, and unjustified programs to cut government spending and to increase the integrity of farm programs,” she said.

The $956-M legislation is expected to save about $16.6-B over 10 years compared with current funding, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Using a different scoring method, congressional leaders put the savings at $23-B.

The bill, which is supposed to be passed every 5  ys, is more than a year overdue after congressional negotiators struggled to forge a compromise.

About $8-B in savings over 10 yrs comes from cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, which accounts for more than 75% of the bill’s spending. The program provides funds to about 47-M low-income people to buy food.

The food stamp cut was well below the $40-B reduction advocated by the Republican-led House, but still double the amount originally supported by the Senate.

Stay tuned…HEMP is set to become a trillion dollar industry.

Nowak: The changing landscape of fuels and ag

By Matt Nowak 
Source: leavenworthtimes.com


Matt Nowak

I recently attended the eighth annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Association conference near Des Moines.

It was well-attended by mostly folks in nice suits, many of whom were farmers and plenty who were part of the industry that promotes and relies on the alternative fuels market. When I say alternative, I'm referring to anything but petroleum-based fuels.

In fact, right from the very beginning, and with probably every speaker, there was a thick disdain for the oil industry, or as they called it, "Big Oil."

Iowa is known as a pretty solidly conservative state, but I was looking around for the Sierra Club banners most of the day as I listened to one speaker after another make disparaging remarks about "Big Oil."

Often, the remarks referred to what the conferees called the lies "Big Oil" regularly makes about renewable fuels. Let's get it straight — renewable fuels in Iowa means growing corn for ethanol and maybe some soybeans for biodiesel.

The latest entry into the renewable fuels market is cellulose-based ethanol and there were at least two companies there to promote their particular plants that they are building. I believe that they said that there are at least four or five cellulose plants on the drawing boards and there are two under construction and slated to be on line in 2015. One of those plants will cost about $200 million and the other about $250 million.

Mind you, these plants must buy bales of corn stover from about 200,000 acres of surrounding farmland and that anything over 30-40 miles out from the plant is not cost-effective, according to the presenters.

By the way, there are presently more than 40 corn ethanol plants in Iowa. One fact of which I was not aware is that after the ethanol is produced from the starch in corn, apparently there is plenty of protein left, which is made into feed.

I was really surprised to hear a speaker refer to Fox News as one of the prime examples of how the media supports "Big Oil" by supposedly promoting their lies about renewable fuels. Like I said, I was looking for Sierra banners when I heard that.

I looked around again when one conferee asked the Iowa governor about when Iowa was going to support bringing back hemp as a renewable fuels crop. I was thinking that I better sit closer to the exit, but the suits sitting next to me did not make rude remarks and neither did the governor.

Speaking of hemp, when the new Farm Bill is passed, at least 10 states will have the potential to be growing hemp for fiber and for biodiesel.

The Farm Bill says that each state must have legislation that permits it in their state since federal law still bans hemp production. At least that is my understanding of the new Farm Bill. For those who think that hemp is the same as marijuana, think about the relationship between the two as the same as that between field corn and sweet corn. They are obviously both corn, but you would only try to eat field corn once or twice before you switched to the sweet corn and most would never eat field corn once. Same goes for hemp and marijuana.

Farm Bill aims to grow green power, hemp and organics

By Sustainable Business News
Source: greenbiz.com

After nearly three years of deadlock, the House and Senate have agreed on a compromise Farm Bill.

The House passed the bill last week, and now the Agriculture Act of 2014 goes back to the Senate for a final vote — and is widely expected to pass.  

A major sticking point has been the Food Stamp program (SNAP), which costs about 80 percent of the total. The other 20 percent goes to agricultural subsidies, conservation programs, energy initiatives and other smaller programs.

Democrats and Republicans finally compromised on cuts to SNAP of $8.7 billion, or about 1 percent of the program — a far cry from the original House bill, which cut $39 billion from SNAP — but it still chips away at the program in time of great need. The bill also cuts $14.3 billion in farm subsidies over 10 years, resulting in a total of $23 billion in federal deficit reductions. In all, the legislation costs $956 billion over the next 10 years.

Critics say the poorest people in America are paying for half of the deficit cuts.

Subsidies

This bill makes one landmark change that the environmental community fought hard for: Farmers and ranchers are eligible for subsidies only when they conserve their lands, such as wetlands, grasslands and erodable land. That's critically important because about half the land in the contiguous U.S. is crop, range or pasture land. Previous versions of the Farm Bill encouraged destroying these areas to plant more crops.

"Even though farm bill conservation programs account for just 7 percent of the bill's overall funding, they encourage practices that lead to healthier lands and waters, and they are critical to a strong economy, healthy and productive rural lands, and vibrant communities," say Mark Tercek, president of The Nature Conservancy and farmer Martin Barbre in The Hill.

Another change looks good on the surface but is pretty controversial. One of the biggest objections to past Farm Bills is that they subsidize millionaire farmers and the current bill doesn't change this.

Although it finally eliminates the $4 billion a year "Direct Payments" program — long the poster child for wasteful agricultural subsidies — new programs continue to subsidize millionaire agribusiness owners that don't need handouts.

"At a time of fiscal restraint, growing income inequality and economic distress in rural communities, it is appalling for the new farm bill to continue uncapped, unlimited commodity and crop insurance subsidies for mega-farms," says Ferd Hoefner, policy director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.  

Rather than giving direct cash subsidies to farmers at fixed rates — the status quo for 18 years — that $4 billion a year will be disbursed in new ways. Farmers will choose between an insurance program — where they get subsidies for crop losses — and one that pays them when market prices for crops drop below a certain level.

The program is a huge win for the insurance industry, because not only does the government subsidize more than 60 percent of farmers' premiums, they pay 15 insurers $1.3 billion to run the program.

"The bill fails to put any cap on how big a check an agribusiness can receive to help pay its insurance bill," notes U.S. PIRG. "Because the program has no caps, 26 agribusinesses have received more than $1 million in a single year, while 80 percent get $5,000 on average, according to a study by Environmental Working Group. Instead of reining in this program and capping how much agribusinesses can receive, the bill would actually expand it."

Hemp farming makes it in the bill

Amazingly, there's an unexpected victory for hemp farming.

The legislation includes pilot research programs in 10 states to grow the crop. "This is big," Eric Steenstra, president of Vote Hemp, told Associated Press. "We've been pushing for this a long time."

The U.S. is one of the fastest growing markets for hemp products, but instead of growing it here, we import it from China. Nine states already have removed barriers to growing hemp, but federal drug laws still bar cultivation.

That could be changing. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who led this negotiation, pushed for it in the Farm Bill because he sees it as a boon for farmers in his state.  

Renewable energy and fuels

Also in the bill is $881 million that continues funding the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) rural renewable energy and biofuels programs.

The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) funds up to 25 percent of a renewable energy system (solar, wind, biogas) or energy efficiency upgrade and provides additional support through loan guarantees. About 8,250 projects have been installed under the Obama administration.

The Biorefinery Assistance Program supports young companies in getting their biofuel technologies off the ground. For the first time, the bill also supports bio-based chemicals as part of biorefinery and biomass assistance programs.

Both programs have been hanging by a thread because of funding cuts over the past few years and were ended under the original House bill.

Organic agriculture

The big fight here is always about putting organic agriculture on a level playing field with conventional practices. The industry always has suffered from a huge imbalance of funding that stretches from research to on-farm assistance.

One area is striking: the bulk of support still goes to commodity crops that are energy and fertilizer intensive, such as wheat, rice, GMO soybeans, cotton and (the really big one) corn — instead of nutritious vegetables, which build healthy soil and foster biodiversity. Only 2 percent of U.S. cropland grows fruits and vegetables, compared to 59 percent for commodity crops, used mostly to produce meat, processed foods (high fructose corn syrup) and biofuels such as ethanol, says the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The Organic Trade Association lauds the bill, however, because there's more funding for the National Organic Program. It will be used to enforce organic standards, improve technology and negotiate international trade agreements, as well as funding research on organic farming practices and providing financial assistance for small farms to afford organic certification.

Also for the first time, organic farmers, distributors and marketers will have access to the same agriculture research and promotion programs that always have been helpful to conventional farmers.

The bill preserves vital, fairly recent programs that foster local agriculture, such as food hubs and farmers markets.

Beyond these programs, the Farm Bill doesn't address agriculture's vast carbon footprint, responsible for a third of U.S. carbon emissions. The two big culprits are agricultural fertilizers and factory farms.

This article originally appeared at Sustainable Business News. Wind turbine image by Martin D. Vonka viaShutterstock.

Centuries-old hemp fabric found in Çatalhöyük

By KONYA - Dogan News Agency
Source: hurriyetdailynews.com

The world’s first hemp-weaved fabric has been found in the ground of a burned house during the excavations in the central Anatolian province of Konya. DHA Photos

Excavations works that have been continuing in the earliest settlement of Çatalhöyük in the central Anatolian province of Konya have revealed a 9,000-year-old piece of linen fabric. The world’s first hemp-weaved fabric has been found in the ground of a burned house. 

The report about the new findings includes the process between June 15 and Aug. 15. More than 120 people from 22 countries worked for the excavations in this process. The most striking thing on the report is this fabric, which was wrapped around a baby skeleton. 

Best preserved piece

The head of the excavations, Stanford University member Professor Ian Hodder, said that the most important finding in 2013 had been discovered thanks to protection conditions of the tumulus. Speaking about the piece of cloth, he said:

“The fire warmed up the ground and platforms of the building and created a kiln drying effect. Therefore the pieces and this piece of cloth underground have been so far protected. Examinations in the laboratory show that this piece of cloth is linen weaved with hemp. 

This is a first in the world and one of the best preserved examples.”

Speaking about the relation of the piece of fabric with trade, Hodder said, “This piece of linen, which is weaved very thin, most probably came from the eastern Mediterranean from the central Anatolia. It is already known that obsidians and sea shells had been exchanged in long-distance trade in the Middle East during the Neolithic era. But this fabric may have revealed another side of the trade.”

Hodder noted that they also had discovered a new wall painting, and continued: “In the 2013 excavation season we also started excavations in the Neolithic era buildings in the southern skirt of the eastern tumulus. These buildings really have different features from the early era buildings. They have thick walls and big bricks on the walls. They were not set fire to when people left them. A wall painting on the eastern wall of a building here is a unique one that we have never seen. Generally, paintings in Çatalhöyük are in red and black colors on white ground. But in this example, there are white geometrical shapes on dark ground. We believe that this painting continues through the northern walls of three buildings. It was an exciting experience for us to unearth this wall.”

The report on Çatalhöyük excavations has been published on a website www.catalhoyuk.com. The website is designed for those interested in the ongoing excavations in the ancient settlement. Its aim is to provide information about the activities of the project and the different aspects of the research being conducted in the area.

Farm bill legitimizes hemp after half-century ban

AP
Source: theindependent.com

P. Solomon Banda

Colorado farmer Ryan Loflin harvests hemp during the state’s first known harvest of the plant in more than 60 years on his farm in Springfield, Colo. The federal farm bill agreement reached last week reverses decades of prohibition for hemp cultivation. (Associated Press/P. Solomon Banda)

DENVER — The federal government is ready to let farmers grow cannabis — at least the kind that can’t get people high.

Hemp — marijuana’s non-intoxicating cousin that’s used to make everything from clothing to cooking oil — could soon be cultivated in 10 states under a federal farm bill agreement reached last week that allows the establishment of pilot growing programs.

The plant’s return to legitimacy could clear the way for U.S. farmers to compete in an industry currently dominated by China. Even though it hasn’t been grown in the U.S., the country is one of the fastest-growing hemp markets.

In 2011, the U.S. imported $11.5 million worth of legal hemp products, up from $1.4 million in 2000. Most of that growth was seen in hemp seed and hemp oil, which finds its way into granola bars and other products. (blogger's note: most estimates for 2013 are around $400 million)

“This is big,” said Eric Steenstra, president of Vote Hemp, a Washington-based group that advocates for the plant’s legal cultivation. “We’ve been pushing for this a long time.”

Legalized growing of hemp had congressional allies from both ends of the political spectrum. Democrats from marijuana-friendly states have pushed to legalize hemp cultivation, as have Republicans from states where the fibrous plant could be a profitable new crop.

“We are laying the groundwork for a new commodity market for Kentucky farmers,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said in a statement. McConnell was a lead negotiator on the inclusion of hemp in the farm bill.

State departments of agriculture still must designate hemp-cultivation pilot projects for research purposes.

Hemp and marijuana are the same species, Cannabis sativa. Marijuana, however, is cultivated to dramatically increase THC, a psychoactive chemical that exists in trace amounts in hemp.

Hemp was historically used for rope but has hundreds of other uses: clothing, paper, mulch, foods such as hemp milk and cooking oil, creams, soaps and lotions. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp, but centuries later the plant was swept up in anti-drug efforts and growing it without a federal permit was banned in the 1970 Controlled Substances Act.

The last Drug Enforcement Administration hemp permit was issued in 1999 for a quarter-acre experimental plot in Hawaii. That permit expired in 2003.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture last recorded an industrial hemp crop in the late 1950s, down from a 1943 peak of more than 150 million pounds on 146,200 harvested acres.

Farmers interested in hemp say the farm bill agreement is a giant leap toward a viable hemp industry in this country.

Tom McClain, a Colorado hemp activist who helps connect nascent growers with buyers, said the industry won’t get off the ground without more research.

“We don’t have a compendium of information to go to,” McClain said. “We do rely on universities and agricultural research to help us and direct us. We need local research to help drive the correct varieties so that farmers get the best yield.”

Ten states already allow the growing of hemp, though federal drug law has blocked actual cultivation in most. Those states are Colorado, Washington, California, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont and West Virginia.

Earlier this month, the Colorado Department of Agriculture released licensing procedures for farmers interested in raising hemp.

About a dozen farmers didn’t wait for the state rules and harvested small amounts last year — the nation’s first acknowledged hemp crop in more than five decades.

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, a Republican who has championed the hemp movement, predicted the crop’s comeback will become a reality — completing its journey from the political fringe into the mainstream.