MURRAY, Ky. — Call it a homecoming for hemp: Marijuana’s non-intoxicating cousin is undergoing a rebirth in a state at the forefront of efforts to reclaim it as a mainstream crop.
Researchers and farmers are producing the first legal hemp crop in generations in Kentucky, where hemp has turned into a political cause decades after it was banned by the federal government.
Republican U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul advocate for it, as does state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, a Republican who is running for governor next year.
The comeback is strictly small scale. Experimental hemp plots more closely resemble the size of large family gardens.
Statewide plantings totaled about 15 acres from the Appalachian foothills in eastern Kentucky to the broad stretches of farmland in the far west, said Adam Watson, the Kentucky Agriculture Department’s hemp program coordinator.
The crop’s reintroduction was delayed in the spring when imported hemp seeds were detained by U.S. customs officials.
The state’s Agriculture Department then sued the federal government and dropped the case Friday after reaching an agreement on importing the seeds into Kentucky.
The seeds were released after federal drug officials approved a permit.
Since then, test plots have shown the crop to be hardy and fast growing — and a potential money-maker with a remarkable range of traditional uses including clothing, mulch, hemp milk, cooking oil, soap and lotions.
“What we’ve learned is it will grow well in Kentucky,” Comer said. “It yields a lot per acre. All the things that we predicted.”
At Murray State University, about 180 miles southwest of Louisville, plants have sprouted to at least eight feet tall, turning a shade of green and yellow as they reached maturity. Harvest is approaching.
“It’s had a good growth period,” said Murray State agriculture dean Tony L. Brannon. “It appeared to tolerate the extremes in weather from extremely wet to extremely dry pretty well.”
Hemp’s roots in Kentucky date back to pioneer days, and the towering stalks were once a staple at many farms.
