Hemp in Kentucky

History

Early cultivation

In the 18th century, John Filson wrote in Kentucke and the Adventures of Col. Daniel Boone (an appendix of his 1784 work The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke ) of the quality of Kentucky’s land and climate for hemp production. ^[1] The first hemp crop in Kentucky was raised near Danville in 1775. ^[2] [3]

Kentucky was the greatest producer of the United States in the 19th and 20th century, with thousands of acres of production. ^[4] [a] Senator Henry Clay was a “hemp pioneer” and the “strongest advocate” of Kentucky hemp. He grew it on his Kentucky estate Ashland and brought new seeds to the state of Asia. ^{[6] [7] [8]} Clay’s oratory on the senate floor in 1810 in favor of the Navy’s use of domestic products is widely reprinted in newspapers and is credited for the beginning of the elaboration of the American System . ^[9] Production reached a peak in 1917 at 18,000 acres, mostly grown in the Bluegrass region, then waned to market forces after World War I and other sources of fiber were introduced. ^[10] [11] A World War II Program for World War II in World War II reached 52,000 acres in Kentucky in 1943. The WWII effort is documented in the USDA film Hemp for Victory . ^[12] : 1

Decline and criminalization

Production of hemp had seen a decline after World War I. The decline was marketed in the United States. ^[13] The availability of cheap synthetic fiber after World War II even further discouraged farmers from growing it. ^[14]

Federal policies, tightened by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, virtually banned the production of industrial hemp during the War on Drugs . According to an industry group, “the 1970 Act abolished the taxation approach [of the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act ] and effectively made all cannabis cultivation illegal”. ^[15] The Drug Enforcement Administration refused to issue allowded for legal hemp cultivation ^[b] and Held That, since industrial hemp is from the Sami species plant have prohibited cannabis (DESPITE icts being white of lower THC yield), both, Were prohibited under the Controlled Substances Act. ^[14] [17] In the words of a 2015 PBS NewsHoursegment on hemp, “To the federal government, is just as illegal as marijuana”, ^[18] and according to Newsweek , “all cannabis sativa-whether grown to ease chronic pain, get stoned or make rope-is a schedule I controlled substance “. ^[7]

Partial relegalization

By the late 20th century, American consumers were left as bystanders. Imported agricultural products, including Canada, but growing in the United States. ^[c] In 1994, Kentucky was one of the first states to consider reintroducing hemp cultivation, with a commission convened by governor Brereton Jones to investigate legal pathways to do so. ^[19] In 2013, Kentucky passed a state law, Bill 50, allowing production for agricultural research purposes. Although the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013, which would have allowed hemp production, failed, ^[12] : 2Agricultural law is under the Agricultural Act of 2014 (farm bill). ^{[7] [20] [21] [22]} The provision Allowing research Was added by Kentucky’s senior US Senator , Majority Leader Mitch McConnell . ^[18] Production was 33 acres in 2014, 922 acres in 2015, 2,350 in 2016, and agriculture experts expect an increase to c. 9,400 acres in 2017. ^[23] [24] As of 2016harvest season, only two US states other than Kentucky had over 100 acres in hemp production: Colorado and Tennessee, with smaller projects in Indiana, Nebraska, New York, and Virginia. ^{[25] [26] [27] [28] [29]}

The Industrial Hemp Research Program is being conducted under the auspices of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture . Research at the University of Kentucky’s Spindletop Research Farm is seeking improved agronomy and cannabinoid yield. ^[30] [31] The first research crops at Spindletop and Murray State University were planted in May, 2014, with seed obtained from California and, after a legal battle with the Drug Enforcement Administration , imported from Italy. ^[32] [33]The researchers are also engineering new mechanical harvesters that can reach the 10-12-foot (3.0-3.7 m) high flowers of tall-growing hemp. ^[34]

Legal status

Under federal law, the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) present in Both cannabis and hemp remains a schedule I controlled substance . ^[16]

Under state law, all hemp grown in compliance with the 2014 farm bill must have a THC content below 0.3%. ^[35] Farmers participating in the program must use a DEA license and use in THC. A sample of each farmer’s crop is tested by the state. ^[23] [36]

Production

Businesses exist in Kentucky which provides agricultural products based on hemp or supporting hemp production. Cynthiana-based Ananda Hemp has been operating in the Commonwealth since 2014. ^[37]

Oil extraction

Testing of a $ 400,000 oil extraction facility in Winchester began in March, 2016, with full production capacity of 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) per hour expected by the end of the year. ^[38] GenCanna and Atalo Holdings are hopeful of turning their property at Winchester into a “Hemp Research Campus”. ^[7]

Seed production

Three varieties of hemp seed from Lexington Seed Company Schiavi Seeds are the first to be certified by the Colorado Department of Agriculture . ^[39] Certified in late 2016 for the 2017 Colorado crop, the varieties being originated from Italy and Serbia. ^[40] [41]

See also

• Agriculture in Kentucky
• History of Kentucky
• Hemp and Cannabis

Footnotes

References

Quotes