Billion Dollar Crop Back in the Ground After a 77-year break, hemp plants are growing in American soil again. Right now, in fact. If you hear farmers from South Carolina to Hawaii shouting God bless America, the reason isnt because Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper (he did). Nor is it because the canvas that put the covered in pioneer covered wagons was made of hemp, nor that the hemp webbing in his parachute saved George H.W. Bushs life in World War II. Nope. Its because U.S. policy is finally acknowledging that hemp can help restore our agricultural economy, play a key role in dealing with climate change and, best of all, allow American family farmers to get in on a hemp market that, just north of us in Canada, is verging on $1 billion a year. Finally, the U.S. hemp industry is back. A provision in the 2014 farm bill signed by President Obama on Feb. 7 removed hemp grown for research purposes from the Controlled Substances Act, the main federal drug law. Not a moment too soon. American farmers have been watching as Canadian farmers clear huge profits from hemp: $250 per acre in 2013. By comparison, South Dakota State University predicts that soy, a major crop, will net U.S. farmers $71 per acre in 2014. (read more of this important article from the LA Times latimes/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-fine-hemp-marijuana-legalize-20140626-story.html)
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 23:32:36 +0000
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