Hemp takes root in Tennessee

In by Clay Dudaleave a COMMENT

Hemp takes root in Tennessee

Dozens of farmers across Tennessee signed up this year for a strictly-regulated pilot program run by the Department of Agriculture for a chance at growing the state’s first (legal) industrial hemp crop in more than 70 years. They see a future in the plethora of uses for hemp, but it’s been more than a generation since Tennessean green thumbs have tried to cultivate it, and much knowledge about how to grow it and where it grows best has been lost to prohibition.

Album: The Rise of Industrial Hemp in Tennessee

Tags: #farming #industrial hemp #marijuana #tennessee

The pioneers

In by Clay Dudaleave a COMMENT

The pioneers

Charles Mason is a hemp pioneer. He dove in this year, but now he’s not sure if his investment will pay out. He sunk more than $25,000 to plant 60 acres of hemp in Cocke County. He was hoping to turn a profit, but now he’d be happy just to recoup his investment. He reckons he’s yield is down by more than 50 percent this years after delays in getting seeds and other issues.

“This is what I consider a total loss,” Mason says, looking out over a 10-acre field choked in weeds. “It’s definitely been a learning experience, and it’s going to be a learning experience for years to come. They told us up front the first year may not be profitable, but I think there needs to be a little more light out there (on the process) before we invest any more money.”

Fortunately for him, not all of Mason’s fields look so rough, although they’re not exactly to levels he’d like to see. Plantings expected to reach 6- to 8-feet tall this time of year hover in the 2- to 3-feet range, with a few ambitious sprouts coming up about waist-high. One 10-acre field has been overpowered by weeds, another 20 acres is still mostly barren dirt after the seed didn’t sprout, and his largest 30-acre plot is short but mostly thriving.

Album: The Rise of Industrial Hemp in Tennessee

Categories: Journalism

Tags: #farming #industrial hemp #marijuana #tennessee

Harvest time

In by Clay Dudaleave a COMMENT

Harvest time

“This, to me, is a farming issue,” says Sen. Frank Niceley, who introduced Tennessee’s hemp bill last year, adding that even he was surprised it passed on the first try. “Since the Republicans have taken over down there (at the state capitol), we pass bills that give freedoms back to people. I saw Kentucky trying to legalize hemp and realized that we can grow anything they can grow, and if this industry is going to come about there might be a need for more hemp than one state can provide, so I dropped the bill.”

Rep. Jeremy Faison, who sponsored a similar bill in the House, admits he was pretty ignorant about the nuances of cannabis until a friend called him a few years back and started talking up hemp, but now he sees he sees the potential, and others with traditionally conservative values are also coming around, he says.

“I think there’s a clear distinction between both forms of the cannabis plant (marijuana and hemp), but both forms have massive benefits to our lives and the environment we live in,” he says. “In my opinion the cannabis plant is just about the most beneficial plant God gave us. I want to continue Tennessee opening up its views to the cannabis plant, be it medical marijuana or industrial hemp.”

Album: The Rise of Industrial Hemp in Tennessee

Categories: Journalism

Tags: #farming #industrial hemp #marijuana #tennessee

In the name of research

In by Clay Dudaleave a COMMENT

In the name of research

University of Tennessee tobacco specialist Eric Walker stakes out a hemp field for herbicide tests. This year the university planted all five varieties of hemp made available by the state’s Department of Agriculture. The initial idea was to plant the different types and see how they grew in the climates of middle and east Tennessee, and what types of yields they produced, but after delays in procuring seeds, Walker shifted the focus of this early research.

“Initially, we just planned to focus on the different varieties, plant them and get yields to see which was best, but since we planted later in the season we decided to screen for herbicides instead,” he explains. “We’re going to spray different herbicides across the five varieties (of hemp) to see if any herbicides out there will work. Once we find that out, then it’s up to chemical companies whether or not they want to pursue a label to allow those herbicides to be used for industrial hemp. It looks like we’re a couple of years away, minimum, before anything is released (for commercial use).”

Album: The Rise of Industrial Hemp in Tennessee

Categories: Journalism

Tags: #farming #industrial hemp #marijuana #tennessee