The hemp plant has caught the attention of Kentucky’s agriculture community. When the 2018 farm bill emerged from Congress and included a provision legalizing hemp, that generated even more interest in a crop with a long history in Kentucky.
An annual hemp event in Lexington Wednesday also served to provide some cautionary advice when it comes to the crop.
Extension Specialist Bob Pearce opened up the hemp field day gathering at the University of Kentucky’s research farm off Iron Works Pike. The initial expectation was for a crowd of about 500, but by mid morning Pearce estimated the final count near 700.
Richmond Farmer Charles Reece is just beginning to investigate hemp. He grew tobacco for three decades before the federal buyout almost 15 years ago. He’s looking at hemp with a curious eye. “I just hope it ain’t a fad is what I hope, you know what I’m saying. I hope it pans out for all the farmers that want to grow it. Like I said, I’m interested in growing the CBD hemp. I’m not interested in commercial hemp,” said Reece.
Another field day participant looking for more information was Kelly Ramsey of Ramsey Farm in Nicholasville. While thoroughbreds have been the bread and butter of the bluegrass farm, Ramsey said there are challenges in the horse business. “We’ve been in for a lot of time, 30, 40 years and many driven by my farmer and he’s getting a little bit long in the tooth as he says and he’s wanting us to look into other interests and downsize his horse racing business a bit,” noted Ramsey.
Ramsey said their farm grew five acres of hemp two years ago and this year they are growing 20 acres. He envisions the Cannabidiol oil business to be a niche market with maybe more long term benefits in hemp fiber.
Included in the hundreds gathering at the research farm was a group of FFA students from eastern Kentucky. Kaitlyn Cantrell, who lives on a farm in Lawrence County, finds hemp intriguing, but not something her family is exploring now. “We only have about 60 acres so we don’t really have, and we run cattle on most of it, and lease it out and stuff so, we don’t really have enough room for stuff like that, but I think it would be interesting to have some around where we are,” said Cantrell.
A large percentage of farmers sitting at tables under the big tent on a hot August day came from a Kentucky community. But, the field day event also drew visitors from about 20 states. Larry Smart is with Cornell University’s Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva New York. “In our research program we’re testing 30 different hemp varieties this year for cannabidiol production and there’s been a lot of investment in processing facilities in New York as well. But, we also hope that, and we have some companies that are developing for grain and fiber production as well,” explained Smart.
UK Extension Specialist Bob Pearce said compared to decades of research for crops like corn and soybeans, hemp research is still in its infancy. He said there are variety trials, herbicide trials, and fertilizer trials, for example. His advice for any farmer considering hemp is do a lot of homework up front. “Find a processor that you’re going to work with. I would not start into this crop without have some sort of agreement with a processor to know what I’m growing, where I’m going to sell it and what kind of return I can expect to get for it,” Pearce said.
UK Agricultural Economist Will Snell called it a new era, adding all those who attended the field day event were learning from each other about hemp. Depending upon who you talk to, Snell said some farmers will say hemp production has gone well while others will say it hasn’t gone well at all. And Kentucky farmers still grow burley. “I often say it’s not necessarily that hemp’s going to just way over the top of tobacco. Tobacco may fall just below hemp, the way the trend lines are falling. This book hasn’t been written. We’re on about chapter one or two. We’ll see where it goes in the coming years,” said Snell.
Snell said tobacco in Kentucky has gone from a $900 million dollar ag industry to $300 million. He said last year farmers sold just under $18 million dollars of hemp to Kentucky processors.
Still Kentucky Ag Commissioner Ryan Quarles holds out high hopes for hemp. He told participants 1000 farmers are growing hemp in Kentucky this year, up from 200 last year. The state agriculture official got an applause when he said, “if there is ever a state that will capture the economic potential of hemp, it going to be the Commonwealth of Kentucky, cause we are it’s natural home.”?
Here's an extended interview with UK Ag Economist Will Snell:
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