Local lawmaker wants to push hemp over the hump for farmers

Missouri farmers would be freed from restrictions on growing industrial hemp under a bill introduced by a Perryville lawmaker.

Rick Francis

The Missouri House agriculture policy committee is scheduled to vote today on whether to pass the bill out of committee.

Barry Hovis

State Rep. Rick Francis, who serves on the committee, is optimistic his legislation will pass.

“I have yet to run into any opposition,” he said Tuesday.

An identical bill has been introduced in the Missouri Senate.

Lawmakers approved a limited pilot program last year, but it has not commenced because no money was included in the state budget to implement it, Francis said.

That measure allowed only 2,000 acres of industrial hemp to be planted in Missouri with any one farmer allowed to grow the crop on a maximum of 40 acres.

Francis wants to eliminate the acreage restrictions and let farmers plant as much industrial hemp as they desire.

Missouri, however, would still regulate the industry and farmers would have to be licensed and pay fees to the state.

Francis said a license would cost $500. In addition, farmers would pay a fee of $45 per acre of hemp, the Perry County Republican said.

Industrial hemp is not marijuana, he said. Industrial hemp contains a low concentration of THC, the psychoactive component found in marijuana.

Under drafted regulations, 15 days before harvest, a farmer would have to send in a sample of the crop to be tested to make sure it contains no more than 0.03 THC, Francis said.

Industrial hemp can grow in “all different kinds of soil,” according to Francis. Industrial hemp plants require half the amount of water corn needs to grow, Francis said.

The growing season, May to August, is similar to that of soybeans, he said.

State Rep. Barry Hovis, R-Gordonville, also serves on the agriculture committee and backs the bill.

Hovis said there are a variety of uses for industrial hemp, including CBD oil and fiber material.

The oil is extracted from the plant and used medicinally to provide pain relief.

Fiber material can be used to make building blocks stronger and lighter than traditional concrete. Hovis added it also can be used in the manufacture of plastics and vehicle car doors.

Hovis, a former Cape Girardeau police officer, said industrial hemp does not pose a drug risk. He said, according to information presented to lawmakers, a person would have to smoke “a ton or more” of industrial hemp to get the high from a single marijuana joint.

According to Francis and other supporters of the bill, there has been an increasing interest in hemp production since Congress passed the 2018 farm bill and it became federal law.

The measure legitimized hemp as a crop, they said. Previously, federal law, made it illegal to grow hemp.

Restrictions on growing hemp date back to the late 1930s and passage of a federal drug law in 1970 effectively banned cultivation of the crop.

Hemp once was a legal crop in the United States where it often was used to make rope.

Tom Raffety farms in Mississippi County and in western Kentucky.

He said Kentucky began allowing hemp farming in 2014.

That year, a new federal law allowed research institutions to start pilot programs in hemp production.

Raffety, who lives in Cape Girardeau, said he intends to plant a hemp crop on his Kentucky farm this year.

“Currently, it is lucrative,” he said. “The real driver right now is for CBD oil.”

But Raffety said he expects to see a growing market for hemp fiber.

Farmers growing hemp for CBD oil typically plant 2,500 to 4,000 plants per acre, he said.

Raffety said hemp plants will grow well in Southeast Missouri.

But he added “we have a big learning curve in Missouri. We are five years behind Kentucky.”

Western Kentucky already is home to CBD oil processing plants, which amount to about $100 million in “brick and mortar” facilities, Raffety said.

Even if Missouri lawmakers pass legislation this session and it is signed into law, Raffety said it will be 2020 before hemp production could begin.

But he and others are optimistic Missouri will embrace hemp farming.

“I think everyone sees the potential,” Raffety said.

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History of hemp

The cultivation of hemp has a rich history.

According to www.Hemp.com website, the use of wild hemp dates as far back as 8,000 B.C.

Hemp has been used to make everything from rope to clothing.

A brief timeline:

1500s: Hemp was used in construction of British Navy ships. Hemp paper was used for maps, ships’ logs and Bibles

1600s: Farmers in Virginia, Massachusetts and Connecticut were ordered by law to grow hemp

1700s: A person could be sentenced to jail for not growing hemp

In colonial America, people could pay their taxes with hemp

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp

Jefferson wrote a draft of the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper

1937: The Marijuana Tax Act heavily discourages production of hemp by taxing it

1942: Henry Ford builds an experimental car body made with hemp fiber

U.S. government launches “Hemp for Victory” program to encourage farmers to grow hemp for use during World War II

1957: Last commercial hemp fields in the United States were planted in Wisconsin

1970: Federal drug law effectively bans cultivation of hemp

2014: Federal farm bill allows research institutions to conduct pilot projects in hemp production

2018: Federal farm bill legalizes growing of hemp as a crop

Sources: Online information from hemp-related organizations, including Hemp Industries Association www.Hemp.com and Ministry of Hemp.

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mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641