DENVER – Colorado is just starting its experiment with industrial hemp production, but interest in the new crop is so strong the state is moving to expand the number and size of farms growing marijuana’s nonintoxicating cousin.
A bill winning unanimous approval in a Senate committee this week would allow year-round hemp cultivation in greenhouses and strike a 10-acre limit on hemp for research and development.
“Hemp, I believe, is going to be the most valuable crop for Colorado farmers in the future,” said Michael Bowman, a farmer from Wray who plans to grow hemp on his eastern Colorado farm this spring.
Lawmakers shared Bowman’s hyperbolic enthusiasm.
“Hemp can fix every problem in the world if we just let it, so let’s get to work finding out the hundreds of thousands of uses for hemp,” said Sen. David Balmer, R-Centennial.
In 2011, the U.S. imported $11.5 million worth of hemp products, largely from China and Canada, compared to $1.4 million in imports in 2000. Most of that was hemp seed and hemp oil, used in granola bars, soaps, lotions and cooking oil.
Colorado authorized hemp cultivation in 2012 when it legalized marijuana for recreational use. Farmers must apply for permits with the state Department of Agriculture, which are being issued for the first time this year, though a few growers didn’t wait and brought in sparse and scraggly experimental crops last year.
While a national Farm Bill signed into law in February lifts a decades-old ban on hemp cultivation, federal law still bans importing hemp seeds considered necessary for a viable industry.
In February, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper wrote to U.S. Agriculture Secretary John Vilsack seeking permission to import seed from other countries. He hasn’t heard back.
State officials say the USDA referred questions about hemp seed to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which hasn’t indicated any change looming.
“What we’ve been told is that DEA trumps all,” Ron Carleton, deputy agriculture commissioner and overseer of the industrial hemp program, told senators this week.
Colorado currently requires hemp to be grown outside. State officials want greenhouse growing, too.
“We can essentially grow it year-round when you do it indoors,” Carleton said.
Once the hemp is harvested, the next step in the process is a little unclear, state officials say.
The bill awaits a vote by the full Senate before heading to the House.
