The recently passed state budget eliminates a cap on New York’s prospering industrial hemp industry. That will allow more farmers to be able to research, grow, and process a crop that could turn into a million dollar business. The industrial hemp industry’s first hurdle is also the biggest misconception most people have about.
SUNY Morrisville Researcher Jennifer Gilbert Jenkins stated, “It is related to marijuana is what most people think. But industrial hemp does not have any THC in it.” It’s THC that creates the marijuana plant’s high. However, the biological connection between marijuana and hemp continues to create a roadblock for growing a crop that farmers cultivated in New York state more than a century ago.
So while there are still major Drug Enforcement Administration regulations in place regarding acquiring seed and transporting industrial hemp, the New York’s loosening of rules around the industry opens up farmers to a crop that has earnings potential. Processed hemp is already sold locally, valued for its high protein content. Jenkins stated, “You can walk into your Wegmans and buy a bag of hemp seeds just like you can buy a bag of sunflower seeds. You can buy hemp oil, you can buy hemp meal to use in shakes and smoothies.”
However, most of the hemp products sold in New York right now come from Canada and China. Jenkins, who’s researching the best ways to fertilize hemp in the field, says New York isn’t the only state that sees potential in industrial hemp. That may be spurring New York state to move quickly. Jenkins said, “The state who get the grows happening faster are going to benefit more.” They’re going to be out ahead.” New York state will be holding a hemp summit later this year in the Southern Tier to highlight the challenges and opportunities to grow the industry.
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