Its illegal to ship hemp seeds into the United States, but the federal government has indicated it would not impede states where the crop is gaining favor and legal standing.
“The feds are waiting to see what we do before they adjust their regulations,” said James McVaney. “The thing to remember is hemp is not marijuana.”
Hemp was outlawed in the U.S. nearly 50 years ago, but in late August, the U.S. Justice Department issued a memo stating that the federal government would not interfere with state laws regulating cannabis sativa. The measure prompted Industrial Hemp of Colorado officials to lobby farmers to once again grow the environmentally friendly crop.
McVaney, director of Industrial Hemp in Colorado, told a group of about three-dozen area farmers Sunday, Oct. 27, that if they wished to grow hemp, they would be forced to “cross a gray legal line” in order to obtain the needed seeds. He urged interested farmers to contact the Colorado Department of Agriculture to voice their concerns over access to seeds.
“There’s a public comment period on the state’s new regulations and oversight that ends Nov. 5,” McVaney said.
McVaney said state legislators have not voiced any opposition to 8 CCR 1203-23, the proposed six-page regulatory guidelines for the industrial hemp industry in Colorado. The potential profit from hemp varies between $300 and $500 per acre, he added.
“Republicans, Democrats and Libertarians all see this as a great opportunity to grow hemp in Colorado,” he said. “It could help grow jobs across rural Colorado.”
Lu Nettleton, owner of Diamante Farm in Cortez, said the hemp industry is on the verge of exploding, and he believes the crop could revitalize the now embattled San Juan Bioenergy plant in Dove Creek. The plant opened in 2007 to process sunflower oil into fuel, but the company has since collapsed.
Financially held by Community Bank of Colorado, the San Juan Bioenergy plant is currently in foreclosure, Nettleton said. Bids were accepted this month in hopes of finding a new backer, but the only bidders were salvage companies, Nettleton said, adding that the bank refused all the bids.
“This plant is just sitting there in limbo,” Nettleton said. “We could use it to squeeze oil from hemp seeds and put it directly into our tractors. As local farmers, we could use the oil to become self-sufficient and meet our own fuel needs.”
Nettleton said the climate on the Colorado Plateau creates the perfect environmental conditions needed to successfully grow hemp on a commercial level.
“We’re poised to have a rural renaissance based on this one crop,” he said.
McVaney suggested that farmers interested in growing hemp apply for a $100 research and development permit from the state. Due May 1, the permit would allow farmers to produce only seeds, but those seeds would become climate acclimated to the region and subsequently be used to support the state’s future industrial hemp industry, McVaney added.
From seed to harvest, the hemp plant can be produced in just more than 100 days. Despite being a drought-resistant crop, the plant requires extensive moisture during the first nine weeks of production. Up to 14 inches of water is required per growing season.
“We could have a viable industry with our own seed stock within three years,” McVaney said. “They key is to start growing our own seeds next spring.”
Ten farmers across the state cultivated hemp this year, but the crops were limited for environmental-remediation efforts only.
McVaney launched a 10-city Farmers Talks tour over the weekend to examine and discuss draft regulations prepared by the Colorado Department of Agriculture on the future of industrial hemp operations in the state. He stopped in Cortez at Cliffrose Nursery on Sunday to speak.
Shannon Stewart, owner of Spruce Tree Coffeeshop, said there were lingering questions after the Farmers Talk, and she volunteered to lead a community effort to keep area farmers informed of the evolving industry.
“We have to put Cortez on the map,” Stewart said. “There are too many farmers who want to do this.”
Hemp can be used to produce a multitude of products, including nutritional foods, biofuels, clothing fibers and building materials.
Genetically similar to marijuana, hemp contains less than 0.3 percent of the psychoactive chemical in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
The overall U.S. market for industrial hemp fiber and seed products is an estimated $400 million a year.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com