{"id":4251,"date":"2015-06-07T06:51:51","date_gmt":"2015-06-07T06:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=3383"},"modified":"2015-06-07T06:51:51","modified_gmt":"2015-06-07T06:51:51","slug":"hemp-industry-entering-second-full-growing-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/hemp-industry-entering-second-full-growing-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Hemp Industry Entering Second Full Growing Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/hemp-industry-entering-second-full-growing-season\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>The newly legal hemp industry is entering its second growing season with some big questions for producers experimenting with marijuana\u2019s non-intoxicating cousin.<\/p>\n<p>The federal government has allowed limited imports of hemp seed \u2013 in Colorado\u2019s case, this month \u2013 for research and development purposes. Companies trying to create a U.S. hemp industry are seeking investors not only for unproven products but for a plant that is still classified under the federal Controlled Substances Act with marijuana and thus cannot be patented.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, it\u2019s too soon to tell whether hemp will become a boon for farmers or stay in mostly boutique products that use imported hemp.<\/p>\n<p>At least 22 states allow hemp cultivation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, though most are limited to experimental testing, not commercial industry. Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture say they\u2019re not sure how many states are growing hemp or how much is being produced.<\/p>\n<p>Two hemp facilities in northern Colorado underscore the crop\u2019s uncertainty.<\/p>\n<p>A biomass factory about an hour\u2019s drive north of Denver is processing hemp into pulp, sugars and lignin. PureVision Technology CEO Ed Lehburger is also experimenting with hemp stalks, sensing potential for a broad array of industrial uses but unable to secure enough to see whether it could replace wheat, corn and wood as raw materials for use in things like plastics, fuels and packaging.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t have enough hemp to process,\u201d said Lehrburger, who created a subsidiary, PureHemp Technology, but concedes the hemp business is a few years from taking off. He\u2019s paying $500 a ton for the scarce commodity, compared to $65 for a ton of corn stalks.<\/p>\n<p>But Lehrberger is bullish on hemp\u2019s industrial potential. Pointing to a room-sized machine that processes the biomass into pulp, Lehrburger explained that hemp stalks become pulp faster than other raw materials and require less water.<\/p>\n<p>Just down the road, a greenhouse contains a more tantalizing prospect. The company CBDRx is growing several hundred hemp plants in order to extract cannabidiol \u2013 frequently shortened to CBD \u2013 a non-intoxicating part of hemp that some believe has a variety of medical applications, from alleviating pain and inflammation to managing seizures.<\/p>\n<p>CBDRx\u2019s owners believe hemp\u2019s therapeutic potential far exceeds any other commercial use. The company, created in January, plans to expand to 200 or more employees within a year, thanks to a large investment of venture capital.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe see this as a very huge market, much bigger than the marijuana market,\u201d said Alejandro Bergad, CBDRx\u2019s chief agricultural officer for the company. \u201cWe\u2019re poised for national expansion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But CBDRx must first to develop a product they can\u2019t yet patent and make sure their plants don\u2019t contain too much of the plant\u2019s more popular chemical, THC, which produces a high.<\/p>\n<p>The federal Controlled Substances Act makes no difference between hemp as a plant and marijuana as a drug.<\/p>\n<p>Plants containing more than 0.3 percent THC are considered marijuana and must be destroyed by law, though licensed hemp growers aren\u2019t subject to criminal prosecution if their plants are too strong. Last year, the first in which Colorado licensed hemp growers, agriculture authorities ordered the destruction of about an acre\u2019s worth of plants after spot inspections, out of 1,811 total licensed acres.<\/p>\n<p>More growers have signed up this year, with 2,637 acres licensed. Colorado now allows indoor hemp production, too, with 465,000 square feet in production statewide, such as the CBDRx greenhouse.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado agriculture authorities say the state\u2019s hemp industry is still very much in its infancy, even though the state\u2019s industry is thought to be the nation\u2019s most mature.<\/p>\n<p>The Colorado Department of Agriculture, along with other states, got permission in early May from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to import hemp seeds. They\u2019re to be used for research, a crucial first step for states to develop certified seed stock to replace the current \u201cdon\u2019t ask, don\u2019t tell\u201d-like policies for farmers growing hemp.<\/p>\n<p>Duane Sinning, assistant director of plant industries for the state agriculture department, said he frequently fields calls from companies seeking introductions to hemp growers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen it started off we thought it was all going to be rope and soap, and there\u2019s a lot of that, but we\u2019re seeing interest from others, too,\u201d said Sinning, who recently worked with a maker of boating carpet to find farmers who might have hemp fibers to sell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn any emerging industry you don\u2019t really know what the uses are,\u201d Sinning said. \u201cWhen Edison invented electricity and the telephone, he never thought about computers and cellphones.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One area of the state\u2019s hemp revenue has vanished completely. Last year, Colorado\u2019s Department of Agriculture got several hemp applications from people willing to pay $200 just to have licenses to display.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey wanted a souvenir of the first year,\u201d Sinning said with a chuckle. The agency hasn\u2019t received any souvenir license requests for 2015.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/gallery\/data\/1412\/hemp42.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Jacob Redmond <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/2015\/05\/30\/hemp-industry-enters-2nd-year-with-hazy-market-potential\/\" target=\"_blank\">? Hemp industry enters 2nd year with hazy market potential<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: Kristen Wyatt<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"mailto:news@pressherald.com\">news@pressherald.com<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto Credit: NHIA<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.pressherald.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The newly legal hemp industry is entering its second growing season with some big questions for producers experimenting with marijuana\u2019s&#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/2015\/06\/hemp-industry-entering-second-full-growing-season\/\" class=\"read-more\">[Read More]<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1607,9,1,3],"tags":[4175],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4251\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}