INDUSTRIAL HEMP POISED TO BECOME MAJOR CROP

BISMARCK, N.D. - Industrial hemp could easily become a leading
alternative cash crop of the future in North Dakota, after all it has
been growing wild for decades in the state - so proficiently, in
fact, that it has even been classified as a noxious weed.

But producers and ag officials are rediscovering the crop's
agricultural value and have been working hard to allow hemp to be grown here.

And beginning Jan. 1, North Dakota farmers may be able to get in on
the value-added ag side of the crop as the state will be the first in
the nation to issue licenses to farmers to grow industrial hemp next spring.

There is high consumer demand for industrial hemp which has nearly
30,000 uses. From sturdy clothing, rope, automotive products and ship
sails made from the fibers of the hemp stalk, to the most balanced
Omega 3 and 6 oil available made from crushing the hemp seed, the
entire plant has been used in a variety of ways around the world for centuries.

Products, including high quality flour and snack bars and fine
lotions and cosmetics made from hemp, have been making huge inroads
in recent years, with the U.S. importing more and more hemp items
each year as consumer demand increases.

That and the fact it can grow and thrive here makes it attractive to
North Dakota producers, according to Dave Monson, a farmer in
northeastern North Dakota,

"It's a good cash crop, no doubt about it," said Monson, who farms
near Osnabrock, about 25 miles south of Canada and 40 miles west of Minnesota.

Monson, who is also a state representative in the North Dakota House
Representatives, grows wheat, barley, canola and some soybeans - and
now he wants to add hemp to his crop line-up.

Monson was the first legislator in the state to recognize industrial
hemp's value after farmers in Manitoba began growing it in the late
1990s, and has been spearheading legislation to legalize growing the
crop here ever since.

It wasn't just that Monson noticed his Canadian neighbors taking off
a crop in wet years when he couldn't get anywhere near the yields he
hoped to get for his crops. His interest was also piqued by the fact
that industrial hemp was proving to be a good rotational crop,
particularly well known for crowding out weeds and breaking the weed cycle.

In addition, growing hemp did not require a bunch of chemical
applications, with the exception of fertilizing with a nitrogen product.

"It's usually wet here on the west edge of the Red River Valley, and
with the rocky soil, we can't raise sugarbeets or potatoes," Monson
said. "Since 1993, we've had scab in our wheat nearly all the time,
and hemp looked like a good alternative crop for us, particularly
since the Canadians are growing it with success 25 miles to the north of us."

The only year in recent times that Monson didn't find scab in his
wheat crop was 2006, although with the heavy precipitation in the
spring, it looked like another wet growing season. A drought hit the
entire state in June, and for the northeastern corner, it was good news.

"We got a lot of 50 bushel per acre wheat. The best was 54 and the
worst was 33. The price was fairly decent, too," he said.

However, even Monson realizes that one year out of many is not enough
to keep a farmer in business - let alone making a profit.

Like many other producers, Monson works off the farm, too. In
addition to being the current assistant majority leader in the state
House, Monson is also part-time superintendent at the K-12 school in Edinburg.

Farming is in his blood, however, and he traveled to Canada several
times over the years to watch the hemp growing and talk to producers
there to learn more about it.

"Growing hemp is a lot like growing a hardy variety of canola," he
said. "It's a dark green crop and grows healthy and very tall - 10 to
12-feet-tall. From a distance, it looks like nettles growing."

Monson said, as far as he knows, sclerotinia (white mold) was the
only disease to affect hemp, but even that was rare. "It looked like
a very good alternative crop," he added.

One thing that appealed to him was the plant's hardiness. One time a
major windstorm hit the region packing 100 mph winds and the
Canadians still got a crop off. He said the winds laid the hemp crop
over flat in the fields, "but it just started growing back up again,
and they made a crop."

Monson is excited that he may be able to grow hemp next spring.

"I'll stop in Jan. 2, and fill out an application (for a license),"
Monson said, adding he has heard lots of farmers discussing the
possibility of growing the crop in the future.

Roger Johnson, North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner, doubts there
will be more than "a couple of handfuls of farmers applying for a
license right away."

For one thing, no one knows if the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) will
turn down the farmer's license. Johnson has been working right along
with Monson and others for more than a decade to try to get
permission to grow the crop in North Dakota.

Industrial hemp has had the misfortune of being tied in with
marijuana since World War II ended, according to historical
information gathered by VoteHemp, a national organization that is
working to make the crop legal to grow in the 50 states.

During the war, the American government actually required states to
grow it in case ports were closed. Hemp was needed for war materials,
especially ropes and sails, because hemp fibers are some of the
strongest natural fibers known to mankind.

After the war, the DEA included hemp, a variety of Cannabis
containing a negligible amount of THC in it, in the drug enforcement
rules. As it turned out, the U.S. was allowed to import all the hemp
products it wanted, but it could not grow the crop here.

But a lot of hemp was still growing in North Dakota, as well as in
other states, so it was labeled a noxious weed. Johnson said the fact
that hemp survived as a noxious weed means it will grow in the state.

One reason he has been behind the effort to grow hemp here is the
fact that it is a good, solid crop.

"It's a legitimate crop. Why shouldn't farmers be able to grow it? It
grows rapidly, is a great rotational crop requiring far fewer
pesticides (than other crops)," said Johnson, who added that the
oilseed has the healthy attributes of seeds like canola or
sunflowers, both widely grown in the state.

"Farmers need to pay a lot of attention to rotating crops, especially
if they want maximum efficiency,"ohnson said. "They need to avoid
disease problems, fertility problems, weed pressure - all of which
industrial hemp addresses."

In addition, he said the crop is "an extremely fibrous natural fiber
plant" that can be processed into strong rope, among hundreds of
other products.

While he said there were no contracts out there for industrial hemp
currently, that doesn't mean there won't be once farmers get the crop
going. The potential is definitely there, he said.

Growers here indicate they will be producing the crop for the seed,
Johnson said. The fact that North Dakota has oilseed processing
plants that can crush the hemp seed gives the state an edge to
reaping the value from the crop, according to the VoteHemp website.
Transporting the crop out of state would add considerably to input costs.

In addition, Johnson said his office has been mandated by the state
Legislature to handle the licensing and regulations. The Legislature
also passed a bill allowing the feral seed to be collected in the
state, test plots to be set up at NDSU and other legislation
including mandating the Ag Department to establish rules, oversee the
crop production and issue licenses.

Many other states have passed laws to allow hemp to be grown in their
state, but North Dakota beat all the others in being the first to
issue a grower's license, Johnson said.

One of the hardest things for the ag commissioner over the years has
been trying to get the approval of the DEA, but that hasn't been for
lack of trying, said Johnson.

"We've encountered major roadblocks from the federal government," he
said. Many farmers and others have conducted a letter writing
campaign to the DEA to try and find out what they could do to grow
hemp, but the DEA simply ignored the requests, he added.

Johnson set up meetings with the DEA over the past year. "We brought
a set of draft rules, and sort of insisted we wanted to move forward
with something ... to have rules that would result in growing
industrial hemp," he said.

"They were very polite, cordial," Johnson said, but never
specifically said they would approve a farmer's license.

Johnson's department worked with the DEA, encompassing all the DEA's
suggested rules into the final list.

"I believe all the regulations (we have) comply with what the DEA
wanted," Johnson said.

Some of the objections to industrial hemp being grown include fears
that farmers would try to hide marijuana plants in the rows of hemp.

That was countered with the fact that the tall hemp which shades and
crowds out weeds would do the same to the marijuana plants that are
grown to be short, bushy with a lot of flowers intact and few seeds.
Hemp, on the other hand, is grown to be tall, widely-spaced with lots
of seeds and no flowers. Cross pollination, which would inevitably
occur, would cut down the percentage of THC in the marijuana variety
and basically turn it into the "decaffeinated" variety.

The new regulations issued by the state Ag Department and okayed by
the attorney general's office, require a farmer requesting a license
to pay for and submit to fingerprinting and a criminal background
check, as well as pay another $150 for the license itself. He has to
acquire certified seed with less than .3 of 1 percent THC each
planting year, which most likely will have to come from Canada, Johnson said.

Farmers must also document buyers and harvested amounts, provide
field location with GPS, and get the okay first from the DEA - which
may prove to be a roadblock. No one knows, Johnson said, adding a
lawsuit might be the end result.

"We're hoping it doesn't come to that," Johnson said.

In spite of everything, Monson believes the fight is worth the
effort. Industrial hemp has too strong of a potential, both as a
money-maker and as an alternative crop, for farmers to see the
opportunity pass them by.

"It could become a major crop in North Dakota," Monson said.