HEMP MAY HOLD UNEXPECTED PROMISE

Emerging Trends And Issues That May Affect The Commonwealth's Future

In 1996, a Canadian farmer planted a plot of industrial hemp. He followed
his hemp crop with soybeans in 1997 and discovered an 80 percent reduction
in the cyst nematode population. As a control, he planted soybeans in the
same field using past rotational practices and found an 8 percent increase
in cyst nematodes. Could hemp offer rotational benefits to other crops?

Gale Glenn from Winchester, Kentucky, a member of the Hemp Task Force,
suggested in a recent Lexington Herald-Leader editorial that farmers should
urge lawmakers and agricultural leadership in the state to endorse and
pursue intensive research into this valuable cash crop. Growing hemp is now
legal in 26 countries, including Canada, England, Australia, China, and
most of Eastern and Western Europe. Glenn concludes that the time has come
for Kentucky and the United States to recognize hemp as an environmentally
friendly, sustainable raw material for the paper, plastics, textile, and
building industries. Given that hemp was historically a fine crop for
Kentucky, the state should be on the cutting edge, rather than lagging
behind, Glenn asserts.

Potential Implications for Kentucky

A growing body of evidence suggests that hemp may hold enormous potential
in the marketplace, replacing scarce, nonrenewable resources and creating
the potential for sustainable farm income and, possibly, farm practices.
Further exploration is clearly warranted, as other nations move to capture
a growing market for a crop that was historically a base of strength for
Kentucky.