Would anyone plant industrial hemp?

Edkansas · #1 12/18/12, 10:42 AM

Little background but by no means am I an expert on the subject. My understanding is that while it isn't illegal to grow Hemp it is cost prohibitive because of the special federal permits required. Hemp is a cousin to "weed" (doesn't contain near the THC) but has 100s if not 1000s of industrial uses. It was also a staple crop of American farmers until the mid 20th century (Constitution is written on hemp paper).

The reason I bring it up is because of all the talk about reducing or eliminating farm subsidies. I figure the farm lobbies should trade subsidies for the ability to grow hemp. There are certainly other industries that would be opposed to that move but in this political climate they may have a chance at getting it passed.

What say you?

ronbre · #2 12/18/12, 11:06 AM

i'm not into making things from fibers and have no qualifications to do so so I would have no need to grow it..but in Michigan if you get a permit you can grow medical marijuana..wonder if there might be some sort of market for the byproducts of that when it is harvested..they just compost it now

DaleK · #3 12/18/12, 11:10 AM

Growing hemp has been legal here for about a decade. It isn't the wonder crop people make it out to be. Unfortunately the legalisation was mostly driven by pot promoters hoping to use it to open doors down the road and the potential market was wildly exaggerated, as it is in the US today. There are a few people doing well with small acreages of it but it will never be a significant crop. There are also plenty of farmers who bought into the hype and are no longer farming.

rambler · #4 12/18/12, 11:15 AM

There are countries where it is easy/legal to grow, and it is a minor crop there, mostly used to make cloth and paper to sell to pot smokers as novelty items.,,,, Cotton and plastics took over the fiber industry, hemp is a tiny, nitche market. Polyester put it out of buisness. Heck, cotton is having a hard time hanging on.

Govt could make it easy to grow, add a subsidy to promote it being grown, and it still would not be a very big crop at all.

If you look at the places that do grow it, it's not the wonder crop some make it out to be.

I wouldn't get too excited about it. Corn, soybeans, wheat - those are the crops that are best adapted to most areas of the USA.

--->Paul

Edkansas · #5 12/18/12, 11:22 AM

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32725.pdf

I've only read the intro; have to wait until after work to get into the meat of it. Don't know that I would be dismissive of a plant that has 25,000 uses and looks to be better than corn and wood for biofuel and paper respectively.

Edkansas · #6 12/18/12, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rambler

There are countries where it is easy/legal to grow, and it is a minor crop there, mostly used to make cloth and paper to sell to pot smokers as novelty items.,,,, Cotton and plastics took over the fiber industry, hemp is a tiny, nitche market. Polyester put it out of buisness. Heck, cotton is having a hard time hanging on.

Govt could make it easy to grow, add a subsidy to promote it being grown, and it still would not be a very big crop at all.

If you look at the places that do grow it, it's not the wonder crop some make it out to be.

I wouldn't get too excited about it. Corn, soybeans, wheat - those are the crops that are best adapted to most areas of the USA.

--->Paul

But isn't that really just a function of regulation and the market making adjustments rather than the commercial use of the plant. Remember, this was a plant that was pushed to the fringes and outlawed through the lobbying efforts of corporations who didn't want to compete with hemp. If that is true, it seems logical to at least assume it is something more than a novelty given the fear of competition.

rambler · #7 12/18/12, 12:00 PM

Hemp was popular for fiber when we only had natural fibers. Wool has some neat features, cotton is cheap durable, wood turns into good paper, hemp has it's unique features.

Since the 1930's, plastics have taken over, kelvar, fiberglass, rayon, and the many many dirivitives of these have taken over for the special needs we have for fibers.

Cotton, wood, hemp, wool cannot compete. We can make what we want from cotton and plastic blends.

Now, I like my wool this or that, but 3M has some products that wear longer and insulate better.

I like my special parchments here and there, but the cheapest ream of typing paper made from wood and recycled paper is what I buy 90% of the time.

Hemp does and will supply some special qualies to the fiber idustry, but it's time came and went. Synthetic blends replaced it for the most part, and we will not get back the glory days of wool, hemp, etc.

Time moved on.

Look at rope - sissal was _the_ thing, and man the old farmsteads had ropes all over, what a market, tropical nations were built on making the rope needed! But now, it's all plastic rope - plastic twine, plastic tow straps. Sure I still use sissal twine on my small square bales, but I use 1/100th the sissal my grandpa did. In so many places, plastic is better......

I'n not against hemp fiber. Just a realist - it is not what some make it out to be any more. It would not make a tiny dent in crop acres. It will be a minor crop, hardly noticable on the charts. It just can't compete with synthetic fiber blends.

Nice crop, no volume market for it.

Mom talked about collecting milkweed for the war effort - they used parts of that weed to make something for the war effort.

Sure would be an easy crop to grow, such a weed!

But, no one needs milkweed any more, they use synthetic blends to make better now.

Time has passed. Hemp is used for a few things, but no longer the best for very many things. Novelty crop.

--->Paul

floyd242 · #8 12/18/12, 12:13 PM

I bet there would be a pretty large market in the cosmetic industry as well as vitamin supplements. Hemp protein is supposed to be one of the closest proteins you can get to meat products and hemp oils have many cosmetic uses. I bet it would be a great easy to grow livestock feed too.

notthereyet · #9 12/18/12, 12:23 PM

It's a novelty crop because there isn't any demand for it. If I remember the facts right, when you compare acre-to-acre, hemp produces more paper than wood, and more fiber than cotton.

If just these two industries were to make a serious commitment to processing hemp, it would be a huge boon to the economy as a whole and the environment in general.

**Terri** · #10 12/18/12, 01:05 PM

A few years back we had a chopper hovering over our roof.

Then, it spent 10 minutes hovering over my tomatos and went away.

THEN, the chopper came back and hovered over my roof again.

During this time, black 4 door sedans went up and down our street. If you are guessing that somebody in my area was growing pot, you would be right. They were checking out land to see if anyone ELSE was growing pot as well, which is why they were so interested in my young tomato plants!!!!!!!

I don't want the Feds interested in my home. I do not want inspectors coming to make sure I am compliant with my permits. For that matter, pot and ditchweed are both illegal in Kansas, but even so I do not want to grow something I would need a permit for.

I simple do not want government officials in my back yard!

geo in mi · #11 12/18/12, 01:34 PM

It kinda went the same direction as leather shoes and wool undies..

geo

emdeengee · #12 12/18/12, 01:41 PM

Industrial hemp is grown in Canada (over 38,000 acres) but it is controlled. The industry has been growing steadily. Another trend worth noting is that the hemp food industry has switched to certified organic production because of strong demand. A few industry experts estimate that approximely one-third of Canadian hemp seed production is certified organic. This is interesting reading

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$departm...f/all/econ9631

simi-steading · #13 12/18/12, 01:43 PM

hhhmm.. still looking like you're looking for a cash cow crop Ed.... If farming was such a money maker, everyone would be doing it... any more, if you want to farm for profit, you need to be part of a large corporation...

The little guy can farm and get by, but he's not going to be living in a McMansion and parking his car in a 6 tractor barn with bay windows..

If you are looking for something different, maybe bamboo? Algee is also being looked at for ethanol... Really.. not much out there you can grow that's going to be worth the efforts unless you're planting massive amounts..

If you need to grow something to save yourself money to feed your animals that's one thing, but to grow it for profit... not such a good business plan..

Alice In TX/MO · #14 12/18/12, 01:53 PM

You MUST have a buyer for any crop you produce. Work backwards from the available market before you plant anything.

PrettyPaisley · #15 12/18/12, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terri

I simple do not want government officials in my back yard!

This is the reason I nixed the idea of a dairy to make goat cheese. Not only am I a HUGE nonfan of the gov't a good friend pointed out they feel they have the right to come and go once I'm required to jump through their hoops. I also skipped the "tax break" for being a farm. Not worth it, IMO, just for a few dollars when they can come in an take over whenever they feel like it.

simi-steading · #16 12/18/12, 01:58 PM

I've been kicking around not getting bees for that same "gov't in my yard" reason...

If I get bees, I have to report them to the state within 15 days of getting them... and then the bee commissioner or who ever it is can just walk onto my property any time he wants to have a look at my bees...... and I'm sure look around at what else I might be doing...

Bearfootfarm · #17 12/18/12, 02:07 PM

A few folks around here are growing Kenaf, which is a similar fiber plant, so there must be some sort of market:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenaf

Jan in CO · #18 12/18/12, 02:38 PM

If the scientists could only find a cheap, easy way to make ethanol out of kudzu, it would be wonderful. I thought about growing it for livestock feed after reading an article by a couple who make baskets, jelly, livestock feed, etc from it. They had considered hemp but settled on using the kudzu that was so prevalent. Probably wouldn't grow well here on the dry plains anyway, even if I were dumb enough to try it. IF there were a market for hemp, I might consider it, depending on how much work was involved in caring for the plants, etc.

fishhead · #19 12/18/12, 03:28 PM

I've read that hemp fiber board is 4x stronger than wood plywood. That's got to be a good cost saver in shipping and design.

I'd grow it if it was legal for the seeds to feed my chickens. I'd also collect the seeds for my own food.

ChristieAcres · #20 12/18/12, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishhead

I've read that hemp fiber board is 4x stronger than wood plywood. That's got to be a good cost saver in shipping and design.

I'd grow it if it was legal for the seeds to feed my chickens. I'd also collect the seeds for my own food.

The Male MJ is used for Hemp and doesn't produce seeds... During early growth, reportedly produces more THC, but that dissipates with age.

I don't smoke it, never have, and have no intention of growing it. Not a good idea with the "Police State," we now live in, not to mention the criminal element MJ draws.

Locally, a man and his 9 year old son were at home, when two criminals broke in to steal MJ. The man killed both the criminals. Turns out, this man had a Medical MJ Card, was allowed to legally grow, but was in great excess of the limits... He is in trouble!