CaseyJones
10-21-2013, 12:42 PM
http://www.thecalifornian.com/viewart/20131021/NEWS01/310200008/Legal-not-farmers-harvesting-hemp
Southeast Colorado farmer Ryan Loflin tried an illegal crop this year. He didn’t hide it from neighbors, and he didn’t fear law enforcement would come asking about it.
Loflin is among about two dozen Colorado farmers who raised industrial hemp, marijuana’s nonintoxicating cousin that can’t be grown under federal drug law. It was the nation’s first acknowledged crop in more than five decades.
Emboldened by voters in Colorado and Washington last year giving the green light to marijuana and industrial hemp production, Loflin planted 55 acres of several varieties of hemp alongside his typical alfalfa and wheat crops. The hemp came in sparse and scraggly this month, but Loflin said but he’s still turning away buyers.
“Phone’s been ringing off the hook,” said Loflin, who plans to press the seeds into oil and sell the fibrous remainder to buyers who’ll use it in building materials, fabric and rope. “People want to buy more than I can grow.”
Southeast Colorado farmer Ryan Loflin tried an illegal crop this year. He didn’t hide it from neighbors, and he didn’t fear law enforcement would come asking about it.
Loflin is among about two dozen Colorado farmers who raised industrial hemp, marijuana’s nonintoxicating cousin that can’t be grown under federal drug law. It was the nation’s first acknowledged crop in more than five decades.
Emboldened by voters in Colorado and Washington last year giving the green light to marijuana and industrial hemp production, Loflin planted 55 acres of several varieties of hemp alongside his typical alfalfa and wheat crops. The hemp came in sparse and scraggly this month, but Loflin said but he’s still turning away buyers.
“Phone’s been ringing off the hook,” said Loflin, who plans to press the seeds into oil and sell the fibrous remainder to buyers who’ll use it in building materials, fabric and rope. “People want to buy more than I can grow.”