Pubdate: Tue, 29 Feb 2000
Source: Peoria Journal Star (IL)
Copyright: 2000, Peoria Journal Star
Contact:  http://pjstar.com/
Author: Steve Tarter

FARMERS SAY HEMP WOULD BE PROFITABLE

FORREST - Stan Blunier is ready to plant hemp right now if the federal
government would let him.

That's right, hemp. But we're talking about the industrial-strength
variety, not the recreational model.

Industrial hemp's connection with its cannabis cousin, marijuana, is what
clouds the issue, said Blunier, a corn and soybean farmer east of Bloomington.

Hemp was once grown freely throughout the country. Considered the world's
strongest natural fiber, the plant has been used for cloth and rope for
thousands of years.

Then in the 1930's, fears of increasing marijuana use spurred a ban on all
forms of cannabis, wiping out even industrial hemp as a commercial option
for U.S. farmers.

Now, interest in industrial hemp is growing. Hemp is now grown in 31
countries around the world, according to the North American Industrial Hemp
Council.

There are signs hemp's stock may be rising in the United States. Hawaii, in
a test project, recently became the first state to grow hemp since the U.S.
government allowed farmers to raise it during World War II.

Meanwhile, states like North Dakota and Kentucky are among 21 states to
have passed or considered a bill allowing hemp seeds to be planted in
American soil.

Last week the Illinois Senate sent legislation to the House calling for
research on industrial hemp by state universities, a move supporters hope
lays the groundwork for the crop's return to Illinois fields.

There are thousands of reasons why that should happen, said Blunier, citing
a wide variety of products including carpets, cosmetics, fuel, fabrics,
ink, paper and plastic that use hemp in oil or fiber form.

"Right now is a good time to take a look at it with all-time lows in corn
and soybean prices," Blunier said.

"I think there's the possibility for more net profit (with hemp) than with
other crops. The more I look into it, the more potential I see," he said.

Hemp has properties that make it attractive for a farmer. "It grows so
quickly you don't need herbicides," he said.

As far as the "m-word" (as one farmer refers to marijuana) goes, it's a
matter of looking at the facts, said Blunier.

"People who are opposed to it are just opposed to hemp in any form. You'd
have to smoke a joint as big as a telephone pole to get high on industrial
hemp," he said.

Two things are driving the move toward industrial hemp: expanded markets
for fiber and environmental concerns, said Bud Sholts, chairman of the
North American Industrial Hemp Council.

"Over the past 10 to 15 years there's been a huge expansion in the use of
fiber. With China and India continuing to industrialize, we'll see an
increased use of fibers and papers," Sholts said.

"There's also been a great movement toward biodegradable products. The
automotive industry, in particular, is looking to use more natural fibers
in their manufacturing process," he said.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture recently completed a study that
looked at the industrial hemp issue.

"I did not relish chairing this task force. At our first meeting, there
were fireworks between the pro-hemp and law enforcement people," assistant
director Joan Messina said.

But consensus was achieved by the end of the group's third meeting for the
recommercialization of hemp in Illinois.

Messina said her agency is trying to rein in a tendency towards promotion.
"On one hand, our marketing department would love to go like crazy with it.
On the other, we want to be investigative and see what needs to be done,"
she said.

"There is genuine potential. Thousands of products can be made from it."

Not everybody agrees. "It's a lot of hype," says Tim Cansler, director of
commodities and rural development for the American Farm Bureau.

"Until there are more major breakthroughs, I think its impact is
insignificant. It would only take 2,000 acres to grow what we use in this
country. If 2,000 farmers with a free acre want to do it, they should go at
it," Cansler said.

But industrial hemp is no stranger to controversy.

Just last year U.S. Customs officials seized a shipment of industrial hemp
seeds at the Canadian border. Canada has been growing industrial hemp
commercially for two years.

Blocking White House approval for industrial hemp is opposition from the
nation's drug czar, retired U.S. Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey.

In a letter sent Monday to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan,
McCaffrey raised concern about interest in industrial hemp.

"The federal government is concerned that hemp cvultivation may be a
stalking horse for the legalization of marijuana," McCaffrey wrote.

"Uncertainty about the long-run demand for hemp products and the potential
for oversupply discounts the prospects for hemp as an economically viable
alternative crop for American farmers," he said.

Sholts said he believes industrial hemp will be legalized, "but probably
not before McCaffrey leaves."

One argument Blunier has heard opposing making industrial hemp legal is
that plots of the industrial variety could hide plots of marijuana. But
that wouldn't work, he said.

"Anyone who's studied biology would understand it would cross-pollinate and
reduce the strength of the marijuana," said Blunier.

Some farmers said Canada has set an example the U.S. could follow.

"In Canada, if a field's not licensed, it's illegal," said Steve Koeller, a
farmer in Godfrey, in southern Illinois. An arrangement where farmers must
be licensed to grow the crop could work in the U.S., he said.

Koeller and a group of other southern Illinois farmers will soon travel to
Ontario to look at a Canadian processing plant for industrial hemp. Koeller
thinks such a plant would be profitable in Illinois.
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