Pubdate: Thu, 10 Apr 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Yesenia Robles
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm (Hemp)

GETTING OVER HEMP-SEED HUMP

Farmers Face a Federal Law That Prohibits the Importation and Sale of 
the Non-Sterile Product.

Farmers in Colorado and at least 10 other states are preparing to 
plant, cultivate and harvest hemp legally for the first time since 
the crop was outlawed more than 50 years ago.

As they learn about the crop's preferences and the best methods to 
harvest the seeds for oil or the long stalks for fiber, they are 
sidestepping the first part of the process that remains unclear: 
getting the seed.

"It's kind of a catch there right now," said Ron Carleton, the 
state's deputy commissioner of agriculture.

Federal law still prohibits the importation and sale of non-sterile 
hemp seed, which is needed for industrial farming.

Hemp- a cannabis plant without the psychoactive THC chemical that 
allows marijuana smokers to get high-is still classified by the Drug 
Enforcement Agency as a controlled substance even though Colorado 
legalized hemp along with recreational marijuana in 2012 with Amendment 64.

At the federal level, this year's farm bill also gave a green light 
to state departments or universities wishing to grow hemp for 
research if their state allows it, but didn't address any other legal 
issues-such as obtaining viable seed.

Since hemp farming was outlawed in the late 1950s, few hemp seeds 
exist within the country.

"We're still getting through that hoop," said Veronica Carpio, a 
Boulder business owner and hemp farmer. "I have a Canadian farmer who 
is ready to sell me all the seed I want, but at this point I can only 
smuggle it across, which I'm not willing to do."

Carpio was able to get a small amount of seed last year and planted 
it before the state created the legal process. This year, she 
registered to have one commercial acre and one research acre.

 From last year's crop, she is selling single seeds and is attempting 
to create a strain, the Colorado Star, which she hopes will become 
the first one certified in the state.

Because she is licensed as a seed distributor - as required of 
sellers of any type of seed- and only sells within Colorado, her 
sales of seed are legal, she said.

Ryan Loflin attempted to get ahead of the game last year by planting 
the first large crop of hemp - nearly 60 acres in Baca County.

"It did well," Loflin said. "We were just happy to get it harvested, 
especially since none of these seeds have been tested in Colorado. 
These cultivars didn't exist here before, so a lot of this is experimental."

Loflin did have trouble getting seed last year but was able to get 
two strains-one from Europe and another from Canada.

"It came down to working with the suppliers on getting everything 
past regulations and the DEA," he said. "I had to basically smuggle 
it into the country little by little."

Colorado officials are talking with federal agencies about creating a 
legal process to obtain seeds, but for now the state is not going to 
question where growers get them, Carleton said.

"Our only role at the department is basically to register growers and 
then do the inspections," he said."We really, at this stage, don't 
have any role in helping them obtain seed or learning about where 
they got their seed."

In February, Gov. John Hickenlooper sent a letter to Tom Vilsack, 
secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about the seed 
shortage and its illegal importation.

Colorado State University officials, who are also in talks with the 
government, said they are interested in exploring research projects 
they can lead, but they first want to resolve legal questions such as 
where to get seed. CSU communications director Kyle Henley said the 
issues may be worked out in the next "couple of weeks or months."

Farmers who want to grow hemp for commercial or research purposes 
have to register with the state before May 1. Last month, the first 
month the registration was open, 13 farmers registered to grow hemp. 
The state Department of Agriculture will test one-third of the 
registered farms to ensure they don't exceed the allowed 0.3 percent 
THC level that the international industry uses to define hemp.

During World War II, the U.S. government at one point required 
farmers in many states to grow hemp through the Hemp for Victory 
program. The country, cut off from traditional fiber supplies from 
Asia, was in need of fiber for ropes, clothes and other textiles.

But later concerns about the hemp's relation to marijuana caused the 
government to ban the crop.

Now the industry estimates that annual U.S. retail sales of all 
hemp-based products, the majority of which are imported, may be 
nearly $500 million.

It's that economic opportunity that has attracted a variety of 
farmers from the state to try growing hemp.

"While it is more involved than I first thought, I am still 
interested in the possibility of growing industrial hemp," said Dick 
Blumen he in, a Boulder resident who farms in Saguache. "But it 
probably won't be overnight."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom