2019 fall farm

2019 Logan County Farm Outlook Magazine Lincoln Daily News Nov. 1, 2019 Page 17 W ith the Hemp Farming Act Bill that passed in 2018, hemp farming and production is an expanding industry that some might say is “growing like a weed.” For many years it has had something of a stigma attached to it due to both hemp and marijuana being part of the cannabis family. However, one significant difference is the level of the compound commonly known as THC, which causes the ‘high’ marijuana in known for. For marijuana, THC levels are above 0.3 percent. For hemp, the levels are below 0.3 percent. As hemp has begun to gain more acceptance, University of Illinois Unit Based Commercial Agriculture Educator Phillip Alberti says Illinois farmers have shown quite a bit of interest in growing hemp. The state has had over 900 applications for hemp and 300 applications for processors. The history of hemp production The production may be taking off quickly now, but hemp has been around for centuries. A timeline of hemp’s history shows it has been around since at least 8,000 BC with recent discoveries in China and Taiwan showing hemp was used in “pottery and food.” History also reveals that in the 1700s, “American farmers in several colonies were required by law to grow hemp,” which can be used in numerous products. Over the years, though, views on hemp changed and in 1937, “the Marijuana Tax Act placed a tax on all cannabis sales (including hemp), heavily discouraging the production of hemp.” By 1970, hemp was classified by the “Controlled Substances Act” as an “illegal Story by Angela Reiners Continue 8 Growing hemp: Profitable but challenging