Anna Chaney, owner of Honey’s Harvest Farm in southern Anne Arundel County, wants to grow industrial hemp. Chaney calls herself an experiential farmer and has been the leader in Maryland as an advocate for the 2018 congressional farm bill that made it legal to grow and process hemp nationwide. Chaney knows that growing hemp is no panacea for the agricultural challenges facing farmers today, but she is carefully exploring the field by bringing in seasoned hemp growers with workshop offerings at Honey’s Harvest. While practicing permaculture and creating highly nutrient-rich soil, her exploration of the 160 acres she owns delves into what her land likes to produce.
I asked her, “Why hemp?” “Thanks for asking!” Chaney says. “My inspiration to support the initiative to grow hemp in Maryland is all about the plant. I believe that farmers should be able to grow this amazing crop—in fact, I believe that anyone should be able to grow this plant if they want to, for any reason whatsoever. I am not aware of any other plant in the world that offers the incredible benefits that hemp does: clothing, food, medicine, building materials, industrial manufacturing (plastics, paper, carbon fiber replacements), fuel, livestock food, bedding, bioremediatory for soils, air, and water, and much more.”
This particular variety of the cannabis plant produces many valuable uses from its fibrous stalk and its leaves, flowers, and seeds. As food, hemp is a perfect protein with 10 grams of protein per three tablespoons of hemp hearts (the edible interior of the hemp seed), and perfectly balanced with omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Hemp is the only plant that contains all of the essential fatty acids and amino acids required by the human body. These essential nutrients affect a variety of the body’s functions, including metabolism, skin health, mood, behavior, brain, and heart. Cannabidiol (CBD) oil is extracted from the flower and is helpful for medicinal uses, including inflammation, insomnia, seizures, anxiety, and even in chronic diseases that may be triggered by stress. Many think the term cannabidiol refers to the entire hemp plant, but it is solely the extracted oil. Hemp oil also is being used for many pet ailments and has been found to be more effective than some of the widely used pet medications. “I see no end to the usefulness of hemp,” Chaney says.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. When it comes to building materials, plastics, bio-fuel, car parts, clothing, furniture, it’s pretty much endless what this amazingly strong, fire retardant, mold resistant natural hemp fiber can do and become. Not only can it provide all of these things, but it is being used very effectively as a bio-waste remediator. The hemp plant is used at the site of Chernobyl as a soil radiation remediator.
“This plant can sustain us, house us, clothe us, transport us, and potentially heal the ailments of the earth and humanity, while at the same time create millions of new jobs in an industry that can literally save the world,” Chaney says. “How can one not be inspired to support hemp in any way possible?”
Hemp, the “no-high” cousin of marijuana, has a non-psychoactive compound and has been called the next great commodity super crop. To step a few centuries back, our Declaration of Independence was written on paper made from industrial hemp, as well as the first American flag made by Betsy Ross. There was a plethora of uses then and this “legal again” agricultural product is set to be worthy of renewed hoopla.
What’s All the Hoopla About?
Let’s start with Cannabis 101.
We do need to know that there are many varieties of the cannabis plant. In the evolution of this botanical, there is also an industrial hemp which was cultivated to only contain a trace, less than 0.3 percent, amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the intoxicating, federally-illegal substance that is responsible for causing the marijuana high.
For many years, cannabis botanicals—there are several—were all branded illegal because of the infamous strong association of hippie highs (complete with “the munchies”) from THC-potent marijuana. The legal cousin of the cannabis plant that this article highlights is industrial hemp, which must be inspected to contain only a trace amount of THC. Currently, farmers and old-timers may refer to their joke of “smoking rope!” That may have been the case in the past, but current U.S. government regulations require strict testing.
The 2014 congressional farm bill authorized states to create pilot research grow programs administered by universities or state agriculture departments. However, industrial hemp remained on the federal list of controlled substances. Then, in 2018, Congress legalized non-intoxicating cannabis, synonymous with industrial hemp, in the farm bill. Removing industrial hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, as part of the 2018 congressional farm bill, has enabled farmers to legally explore the growing culture that was lost when hemp was labeled a controlled substance in 1937.
Myriad Uses
Because of the former federal prohibition imposed on cannabis, the U.S. is importing an estimated $100 million of hemp products each year. Now that it is legal, U.S. farmers are poised to reap the financial benefit of growing this crop. All products from the multifaceted plant are set for a boom. According to one source, more than 25,000 products can be made from hemp.
CBD oil is a, roughly, $1 billion industry worldwide, which has been shifting into high gear. This phytocannabinoid, discovered in 1940, is reputed to have beneficial medicinal uses. As of 2018, preliminary clinical research on CBD included studies of its effect on epilepsy, fibromyalgia, anxiety, cognition, movement disorders, and pain. Food and drink retailers are finding CBD can be a relatively profitable supplement to enhance lattes, cold brews, alcohol, salads, brownies, doughnuts, and even pizza. Although the FDA has not approved hemp’s use in food and drink, there are CBD cafes with whimsical names like Glazed and Confused, The Alchemist’s Kitchen, and Zenbarn.
Industrial hemp CBD products can easily be found at a variety of wellness stores throughout Maryland. The “whole body” arena is on fire. A great variety of products are currently on store shelves, including health foods, supplements, soaps, balms, salves, tinctures, and organic body care—all derived from different parts of the hemp plant.
Hemp fiber, from the stalk of the plant, offers myriad industrial uses, including concrete reinforcement, strong fabrics, clothing, construction materials, biofuels, plastic composites, cat litter, and more. It grows prolifically, making it an extremely efficient crop for sustainable plastics known as “bioplastics.” They are lightweight, biodegradable, and can replace many petrochemical, single-use plastics (oil-based plastics). υ
Kevin Tubbs, founder of the Hemp Plastic Company in Colorado, has been making eco-friendly packaging for 20 years. Tubbs says, “We expect market dominance in bioplastic hemp. Outside of cash crops, like hemp hearts and CBD oil, there’s a lot of waste in hemp processing. So, I started experimenting. Take the waste products and you can do one of two things with them: You can either make hempcrete—a building material—or hemp plastic.”
Tubbs is confident that hemp bioplastic will overtake petroleum-based raw polymer in coming decades. Thanks to consumer demand for more sustainable goods, corporate initiatives, and falling manufacturing costs, production of bioplastics is poised to take off. By 2020, bioplastics are predicted to control five percent of the plastics market and rising to 40 percent by 2030, according to Grand View Research.
The good news extends to hemp-based paper products. At this time, a mammoth Mid-Atlantic distributor of foodservice supplies and paper, Penn Jersey Paper Company, is researching the production of hemp paper products for food packaging, especially since Styrofoam is outlawed in many cities and the state of Maryland.
For soil decontamination, a growing body of evidence suggests that hemp roots can remove toxins from soil and water better than, practically, any other plant. Hemp has been proven to absorb heavy metals from soil, including zinc, cadmium, lead, and arsenic. Since hemp absorbs four times the carbon of most
plant can actually be planted between growing cycles of corn and soybeans to create a cover cash crop.
Growing the Industry Today
Nearly 2,100 individuals and businesses have applied to grow or process industrial hemp in 2019, reported the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Trade and Trade and Consumer Protection in early March. That’s just three months after legalization.
Federally outlawed for more than 80 years, the industrial hemp plant requires a resurrection in growing, cultivating, and marketing but it is happening on a large scale, even in Maryland. On the Eastern Shore, industrial hemp is 2019’s new cash crop. And the Maryland Farm Bureau is assisting farmers with the process of identifying potential buyers.
Elsewhere, Martha Stewart will be joining Canopy Growth, a cannabis company, in an advisory role to help drive interest in hemp-derived CBD products, predominantly for pets. This Ontario-based company is building a hemp industrial plant in New York state. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania is creating the infrastructure for industrial hemp processing, while at the same time allocating acreage to test the growing conditions. In York, farmer and licensed surgeon Steve Groff plans to use innovative Canadian machinery to process whole hemp plants for fiber and chemicals on a large scale.
The U.S. is the largest consumer of hemp products. In our country, growing interest in hemp products has the potential to stimulate economic growth. Groff states, “With careful management and clear objectives in mind, those who are educating and testing feel there is a rocky road to travel but with a glorious sunset! With so many farmers struggling [nationwide], careful cultivation of hemp comes as one of the farmers’ greatest opportunities.”
