Hemp
Uncertainty Around Banking Hinders Kentucky's Hemp Industry
Representatives of the Kentucky Hemp Industries Association lobby Washington lawmakers for access to federal banking and protections such as crop insurance. Read more
The State of Hemp
With robust growth, investment and infrastructure, Kentucky is well-positioned to lead the way through the hazy uncertainties of legalized hemp. Read more
Drew Purcell
Sales of Kentucky hemp products tripled in 2018, KDA reports
Sales of Kentucky hemp products tripled in 2018, and hemp processors spent twice as much on hemp materials harvested by Kentucky farmers as compared to the previous year, Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles said. Read more
Kentucky Department of Agriculture
Kentucky is the First State to Apply for Federal Approval of Hemp Program
Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles submitted the states’s regulatory framework for hemp to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for approval. Read more
Big Hempin'
The Bluegrass region's road to reclaiming its status as the "hemp capital of the world" Read more
Drew Purcell
Hemp hits a crossroads
As Kentucky’s expanding industrial hemp research program enters its fourth planting season, laws are changing and challenges remain. Read more
Kentucky hemp program growing to nearly 13,000 acres for 2017; Atalo pays growers $2M
Nearly 13,000 acres of industrial hemp will be grown under Kentucky’s fourth year of pilot programs aimed at resurrecting the long-banned plant as a viable cash crop. Read more
Kentucky hemp research pilot program taking applications for 2017 season
Kentucky’s emergent industrial hemp growers and processors can now apply to be part of the Commonwealth’s fourth year of research pilot programs run by the state Department of Agriculture. Read more
Hemp research gets public-private partnership boost
Kentucky’s nascent industrial hemp industry took an important step forward Wednesday with the announcement of a major public-partnership. The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment and Winchester-based hemp proce Read more
Theresa Stanley
Ashland celebrates 1st hemp harvest in 130 years
For the first time in more than 100 years, hemp was harvested at Lexington’s historic Ashland Estate. Under the direction of the Kentucky-based industrial hemp processing company United Hemp Industries, with help from the University of Kentucky Hemp Read more
Kentucky farms, universities get hemp seed distribution from Nevada-based company
CV Sciences Inc., a Nevada-based startup working to produce supplements containing the hemp extract cannabidiol (CBD), has announced the donation of internationally sourced hemp seed to several Kentucky universities and farms.... Read more
Hemp industry group hosts gathering at UK
Illustration by Catherine NicholsWith Kentucky farmers set to begin planting under the state’s third year of hemp pilot research projects, a main industry association is hosting... Read more
Commonwealth of Hemp: Kentucky continues to sow seeds of industrial crop's resurgence
Illustration by Catherine NicholsSelect Kentucky farmers will be growing more hemp in 2016 than at any time since the federal government effectively banned the crop in the 1930s,... Read more
Comer tells hemp backers: Kentucky will be 'epicenter' of industrial production, processing
Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer told a gathering in Lexington that industrial hemp is poised for exponential growth, with thousands of jobs from field work to possessing to sales expected to follow.“We’re going... Read more
Banking on industrial hemp
Industrial hemp is getting a lot of ink, air time and social media attention in Kentucky lately.In the second year of the state’s hemp pilot program, 121 farmers were selected to grow a total of 1,740 acres of the crop in demonstration... Read more
Hemp pilot projects finding fertile ground in Kentucky
Cynthiana farmer Brian Furnish has a successful tobacco and cattle operation but wants to make life better for his family and many other Kentucky farmers who once depended on tobacco for their living.“I’ve seen what’s happened... Read more
Hemp Legislation Passes in 11th Hour of General Assembly Session
Frankfort, KY – It had a finish fitting of March Madness as time ran down on the legislative clock and a last second shot to pass the hemp bill (Senate Bill 50) hit nothing but net.But the outcome of the game... Read more
Is Kentucky Ready for Hemp as an Engine of Economic Development?
Lexington, KY - Between the ages of eight and fifteen, I went to summer camp on a Jessamine County farm where industrial hemp had been grown in an earlier generation. In the underbrush, the occasional reminder could... Read more
Hemp Legislation Causing a Stir in Closing Days of General Assembly
Frankfort, KY - Rep. Tom McKee (D-Cynthiana), chair of the House Agriculture and Small Business Committee, said in a weekend interview that he will call Senate Bill (SB) 50, the industrial hemp bill, up for a vote in... Read more
Hemp Bill Flies Through State Senate, Real Test Comes in the House
Frankfort, KY – The Industrial Hemp Bill (SB 50) seemed to be on a fast track last week, at least when it comes to the Kentucky Senate.Just one week ago, the legislation was passed out of the Senate Agriculture... Read more