Hemp's Fiber Ceiling Shatters
Is a reintroduction in the cards for this contentious crop?
Ryan Loflin bet the farm in 2013 and did what no U.S. producer had done for 70 years.
The Springfield, Colo., farmer ordered hemp seed by mail from Europe and stockpiled his supply bit by precious bit. When the cache climbed to 1,500 lb., Loflin dotted 60 acres of flat ground with hemp seed. Then he waited for Uncle Sam to come knocking.
No cease and desist letter. No phone call from the feds. No Drug Enforcement Agency raid. Loflin became the first U.S. farmer since the 1940s to plant and harvest industrial hemp.
Particularly in an ag economy with low commodity prices, hemp is beckoning U.S. farmers. Federal prohibition remains in place, but some states are moving forward with legalization.
Despite a storied history until 1937 (hemp briefly returned to U.S. fields during World War II), industrial hemp production...
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