Hemp in Kentucky Commissioner James Comer Commissioner Ryan

Hemp in Kentucky? ? ? Commissioner James Comer Commissioner Ryan Quarles

Hemp vs Marijuana Hemp • Cannabis family • . 3% THC or less Marijuana • Cannabis family • 10 -15% THC

Where are we? Kentucky 2013 Farm Bill • Passed Senate bill 50 • Exempted Hemp from controlled substance act. • Put in an infrastructure to grow and control Hemp as pilot projects. • Licenses • GPS • Testing and inspection • Total control • Allows in states where Hemp is legal to administer pilot projects with the universities and through the Department of AG • Only for research and education • Sales of hemp • New farm bill legalized hemp December 2018

3 products from Hemp • Seed • Fiber • CBD oil (THC)

What can be made from hemp? Seed • • • Medications Health foods Cosmetics Lotions Bio-fuelsethanol/diesel Fiber • Paper • Textiles- fabrics/ upholstery/ carpet • Construction material • Clothes • Auto parts • Bedding CBD • • • CBD Hemp oil Seizures Health products Medications Cancer research

Pilots – year 1 • 11 pilot projects (6 universities, 5 individual through KDA) • 18 sites – 33 acres • 4 processing pilots (medical, energy, bedding, textiles)

Pilots – University's • UK – production – seed pop/fertilizer levels/seed varieties • KSU – heritage (wild hemp) • EKU – bio-energy • U of L – Brownfield toxins ? • Murray State – bedding/bio energy • Morehead – bedding • WKU – herbicide/pesticide

Pilots – Year 2 • 326 applications • Approved about ½ • Research/Education • 1700 acres approved • Planted 922 acresseed • Difficulty getting seed/too much rain

Pilots year 3 • 15 university sites – 7 universities • 174 private sites through KDA • @4500 acres applied for 2300 planted • Application reviewed on farming experience, resources available, and education

Pilot year 4 • 234 licenses • 12, 000 acres approved • 6, 700 acres • 72 processors Pilot year 5 • 1034 licenses • 43, 000 acres • 120 processors

Processing – 120 firms • KADF – funded projects • Atalo – CBD Winchester (Gencana) • Sunstrand – Fiber – Louisville & Carroll Co • Victory Hemp – seed Louisville moving to Henry Co

Economics at the farm • Seed • 800 -1200 lbs to acre • 60 cents a pound • $600 - $880 acre • Corn 200 bushel to acre $350 = $700 • Fiber • 1. 5 – 5 tons per acre • $70 -$135 per ton • $400 - $700 acre • Corn - $700 • Soybeans - $600

Profitability at the farm • CBD • 1000 -1500 lbs. to the acre • $3 -$7 a pound • $3000 - $7000 per acre • • Tobacco 2500 pounds to acre $2 a pound $5, 000 • Labor raised like tobacco • Cloned female transplants, 1800 -2000 per acre, cut and dried in the barn

Why would we not grow hemp? Constraints • Profitability (yield, price, labor) ( • What will it take place of on farm? • Corn, soybeans, tobacco, pasture, hay, trees? (requires good land) • Government restriction, red tape (FDA regulates CBD) • Must – GPS site and Test for THC approved through KDA • Risk? (crop insurance)(contracts) • Market location - fiber • Do we displace something at the market? • How big is the market?

Kentucky is excited about Hemp • Economic Development 8 firms/$52, 729, 300/535 jobs • Investors • Canada • China • Australia • Farmers • Marijuana funds other states • Versatile crop – 3 products • Grows well in Kentucky • Replacement for tobacco • Need - Certified seed, equipment to harvest, upgrade genetics

Kentucky first? • We want to be first! - create an infrastructure of Kentucky growers, processors, manufacturers, and marketers. - create profitable economic activity for farmers through agri-business and retail. - Hemp as agriculture economic development

Artemisia • Only medication for malaria • Grow it and manage like tobacco • 200+ day growing season • Use in other countries to treat cancer like we treat with chemotherapy without the side effects, hair loss, sickness. • The exciting thing about Agriculture is all the things God put on this earth that we have not discover yet. • “Hemp, Chia, Sumac, Artemisia, ? ”

Questions • Warren Beeler • Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy • warren. beeler@ky. gov • www. kyagpolicy. com • Cell 270 -991 -3438 • Office 502 -564 -4726

Congressman Comer bill • HR 3530 • Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2017 • Makes Hemp non narcotic (striking it from Controlled Substance Act) • Move THC level from. 3% to. 6% for scientific, medical and industrial research • Control of production at state level

Summary – What have we learned? • Hemp grows well in KY soils • Varieties of seed sorted them self on germination, hardiness, THC levels • It needs adequate moisture planting and for first 2 -3 weeks • Planting depth is an issue rows, broadcast. ¼ inch or less ideal depth. Populations undetermined • Weed control and pest control can be an issued • Attracts bees, dove, quail • Hemp genetics needs upgrade. • Harvesting equipment? • Processing and manufacturing need to be modernized to use everything • Demand for hemp seems to be great but how great and can it grow. • Two Limiting factors 1. Government regulation - GPS location - test THC levels 2. Profitability at farm level There is a lot we don’t know

Hemp environmentally • Mop crop – Cleans impurities from the soil - using around Chernobyl to clean up contaminants • Soil texture – tap root loosens soil for next crop (loosen soil, water holding, rotation crop)

Profit? • Corn • Hemp • 200 Bushel acre • $3. 50 per bushel • $700 per acre gross • 1000 – 1600 lbs. to acre • . 50 to. 70 per pound • $500 $1120 per acre gross • How big is the market?

Hemp Production • Seed bed – well drained soils • Soil type varies (firm, level, and fine) • Compaction is a problem (deeper than normnal) • Soil PH 6. 0 up to 7. 2 • 27 seed varieties in Canada – Seed and oil production or Fiber • 41 varieties in European Union

Economic of hemp on the farm Grain 500 -1, 500 lbs. per acre $. 60 - $. 70 a pound $500 - $900 per acre Fiber 2, 500 -10, 000 lbs. per acre $. 30 - $. 40 a pound $750 - $1250 Corn – 200 bushel x $3. 50 = $700 Soybeans – 60 bushel x $10. 00 = $600 Tobacco – 2500 lbs. x $2. 00 = $5, 000 Floral 1, 000 -1250 lbs. acre $3 -$7 a pound $3, 000 - $7, 000

Hemp Production Plant rows 6 -7 inches Soil depth 1/8 -1/4 Plant April to June 3 -4 weeks 12 -15 inches tall with 90% ground cover for weed control • No pesticides or herbicides approved for Hemp • Same fertility as wheat ($100125 acre) • Growing season 110 -150 days • •

Hemp Harvesting • Fiber plants get 10 -15 feet tall Yields 1 -5 -5 tons per acre of fiber • Seed yield – 1000 -1600 lbs. / acre • Combine for seed • Cut with sickle mower - fiber • Grain and fiber: combine then recut for fiber • Retting: process of separating fiber from other plant material (14 -28 days) windrow and turn