YAKIMA, Wash. — As a cousin to marijuana, hemp has long been banned despite a huge potential for use in a wide range of products, including clothing, building materials and even shampoo.
But Yakima will soon be at the forefront of the state’s efforts to develop a research program that could lead to a commercial hemp industry.
The state Department of Agriculture plans to hire a Yakima-based program specialist to help draft and adopt rules needed to create the program, which is expected to launch in time for the 2017 growing season.
“I think that’s pretty exciting. Being able to develop a program doesn’t come along every day,” said Jason Ferrante, Agriculture’s assistant director for commodity inspection.
Recent changes in federal law — in spite of the federal government’s long-standing resistance to legalizing marijuana and hemp — allow states to develop research programs around the viability of commercial hemp production.
Earlier this year, state lawmakers gave the go-ahead for such a program to go into effect June 28, but Ferrante said the Agriculture Department wanted to jump-start the process by advertising the job ahead of time.
Officials say the position is a natural fit for Yakima because the state’s seed inspection program is already based here. Located at 21 N. First Ave., the program employs up to 20 people during the peak of the growing season and tests a wide variety of seeds so growers and seed companies can comply with certification and labeling requirements.
Unlike legalization of recreational marijuana in Washington, the efforts around hemp have been less noticed.
“It seems like cannabis has gotten all the news,” Ferrante said.
While related to marijuana, hemp has a low amount of the psychoactive ingredient, THC, that gives marijuana its high. But because of its relation to cannabis, a 1970 federal law made it illegal to grow hemp in the U.S. without a permit.
Some states, including Oregon, allow permitted hemp crops, but keep it tightly regulated. Elsewhere, dozens of other countries allow hemp cultivation.
The plant is used in the manufacturing of a wide range of products, including plastics, rope, textiles, paper and insulation. Such materials must contain no THC if they are imported into the U.S.
Joy Beckerman of Edmonds, a veteran hemp advocate who worked with the state Agriculture Department to write the law, said she is glad to see the research program coming to fruition.
Beckerman has worked with lawmakers and agency staff for three years while multiple bills stalled in the Legislature. She attributed the delay to the time needed to reach compromise on the competing bills, rather than any strong opposition to the idea of researching the possibility of hemp gaining a foothold among Washington’s crops.
The state’s efforts are tightly tied to research, not any imminent plan to see hemp crops pop up across the state.
About half of the 50 states have authorized industrial hemp programs; 13 states have active programs.
Beckerman said the cautious approach is well warranted, in part to comply with federal regulations as well as making sure that hemp fits in to the agricultural landscape without the chance of cross-pollinations or other problems.
“It’s a complicated little bugger and you’ve got to be careful with it,” Beckerman said.
But marijuana growers are closely watching the state’s work because of the close ties between the two products.
One of the program specialist’s key duties will be outreach to those interested in hemp-related farming and research possibilities, Ferrante said. Public hearings will also be held.
Interest in the position — temporary, at least for now — has been low, but Agriculture officials say they hope to find someone who wants the chance to take the reins of crafting a cutting-edge program.
The position, which will pay from $3,740 to $4,913 a month over an expected nine-month term.
The state has a relatively modest budget of about $145,000 for the hemp rule-making process, with most of that going toward salary and benefits.
The process will include setting standards for how hemp seeds would be released to researchers. Agriculture would then monitor their use of the seeds and the end product.
Part of the legislation approved this year authorizes Washington State University, a leading agricultural research center, to prepare a report on the viability of a commercial hemp market for the state, but only if federal or private funding is secured.
Randall Fortenberry of WSU’s School of Economic Science, who has studied hemp’s commercial potential in Wisconsin and Washington, said no study funding has been identified yet.
“There’s just not money sitting there to take on new initiatives that haven’t been fully funded,” he said.
The federal government may need to clarify what it will allow around hemp before federal funding becomes available, and the private market is not yet at a full-fledged stage where investors would provide research funding, Fortenberry said.
Marijuana growers and others are interested in the potential Washington market, but Fortenberry suggested that hemp may not be a sudden financial juggernaut.
Even in Canada, which has had an established commercial hemp industry for more than a decade, hemp remains a small part of the country’s agricultural output, he said. Most fiber — for clothing, for example — still comes from China.
Commodities in general have relatively low profit margins, Fortenberry said, and the same can likely be expected for any future market in Washington.
“If they think this is suddenly going to save agriculture or increase margins significantly, that is probably not going to happen,” he said.
http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/lo...cle_e49c003a-35bd-11e6-a24c-bf23babdbba0.html
But Yakima will soon be at the forefront of the state’s efforts to develop a research program that could lead to a commercial hemp industry.
The state Department of Agriculture plans to hire a Yakima-based program specialist to help draft and adopt rules needed to create the program, which is expected to launch in time for the 2017 growing season.
“I think that’s pretty exciting. Being able to develop a program doesn’t come along every day,” said Jason Ferrante, Agriculture’s assistant director for commodity inspection.
Recent changes in federal law — in spite of the federal government’s long-standing resistance to legalizing marijuana and hemp — allow states to develop research programs around the viability of commercial hemp production.
Earlier this year, state lawmakers gave the go-ahead for such a program to go into effect June 28, but Ferrante said the Agriculture Department wanted to jump-start the process by advertising the job ahead of time.
Officials say the position is a natural fit for Yakima because the state’s seed inspection program is already based here. Located at 21 N. First Ave., the program employs up to 20 people during the peak of the growing season and tests a wide variety of seeds so growers and seed companies can comply with certification and labeling requirements.
Unlike legalization of recreational marijuana in Washington, the efforts around hemp have been less noticed.
“It seems like cannabis has gotten all the news,” Ferrante said.
While related to marijuana, hemp has a low amount of the psychoactive ingredient, THC, that gives marijuana its high. But because of its relation to cannabis, a 1970 federal law made it illegal to grow hemp in the U.S. without a permit.
Some states, including Oregon, allow permitted hemp crops, but keep it tightly regulated. Elsewhere, dozens of other countries allow hemp cultivation.
The plant is used in the manufacturing of a wide range of products, including plastics, rope, textiles, paper and insulation. Such materials must contain no THC if they are imported into the U.S.
Joy Beckerman of Edmonds, a veteran hemp advocate who worked with the state Agriculture Department to write the law, said she is glad to see the research program coming to fruition.
Beckerman has worked with lawmakers and agency staff for three years while multiple bills stalled in the Legislature. She attributed the delay to the time needed to reach compromise on the competing bills, rather than any strong opposition to the idea of researching the possibility of hemp gaining a foothold among Washington’s crops.
The state’s efforts are tightly tied to research, not any imminent plan to see hemp crops pop up across the state.
About half of the 50 states have authorized industrial hemp programs; 13 states have active programs.
Beckerman said the cautious approach is well warranted, in part to comply with federal regulations as well as making sure that hemp fits in to the agricultural landscape without the chance of cross-pollinations or other problems.
“It’s a complicated little bugger and you’ve got to be careful with it,” Beckerman said.
But marijuana growers are closely watching the state’s work because of the close ties between the two products.
One of the program specialist’s key duties will be outreach to those interested in hemp-related farming and research possibilities, Ferrante said. Public hearings will also be held.
Interest in the position — temporary, at least for now — has been low, but Agriculture officials say they hope to find someone who wants the chance to take the reins of crafting a cutting-edge program.
The position, which will pay from $3,740 to $4,913 a month over an expected nine-month term.
The state has a relatively modest budget of about $145,000 for the hemp rule-making process, with most of that going toward salary and benefits.
The process will include setting standards for how hemp seeds would be released to researchers. Agriculture would then monitor their use of the seeds and the end product.
Part of the legislation approved this year authorizes Washington State University, a leading agricultural research center, to prepare a report on the viability of a commercial hemp market for the state, but only if federal or private funding is secured.
Randall Fortenberry of WSU’s School of Economic Science, who has studied hemp’s commercial potential in Wisconsin and Washington, said no study funding has been identified yet.
“There’s just not money sitting there to take on new initiatives that haven’t been fully funded,” he said.
The federal government may need to clarify what it will allow around hemp before federal funding becomes available, and the private market is not yet at a full-fledged stage where investors would provide research funding, Fortenberry said.
Marijuana growers and others are interested in the potential Washington market, but Fortenberry suggested that hemp may not be a sudden financial juggernaut.
Even in Canada, which has had an established commercial hemp industry for more than a decade, hemp remains a small part of the country’s agricultural output, he said. Most fiber — for clothing, for example — still comes from China.
Commodities in general have relatively low profit margins, Fortenberry said, and the same can likely be expected for any future market in Washington.
“If they think this is suddenly going to save agriculture or increase margins significantly, that is probably not going to happen,” he said.
http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/lo...cle_e49c003a-35bd-11e6-a24c-bf23babdbba0.html
