WEBVTT - Could Hemp Become America's Biggest Crop?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren Vogel Bomb and in fields across the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>hemp is about to take over. It was once a

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<v Speaker 1>staple of revolutionary age farms. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and

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<v Speaker 1>George Washington all grew it, and caretakers at Mount Vernon

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<v Speaker 1>still reap it. But it was banned for decades in

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<v Speaker 1>the United States for somewhat unfortunate association with its party

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<v Speaker 1>hardy cousin cannabis. But now that Congress has passed a

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<v Speaker 1>new farm bill that contains provision that will legalize and

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<v Speaker 1>regulate the plant, hempfields are poised to start edging out

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<v Speaker 1>some of America's more traditional crops, from corn to cotton.

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<v Speaker 1>The hemp plant holds great promise for belaggered farmers everywhere,

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<v Speaker 1>though for many it remains largely misunderstood. We spoke with

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<v Speaker 1>Corey Sharp, the CEO of Hemp Logic, which provides services

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<v Speaker 1>from seed to sale. The website claims to fledgling hemp farmers.

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<v Speaker 1>Sharp said, my web traffic quadrupled right after the farm

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<v Speaker 1>bill passed. I'm getting fifty emails a day when I

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<v Speaker 1>was getting ten. I get asked this all the time.

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<v Speaker 1>Does it feel like a gold rush? Yes, it absolutely

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<v Speaker 1>feels like a gold rush. And I'm the guy supplying

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<v Speaker 1>the shovels and the wagons and the supplieseen law allowed

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<v Speaker 1>the growing of hemp by states and some universities for research.

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<v Speaker 1>The year before, forward thinking Colorado allowed a farmer to

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<v Speaker 1>grow a hemp crop, the first in decades in a

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<v Speaker 1>closely watched experiment. By seen nineteen states were growing hemp

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<v Speaker 1>on some twenty five thousand acres, about three times more

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<v Speaker 1>acreage than the year before. Now, with the passage of

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<v Speaker 1>this new farm bill, the shackles are off sharp predicted

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<v Speaker 1>it's going to blow. It's wide open. It's the wild

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<v Speaker 1>wild West. We also spoke with Eric Steinstra, the president

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<v Speaker 1>of the advocacy group Vote Hemp. He said that in

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen growing hemp was an eight hundred and twenty million

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<v Speaker 1>dollar industry in the United States and that in ten

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<v Speaker 1>years there's no telling how much that might balloon. Quote,

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<v Speaker 1>We're going to see a multibillion dollar industry. We're going

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<v Speaker 1>to see hemp become a full commodity where it's not now.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not a huge crop, not traded on the exchanges

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<v Speaker 1>that kind of thing. I think we will see markets

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<v Speaker 1>developing products in new ways to use this crop in

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<v Speaker 1>ways previously not thought of. I think we're going to

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<v Speaker 1>see this become the number one crop in the United

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<v Speaker 1>States eventually. I believe that the rise of hemp may

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<v Speaker 1>come and cost two crops that require lots of water

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<v Speaker 1>and pesticides like cotton, soybeans, and corn, and the allure

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<v Speaker 1>of hemp is strong for many reasons. It grows more

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<v Speaker 1>quickly than crops like corn, but with less water and

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<v Speaker 1>fertilizer and less need for herbicides and pesticides. Sharp however,

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<v Speaker 1>cautions that while it can grow like a weed, it

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<v Speaker 1>must be controlled for the crop to have any value.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, I always tell people you want to grow

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<v Speaker 1>two hundred acres, grow too. You have to be very,

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<v Speaker 1>very careful with the passage of the farm bill. Hemp overcomes,

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<v Speaker 1>at least for many, a huge stigma its association with cannabis.

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<v Speaker 1>The two come from the same plant, Cannabis sativa, but

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<v Speaker 1>sharing a species doesn't mean that they share a genome.

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<v Speaker 1>A vote Hemp points out that Chihuahua's and St. Bernard's

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<v Speaker 1>share a species too. Cannabis and hemp were lumped together

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<v Speaker 1>in the Marijuana Tacks Act of ninety seven and again

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<v Speaker 1>with the Controlled Substances Act of nineteen seventy, but hemp

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't contain nearly the levels of the psychoactive ingredient tetra

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<v Speaker 1>hydrocannabinal or th HC, the stuff that creates a high

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<v Speaker 1>that cannabis does. Hemp is less than point three percent

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<v Speaker 1>t HC, according to the Ministry of Hemp. The hope

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<v Speaker 1>from hemp backers and future hemp farmers is that with

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<v Speaker 1>this new provision in the Farm Bill, hemp will again

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<v Speaker 1>become legit in people's eyes, and that its myriad uses

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<v Speaker 1>will benefit all as a food of fuel, or its

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<v Speaker 1>fibers being spun into clothing or used in construction, just

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<v Speaker 1>to name a few. Steinster said, it's kind of amazing

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<v Speaker 1>how far we've come. All of a sudden. When we

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<v Speaker 1>started on this, people like politician Mitch McConnell had a

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<v Speaker 1>beef with us. They absolutely did perceive this as being

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<v Speaker 1>somehow connected to marijuana legislation. It took a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>just basically knocking on doors, sitting in meetings, and crafting

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<v Speaker 1>the message, focusing on the economics of this, the potential

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<v Speaker 1>for farmers and businesses, and that was a message that

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<v Speaker 1>resonated with members of Congress. Today's episode was written by

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<v Speaker 1>John Donovan and produced by Tyler Playing. For more on

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<v Speaker 1>this and lots of other practical topics, visit our home planet,

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com.