kentucky

A hemp revolution is underway, but the diverse plant is a long way from reigning supreme as Kentucky's top crop. Poultry and eggs still rule the roost – followed by cattle, soybeans and corn, which rake in the most money for state farmers. More than tobacco. And much more than hemp. But...

Kentucky Department of Agriculture has opened applications for Kentuckians looking to grow hemp as part of the state's industrial hemp research pilot program in 2018. Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles says he wants to expand and strengthen the program to put industrial hemp on a...

With hemp's reintroduction into the United States as a part of research pilot programs in 2014, scientists need to learn much about the crop to help farmers improve yields to make it sustainable and economically viable. In a recent article published in the journal Trends in Plant Science...

As the number of coal mining jobs continues to decline in central Appalachia, hemp is getting a lot of attention as one way to diversify eastern Kentucky's post-coal economy. But the region's burgeoning hemp industry is also riddled with uncertainty. The lack of land suitable for growing hemp...

The 24th Annual Conference of the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) will be held Sept. 9-11 at the Lexington Convention Center, the Kentucky Chapter of the Hemp Industries Association (KYHIA) announced today. Experts, policy makers, farmers, researchers and entrepreneurs from around the world...

A Franklin Circuit Court judge on Tuesday asked attorneys for the state why Kentucky should not make medical marijuana available to patients who believe it might help them, given that "we've pretty much decriminalized" the drug around much of the nation and even in parts of the state. Judge...

Decades before cannabis was made illegal in 1937, hemp was a big cash crop for Kentucky. In 1850, the Bluegrass State produced 40,000 tons of the stuff. During World War II, the government paid citizens to grow the plant. Now it's at the center of a bill that would legalize hemp on a federal...

For 80 years, hemp and marijuana were legally bound together. Now, thanks to some enterprising Kentuckians, they are poised to get a divorce. Four congressmen — two Kentucky Republicans, a Virginia Republican, and a Colorado Democrat — have introduced legislation to remove hemp from the federal...

A Kentucky congressman proposed a law this week that would classify hemp as a agricultural crop and legalize the its growth by American farmers. The bill was co-sponsored by two Republicans and one Democrats, meaning it has at lease some bipartisan support and the potential to become a reality...

Kentucky's First District Congressman, James Comer, is making good on a promise to file legislation to reclassify industrial hemp from a controlled substance to an agriculture crop. Comer filed the Industrial Hemp Farming Act Friday. He says it is his attempt keep the Department of Justice...

A former beauty pageant winner from Kentucky has been accused of smuggling marijuana into an Ohio prison for an inmate. Media outlets report a grand jury in Allen County, Ohio, indicted 28-year-old Kia Hampton of Louisville earlier this month. The third-degree felony charge of bringing...

On a cool, rainy day, more than 200 people crowd under a tarp in the parking lot of Big Mama’s Restaurant, bidding on bicycles, air rifles and marijuana posters to raise money to support a jailed local legend. They have a lot of work to do, because Cornbread Mafia leader Johnny Boone, captured...

Commercial hemp production faded, along with its legality, many decades ago in the U.S., but enthusiasts and business people are trying to reinvigorate hemp as a modern-day cash crop in states where recent legislation has OK'd it, like in Kentucky. Things are being learned anew about how to farm...

In January, Kentucky approved 209 applications from growers to cultivate up to 12,800 acres of industrial hemp for research purposes in 2017. Kentucky has the nation's largest industrial hemp pilot project, and a new processing plant, which uses hemp and other agricultural feedstocks, is...

There's a growing interest in industrial hemp production across Kentucky, drawing considerable crowd sizes to recent seminars in Christian, Clark and Shelby counties, Ryan Bowman reports The Farmer's Pride. Tom Keene, an agronomy specialist who focuses on hemp and forages for the University...

The Kentucky Senate voted Tuesday to make modifications to the state's growing industrial hemp research program. State Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles said the aim is to better align Kentucky's hemp effort with federal research exemptions. Quarles said that could put Kentucky growers...

The production of hemp is continually increasing within the southeastern state of Kentucky, where production originated. Following decades of prohibition, hemp is now becoming a common agricultural commodity throughout America. Hemp is not a recreational drug but in fact a variety of Cannabis...

Life is a highway, and beginning in February a portion of it could be dedicated to hemp. The Kentucky Hemp Highway, a new free self-guided history tour, will make use of historical markers to map out a framework exploring the role of hemp in Kentucky's history, including in Clark County...

After a recent boost in funding, the Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research at the University of Louisville is delving into the science and economics of commercializing industrial hemp. It's a new line of work for the center, located inside the Speed School's Ernst Hall, but it matches...

Commercial hemp production faded, along with its legality, many decades ago in the U.S., but enthusiasts and business people are trying to reinvigorate hemp as a modern-day cash crop in states where recent legislation has OK'd it, like in Kentucky. Things are being learned anew about how to farm...