Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Beyond the red storage shed and past the house sits a field that has traditionally been used for cows.
But since June, it has been used to grow a plant that just a year ago would have brought all manner of law enforcement to this rural farm in Unicoi.
The plant is marijuana.
But this marijuana is not the kind used to get people high. The cannabis plants growing on this one acre field have less than one percent of tetrahydrocannabinol, the ingredient that gets people high. These cannabis plants are being grown for a very specific purpose, to make hemp.
And this hemp farm is only one of three in the entire Tri-Cities region.
"This plant is good for thousands of things," said Randall Ledford, who runs the farm. "It's growing fantastic."
Some of the plants stretched to six feet tall with some of the leaves as big as a grown man's hand. Honey bees busily swarmed around the plants, collecting pollen from blooming flowers on the cannabis.
Ledford said it was a long process to obtain the seeds. He said he had to apply to grow the seeds and has nine pages of rules and regulations from the state that he has to adhere to. He received 500,000 seeds on June 5 and had three days to plant them.
When the plants fully mature, Ledford said he is unsure how he will proceed from there. He said he has a man in California who wants to buy half his crop and he plans to put the other half on Ebay.
"This is all brand new to me," he said.
Ledford is able to grow hemp on his farm thanks to a 2014 bill introduced by Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby. That bill allowed farmers to grow industrial hemp and earlier this year the Tennessee Department of Agriculture put out a call for applications to grow hemp.
Ledford applied, was approved and on Thursday got a visit from Faison.
"We've made great strides for the use of the cannabis plant, but we have a ways to go" Faison said. "Cannabis is the most well rounded plant on the planet."
Faison said the plant has been demonized for 80 years and he has worked to help educate people to all the good things cannabis can do for people.
A number of products can be made from hemp seed, hemp oil and hemp fibers. Some of the things made from hemp include beer, flour, feed, cooking additives, dietary supplements, fuel, detergents, fabric, insulation, carpeting, paneling and paper, among many other uses.
Cannabis can also be used as medicine.
Faison was instrumental in passing a bill during the 2015 legislative session allowing people with intractable seizures to legally possess CBD oil. He introduced a bill after meeting with a Greeneville family, the Mathes family, whose daughter, Josie, suffers with seizures.
While families can possess CBD oil and not get in trouble with law enforcement, Tennessee does not allow production of CBD oil in the state. Stacie Mathes, who joined Faison along with Josie, hopes to see that changed.
"Our hope is maybe for next year's legislation to grow in state for use, for actual cultivation," she said. "So we're going to come get involved and stay involved to make sure we can do more in our state."
Stacie said her family currently travels to Colorado to get a specific strain of CBD oil for Josie and have already traveled to the state four times this year.
While Faison has not said if he will introduce legislation allowing for the production of CBD oil in Tennessee, he has said there are more cannabis bills coming.
"I want to open up CBD oil for anyone who needs it," he said. "I want anybody to have access to the plant. It's going to be tough. But everything I've done is tough."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Hemp farming takes root in East Tennessee | Kingsport Times-News
Author: Nick Shepherd
Contact: nshepherd@timesnews.net
Photo Credit: Nick Shepherd
Website: Kingsport Times-News
But since June, it has been used to grow a plant that just a year ago would have brought all manner of law enforcement to this rural farm in Unicoi.
The plant is marijuana.
But this marijuana is not the kind used to get people high. The cannabis plants growing on this one acre field have less than one percent of tetrahydrocannabinol, the ingredient that gets people high. These cannabis plants are being grown for a very specific purpose, to make hemp.
And this hemp farm is only one of three in the entire Tri-Cities region.
"This plant is good for thousands of things," said Randall Ledford, who runs the farm. "It's growing fantastic."
Some of the plants stretched to six feet tall with some of the leaves as big as a grown man's hand. Honey bees busily swarmed around the plants, collecting pollen from blooming flowers on the cannabis.
Ledford said it was a long process to obtain the seeds. He said he had to apply to grow the seeds and has nine pages of rules and regulations from the state that he has to adhere to. He received 500,000 seeds on June 5 and had three days to plant them.
When the plants fully mature, Ledford said he is unsure how he will proceed from there. He said he has a man in California who wants to buy half his crop and he plans to put the other half on Ebay.
"This is all brand new to me," he said.
Ledford is able to grow hemp on his farm thanks to a 2014 bill introduced by Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby. That bill allowed farmers to grow industrial hemp and earlier this year the Tennessee Department of Agriculture put out a call for applications to grow hemp.
Ledford applied, was approved and on Thursday got a visit from Faison.
"We've made great strides for the use of the cannabis plant, but we have a ways to go" Faison said. "Cannabis is the most well rounded plant on the planet."
Faison said the plant has been demonized for 80 years and he has worked to help educate people to all the good things cannabis can do for people.
A number of products can be made from hemp seed, hemp oil and hemp fibers. Some of the things made from hemp include beer, flour, feed, cooking additives, dietary supplements, fuel, detergents, fabric, insulation, carpeting, paneling and paper, among many other uses.
Cannabis can also be used as medicine.
Faison was instrumental in passing a bill during the 2015 legislative session allowing people with intractable seizures to legally possess CBD oil. He introduced a bill after meeting with a Greeneville family, the Mathes family, whose daughter, Josie, suffers with seizures.
While families can possess CBD oil and not get in trouble with law enforcement, Tennessee does not allow production of CBD oil in the state. Stacie Mathes, who joined Faison along with Josie, hopes to see that changed.
"Our hope is maybe for next year's legislation to grow in state for use, for actual cultivation," she said. "So we're going to come get involved and stay involved to make sure we can do more in our state."
Stacie said her family currently travels to Colorado to get a specific strain of CBD oil for Josie and have already traveled to the state four times this year.
While Faison has not said if he will introduce legislation allowing for the production of CBD oil in Tennessee, he has said there are more cannabis bills coming.
"I want to open up CBD oil for anyone who needs it," he said. "I want anybody to have access to the plant. It's going to be tough. But everything I've done is tough."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Hemp farming takes root in East Tennessee | Kingsport Times-News
Author: Nick Shepherd
Contact: nshepherd@timesnews.net
Photo Credit: Nick Shepherd
Website: Kingsport Times-News
