A Midstate industrial hemp research project is entering a vital phase.
Perry County Land & Cattle is one of 16 research projects approved by the state Agriculture Department in 2017. They will see how its grass-fed black Angus might benefit from a hemp feed supplement is high in fiber and tested at roughly 27-percent protein.
The project involves six heifer calves. The barnyard is split in half by a fence. Some calves will be fed hay and others will be fed the pressed hemp feed.
“So then we’re weighing every two weeks, and we’re doing this test for at least 12 weeks,” said Jeremiah Elsessor, of Perry County Land & Cattle.
Perry County Land & Cattle will expand its industrial hemp research project with a larger plot this summer.
