Controversial Crop

David Monson grows wheat, barley and canola, on 700 acres in Osnabruck, a little town in the northeast corner of North Dakota.  But wheat has sometimes been a problem crop for farmers in recent years. David says, “We were hit with a disease in our wheat called fusarium head blight or scab for short. When we got to harvest time, there was nothing in the heads and we had never seen anything that bad before.”

So Monson, who’s also a Republican state legislator, wanted to help farmers find a way to switch to another cash crop. He happened to read about hemp, “It was talking about industrial hemp legislation being introduced in other states, including Minnesota and many other states and it talked about how Canada was raising it now and how much profit they could make on it and all that.“ 
 
One reason for the interest is that hemp is so versatile. There are more than 25 thousand uses, ranging from food to fiber. It was part of our every day lives for centuries. American farmers, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp.
 
North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson adds, “In fact in North Dakota, remnants of that activity are still evident today in what is called ditch weed today, which is nothing more than wildly growing industrial hemp. It was encouraged as part of the war effort because it was a strategic material.”

Over the decades hemp was looked at in a different way. The leaves are similar to the marijuana plant so they’re often confused. Both plants are from the species cannabis, but hemp contains virtually no THC, the active ingredient in pot. 

Still, it became illegal in the 1930’s only to have the ban relaxed briefly for military use during World War II. In the 1970s it became classified as a restricted drug.  Dave Monson says that hemp is a product grown world wide, “I said if they can do it in Canada and England and Germany, all over the world, we should be able to do it, too.”

Just 25 miles over the border, Canada passed a law in 1997 becoming one of more than two dozen countries allowing the licensed growing of industrial hemp. Manitoba produces nearly half of the 12 thousand acres planted in Canada.  Anndrea Hermann is with the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance, an umbrella organization for the industry. 

She says her country’s interest in the crop began in 1992 when a group in Ontario looked at successful cultivation efforts in Europe, “And some producers there and some governmental officials decided that this was an opportunity for Canada to recognize an industrial crop that could be grown on an agricultural basis, adding to crop rotation and crop diversity and also product diversity.”
    
Kent Oatway is one Canadian farmer who’s ventured into hemp production, “The plants will grow from six to eight tall.” Oatway says growing the plants intrigued him, “Oh, I guess we like to try new things a bit and it was interesting, and the price was fairly decent for the product.”

Farmers like Kent operate under strict governmental regulations that include a criminal background check before receiving a license. Currently Canada grows 12,000 acres of hemp. You can see many plants right along the highways. It’s an easy crop to grow especially on land that’s also good for wheat and corn. The crop is harvested at different times for different products. Seed products are picked by combine. Most of the hemp grown in Canada is grown for hemp seed which is then processed into oil and meal. The two largest plants are located in Manitoba.

Hemp Oil Canada’s facility is small, but it is North America’s largest producer and processor of hemp- both fiber and oil for things like food, clothing, soaps and paints. Shaun Crew directs the operation,

“We contract with farmers to produce hemp seed for us across the Canadian prairies. We then bring it in and process it here in SaintAgathe into hemp seed oil, hulled hemp seed or shelled hemp seed. “                                                      
    
Some of the products, like the ones produced by Hemp Oil Canada, can be found in a variety of stores and specialty shops like “Hemp in the Heartland” in Sacramento, California. Kyle Pulliam says hemp is an important agricultural commodity and raw material, “Clothing, food, paper products. Hemp yields, like more than four times more paper per acre more than wood pulp so it’s an incredible alternative.”

The U.S. is one of the biggest markets for hemp items. Dave Monson hopes one day to supply the crop. In 1999, North Dakota became the first state to legalize hemp cultivation and Monson was the first to receive a state license.  He still can’t grow it, however, because the law also requires federal approval. So far that hasn’t happened. Which means North Dakota farmers will keep up efforts to, to some day... get the crop into their fields.

Hemp in History
Hemp has played a role in world commerce for thousands of years. The plant was originally cultivated in China to make rope as well as fish nets. Hemp was widely grown for use in paper-making early in America’s history. In fact, the Declaration of Independence is written on parchment containing hemp fibers