In Kentucky, hemp cultivation is slowly catching up to tobacco farming

Kentucky, known for its chicken and tobacco farming, is undergoing a shift in its agricultural sector. Legal industrial hemp is gradually beginning to replace tobacco fields.

Kentucky is the leading tobacco-producing state in the U.S. But tobacco farming is on the decline due to a drop in cigarette consumption. Farmers are therefore turning to hemp and its many applications. Since 2014 and the passage of the U.S. Farm Bill, hemp can be grown throughout the country as long as its THC content does not exceed 0.3 %.

In 2014, hemp was not a big success. Only 13 hectares were cultivated in Kentucky. In contrast, 2015 and 2016 were good years for industrial hemp, 369 hectares cultivated in 2015 and 940 in 2016. This growth in the hemp industry has made Kentucky the second-largest producer in the country, just behind Colorado.

Giles Shell’s family business entered the hemp industry in 2016. «We’d been growing 80 hectares of tobacco here for four generations, then we decided to diversify a bit by testing hemp on 32 hectares. Soon we’ll be growing nothing but hemp here.».

Even though hemp is starting to gain a foothold, it still has a long way to go to catch up with tobacco. In Kentucky, nearly 30,000 hectares of tobacco are cultivated annually. «Hemp has enormous potential,» says the CEO of GenCanna. This company, which specializes in hemp oil extraction, aims to expand its production to 200 hectares in 2017. «We’re going to need more hectares and, therefore, more seeds.».

A fair return

Hemp cultivation had completely disappeared from the country due to the «Marihuana Tax Act». This act, signed in 1937, imposed a surtax on all industries that processed hemp. Tobacco cultivation, which was extremely profitable at the time, then took its place. Today, cigarette consumption is declining across the country. The product’s profitability and image are deteriorating. As a result, farmers are turning to other crops. The hemp market therefore has significant room to grow in the United States, especially since a large portion of the hemp currently available is imported from Europe.