DESOTO, Kan. (AP) A northeast Kansas businessman is opening a new academy to train farmers to grow industrial hemp now that its production is legal.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Joe Bisognos belief in the crops potential inspired him to open Americas Hemp Academy in DeSoto, about 20 miles southwest of Kansas City. It plans to offer four-day courses led by agronomists and botanists starting in January.
Industrial hemp is not pot, but it is a pot of gold for Kansas farmers, Bisogno said during the academys recent ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Industrial hemp and marijuana come from the same species of plant, but hemp is cultivated to produce small amounts of THC, the main component in the cannabis plant that produces a high.
Legislators approved legislation nearly unanimously this year to allow for the production of industrial hemp for research purposes. Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer signed it in April and said the goal is encourage the resurgence of hemp as a production crop and promote economic development in rural Kansas.
President Donald Trump recently signed a massive federal farm bill that legalized hemp farming. U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican who serves as Senate Agriculture Committee chairman, helped negotiate the measures final version.
Colyer said farmers have expressed an interest, but that there is a lot of work to do it right. Its not going to be for everyone.
