PLEVNA, Kan. (AP) P.J. Sneed walked through his small greenhouse in central Kansas checking on rows and rows of small hemp plants just waiting to be put into the ground.
The plants inside the greenhouse near Plevna looked rather healthy. Problematically, they looked better than the plants in the few acres hes already planted just outside of the greenhouse.
Day one, we planted an acre and a half, he said. Huge storm came through and it blew probably half the plants just over or out of the ground.
But looks can be deceiving. The roots of the hemp plants sitting indoors have run out of room in the small plastic containers they sit in, the same kind of containers youd find flowers sitting in at a nursery.
Thats because these plants should have been planted a few weeks ago. But like farmers of more traditional crops, Sneeds been delayed by the wet weather thats kept him from planting hemp in his fields.
People who signed up for an industrial hemp test program got licenses based on research proposals. But this years unusual weather could skew the results of the studies, impacting the kind of information the state has to gauge the prospect of growing hemp in Kansas.
State officials want to better understand the potential for the specialty oilseed crop, colloquially known as industrial hemp. The scientific name for the plant is cannabis sativa, and its the same plant that marijuana comes from.
The difference between whether or not the product of the plant is considered marijuana or industrial hemp is the amount of the psychoactive chemical THC thats present.
Lawmakers approved the pilot program last year. Each grower licensed to participate in the program is studying some aspect of hemp cultivation.
Some are looking into how much water is needed to grow hemp, while others are investigating how industrial hemp fits into regenerative agriculture practices such as using it as a cover crop or how it impacts soil health. Growers are also providing detailed planting and harvesting information to the state.
So far this year, the state has received 392 applications and issued 248 192 of those approved licenses are for growers.
In total, 5,200 acres in 71 counties have been approved for growing hemp, even though its likely total planted acres wont be close to that.
As of July 1, 680 acres of hemp have been planted in the state. That number is expected to grow significantly in the next few weeks as the ground across the state begins to dry out enough for planting first planned to happen weeks earlier.
The state will issue a report at the end of the year analyzing the data gathered from all the projects. While the extraordinary weather will likely impact results, its too early to know how much.
Here in Kansas . . . we kind of have extremes from one season to another season, and, at this point, precipitation plays a large factor, said Braden Hoch, a hemp specialist for the Kansas Department of Agriculture.
