Kentucky’s U.S. senators are joining a bipartisan effort designating the week of June 6 official "Hemp History Week."
In addition to providing national hemp recognition, Kentucky Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul along with Democratic Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon, are pushing the Industrial Hemp Farming Act, an attempt to amend provisions to the 2014 Farm Bill. The act would allow hemp to be grown for industrial purposes beyond research pilot programs.
"As senators from Kentucky, we’ve been fortunate to meet many of the farmers who help make our state work. Agriculture is a vital part of Kentucky’s economy, and we’ve learned from Kentucky’s farmers that one way to keep our state’s agricultural sector growing is to explore new, viable cash crops for the state. This is why we’ve put our support behind expanding industrial hemp research," write both McConnell and Paul in a column released in support of hemp expansion.
Kentucky now has 150 pilot projects, but is limited to university participants and farmers approved by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. Last year McConnell and Paul passed legislation allowing the transport and processing of the plant. The U.S. imports more than $75 million dollars in products each year and has a potential domestic hemp market worth nearly $600 million dollars. McConnell and Paul say that expanding the program provides increased economic opportunity for more farmers and the state.
