LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) — With uncertainty surrounding Kentucky’s hemp industry, one farmer is taking a major financial risk while awaiting action from Congress.
Asa Phillips is preparing to invest $1.8 million to plant 300 acres of hemp.
He said the cost comes to about $6,000 per acre, covering supplies, labor, fuel, and fertilizer.
At the same time, he already has barns and a warehouse filled with hemp from past harvests, which has become increasingly difficult to sell.
“I talked to people all over the United States, and I am trying to drum up a new processor here or there,” Phillips said. “And I’m just after it every day to try to get something going and make something happen.”
New federal restrictions on THC content in hemp products are set to take effect in November, a deadline tied to legislation led by Senator Mitch McConnell.
The rule is expected to ban products like seltzers and gummies that contain intoxicating levels of hemp-derived THC.
However, several bills have been introduced in Congress to prevent the deadline from taking effect, including one from Senator Rand Paul.
“It’s a very simple, artful solution,” Cornbread Hemp co-founder Jim Higdon, who supports Paul’s proposal, said. “It allows states that don’t want to be prohibited to continue to operate, and it allows for interstate commerce among those states.”
If passed, the legislation would keep hemp-derived THC products on store shelves and preserve market opportunities for farmers.
“I’ve got faith we’ll get something done,” Phillips said. “But if we’re looking at it number-wise, I don’t know if it’s 50-50 chance we get something done or 50-50 we don’t.”
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