Hoping to change perceptions on what she sees as an emerging industry in Kansas, State Rep. Tory Marie Arnberger helped organize a tour of South Bend Industrial Hemp southwest of Great Bend Monday for an estimated 25 Kansas state lawmakers, including Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
Arnberger said she helped organize the tour for other legislators to help further educate state lawmakers on the importance of, and benefits to, the Kansas economy.
“(I wanted them) to see what industrial hemp is, the CBD side of it, and what are some issues that we’re dealing with on the state level, that maybe we can change in the 2022 legislative session (to help promote the crop),” she said.
South Bend Industrial Hemp is a fourth-generation farm which has previously farmed corn, wheat, soybeans, and milo for close to half a century. It is operated by Melissa, Aaron and Richard Baldwin and is located just south of Great Bend on SW 20 Road.
Arnberger said legalization of the crop had been a source of significant discussion in the Legislature since she was elected in 2016. In 2019, the Kansas Legislature passed the Commercial Industry Hemp Act, which legalized and regulated the growth and cultivation of the crop in Kansas. Arnberger said she became educated about the crop through South Bend Industrial Hemp.
With the crop legalized and regulated in the state, Arnberger said she sees strong economic potential for the state, but she said more needs to be done in the Kansas Legislature.
“(The major takeaway was) how can we make this growing industry a little bit more Kansas friendly, and a little more grower friendly (in the state)?” she said.
One topic she would like to see lawmakers address in regard to industrial hemp is background checks. Currently, the state mandates background checks as a condition for licensing, with those having previous felony controlled substance convictions within the last 10 years being ineligible for licensure as a hemp producer.
Also, she would like to see limits increased on the amount of industrial hemp growers are currently allowed to harvest. She feels current regulations on the crop are too tight, and her goal is take a burgeoning Kansas industry and make it more marketable.
She said the tour was productive, and produced a significant amount of positive feedback from those who attended.
“It was a great conversation starter, and a chance to move the conversation forward,” she said.
What is industrial hemp?
The Commercial Industrial Hemp Act was passed, in part, in response to the 2018 federal Farm Bill, which removed hemp from the federal Controlled Substances Act. The bill authorized, within limits set forth by the Kansas and U.S. Departments of Agriculture, the commercial production of industrial hemp. Gov. Laura Kelly signed the bill into law in April 2019.
According to the KDA website, industrial hemp is defined by the statute as, “all parts and varieties of the plant Cannabis sativa L, whether growing or not, that contains a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC”) concentration of not more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis [K.S.A. 2-3901(b)(7)]. Industrial hemp is of the same species as marijuana. Any cannabis with a percentage of THC above 0.3% is considered to be marijuana and is not legal for production or sale.”
Though industrial hemp is in the same family as marijuana and CBD, known as cannabinoids, the THC content, the chemical responsible for many of the psychological effects commonly associated with marijuana, is much lower in industrial hemp. The hemp plants that produce CBD and those that produce fiber are related, but are different varieties. The CBD plants are very close with marijuana.
“It’s your bushy type plants, you’re focused on the flowers and the buds and that’s really where your CBD content is,” Melissa Baldwin indicated in a February 2021 Great Bend Tribune article.
They make oil, salve and nutrition products for consumer use. They personally formulate each of their products. The use of CBD has shown positive benefits in pets as well, she said.
Industrial hemp, on the other hand, is grown for manufacturing applications and is used in a variety of industries, such as textiles, construction, paper and bio-plastics. Industrial hemp can replace almost anything that is manufactured from cotton, corn, soy or flax, and is treated just like any other crop.
“We want to show you that this can be used as a rotational crop, and this can be successful with what we’re already doing here in Kansas,” Baldwin noted in February.
Hemp is also flexible, and needs less watering than other crops common in Kansas.
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