Kansas taking applications for hemp research program

If you live in Kansas and you want to help grow the state’s new industrial hemp research crop, you need to get your application in soon.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture will take applications for growers who want to be part of the state’s research program until March 1.

State lawmakers created the research program last April. The federal government also has declassified industrial hemp as a controlled substance as part of the 2018 Farm Bill.

Previous to the federal farm bill, Kansas could only establish a research program for hemp growing in order to comply with federal laws.

Now, the state is open to establishing commercial hemp growing if the legislature approves it. Hemp is a variety of the Cannabis sativa plant species that is grown specifically for the industrial uses of its derived products.

Products made with hemp include paper, jewelry, shoes, clothing, insulation and construction materials.

The plant lacks THC, the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana.