Two days after Gov. Mike DeWine signed Ohio's hemp bill into law, state agriculture officials planted the first newly legal crop – in their backyard.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture bought 100 baby female hemp clone plants, clipped from a mother hemp plant in Kentucky. Most were planted Thursday in two rows on the back of the agency's campus here, about 15 miles east of Columbus. The rest were to be planted in a greenhouse.
Ohio used to grow thousands of acres of hemp. But it was then lumped in with marijuana – both are cannabis plants – when the federal government banned the plant in 1937. Hemp is cannabis that contains trace amounts of THC, a compound in the plant that has an intoxicating effect.
Hemp prohibition was lifted for a few years during World War II. Industrial fiber from overseas was hard to get, and hemp fiber can be used to make rope, clothing and other products. Thousands of American farmers grew hemp, including in Ohio.
And some 70 years later, it's returning to the Buckeye State.
"It's an historic day for the state of Ohio," Agriculture Director Dorothy Pelanda said. "There's a real art in growing it and we want Ohio farmers to be successful."
The department planted four varieties of hemp bred to produce flowers, from which cannabidol, or CBD, is extracted. CBD, touted as a remedy for anxiety, pain and other ills, is driving much of the interest in growing and processing hemp. The state paid $250 for the plants from Acaela BioMedical, in Maysville, Kentucky, which helped put them into the ground on Thursday.
The plants will serve as practice for when state regulators will have to test crops for THC levels. Farmers will be invited to visit the makeshift hemp field and learn more about how to best grow and harvest hemp, which isn't a settled science.
"It's not corn and it's not soybeans – there are different techniques of planting and harvesting," said David Miran, executive director of Ohio's hemp program.
Farmers won't be planting hemp until next year. The agriculture department will spend the next several months writing rules and regulations for the new industry, including requirements for obtaining a growing or processing license.
The department planted four varieties of hemp bred to produce flowers, from which cannabidol, or CBD, is extracted. CBD, touted as a remedy for anxiety, pain and other ills, is driving much of the interest in growing and processing hemp. The state paid $250 for the plants from Acaela BioMedical, in Maysville, Kentucky, which helped put them into the ground on Thursday.
The plants will serve as practice for when state regulators will have to test crops for THC levels. Farmers will be invited to visit the makeshift hemp field and learn more about how to best grow and harvest hemp, which isn't a settled science.
"It's not corn and it's not soybeans – there are different techniques of planting and harvesting," said David Miran, executive director of Ohio's hemp program.
Farmers won't be planting hemp until next year. The agriculture department will spend the next several months writing rules and regulations for the new industry, including requirements for obtaining a growing or processing license.