The Heart of Hemp Country

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von Joe Hickey und Arthur Rouse

It’s sunrise over the emerald fields of Kentucky and hemp sways gently in the warm summer breeze.

“I love the scent of hemp in the field,” says 91-year old Jake Graves. “I haven’t had that pleasure in 70 years.”

Jacob Hughes Graves, III is a 6th generation Kentucky farmer and in the 1920s and 30s, hemp was a mainstay of his family’s farm, in an area known as the "Hemp Capital of the World.” During that time, scientists, agronomists and industrialists like Thomas Edison, George Washington Carver and Henry Ford, who called themselves “Chemurgists,” were convinced farmers could power the industrial revolution with fiber and fuel from carbohydrates. Hemp was their focus. In fact, in 1938, Popular Mechanics Magazine referred to hemp as the “Billion Dollar Crop.” But when hemp was included with marijuana in the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, all research and development slowed to a trickle. Then in 1971, with the addition of marijuana and, by default, hemp to the Controlled Substance Act, hemp faded from a “billion dollar crop” to an illegal substance.

“I love the scent of hemp in the field."

Prohibition

How could this happen? How could a “billion dollar crop,” revered by scientists, agronomists and industrialists alike completely disappear from American agriculture and economic development? How could a plant, with literally no psychoactive properties, become as vilified as heroin and made illegal? There has been speculation over the years that oil interests wanted to eliminate competition by linking hemp with marijuana and using “yellow journalism” to stamp out the rise of the “Miracle Crop” through a drug scare strategy. The preface to William Hale’s 1932 book, The Farm Chemurgic, proclaims, “Farm-ward the star of destiny shines.” Unfortunately, this was not to be. Seasons passed, and the possibility of hemp as the “billion dollar crop” faded into agricultural history.

Advocacy

“Acceptance of hemp has been growing across the country in recent years and shouldn’t be seen as a problem. It’s absolutely ridiculous that the cultivation of hemp is still illegal at the federal level.”

Jake Graves and his son Andrew (Andy) ran a diversified farming operation in the 1990’s. Soybeans, corn, vegetables and livestock were sustainable, but they knew they would have to replace tobacco in the future and they wondered, “Why can’t we grow hemp again?” At the same time, Joe Hickey met with Kentucky’s governor Bereton Jones about forming a Kentucky Hemp Task Force to evaluate the potential of hemp as a cash crop. Joe’s childhood friend, agronomist Dave Spalding, had worked with Andy Graves, whose family was one of Kentucky’s largest hemp growers and still had feral hemp growing on their family’s farm. So, in 1992, Dave introduced Joe to Andy and Jake Graves and they began a mission of research and advocacy to reintroduce hemp as a new crop for American farmers.

In 1995, Joe Hickey partnered with Canadian farmer and agronomist Jean Laprise, British entrepreneur Anita Roddick and actor/environmentalist Woody Harrelson to found Kenex, Ltd., Canada’s first hemp fiber and seed processing facility. The late Ms. Roddick was founder of The Body Shop and a fierce proponent of the benefit of hemp in nutraceutical products. Over the course of the next five years, Kenex, Ltd would become a proving ground for seed breeding, hemp fiber and seed processing, creating everything from fiber matting for composite car parts to food for humans and birds.

At the same time, Graves, Spalding and Hickey were working throughout state and federal government, looking for any political leverage they could find. It came when four former Kentucky governors gathered at a press conference to endorse hemp as a potential cash crop to replace tobacco.

In 1996, Joe Hickey organized Kentucky’s International Hemp Conference, then the Executive Director of the Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative Association. Woody Harrelson moderated the conference with participants from Australia, England, Canada, Ukraine, Hungary and The Netherlands. The day after the conference and with CNN watching, Woody planted four certified French hemp seeds and was arrested for “cultivation of marijuana” in an effort to test a Kentucky law that included hemp within the definition of marijuana. This brought the hemp issue to national prominence and years of litigation would follow.

Government Over Reach

Over the next few years hopes were high because it seemed like legalization of hemp was gaining momentum, but the optimism was short-lived. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was ramping up efforts to regain control over hemp. In the US, states were put on notice that hemp was an illegal controlled substance, education programs were scrutinized and shut down, and in 1999, shipments of sterile Canadian hemp seed bound for the US food market were intercepted and confiscated at the US border by DEA agents.

Legislative Reform

Meanwhile, in Kentucky, Graves, Hickey and Spalding were convinced they had educated the public and generated enough interest among the agrarian state’s legislators, that they could get hemp-enabling legislation passed. At the same time Woody's years of court battles were ending and with the legal representation of former Republican Kentucky Governor Louie Nunn, a jury found Woody not guilty in 2000.

By 2013 Kentucky farmers were fully aware that tobacco had faded as a cash crop and, with the benefit of years of lobbying, and the backing of Kentucky’s US Senator Rand Paul, Senate Bill 50, legislation proposed by Kentucky Secretary of Agriculture James Comer, passed into Kentucky law. It created a regulatory framework for farmers to legally grow hemp in the Commonwealth. In addition, US Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul spearheaded the effort to add a provision to the US Federal Farm Bill (section 7606) that legalized hemp production in states like Kentucky that had programs set up to grow the crop. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law in 2014.

Transformative Opportunity

After 70 years of prohibition, hemp was sprouting again in the fields Jake Graves worked as a young man. Years of seed and agronomic research with international partners, political advocacy and market analysis had uniquely positioned Graves, Spalding and Hickey to seize the moment. They formed Atalo Holdings, Inc. with a mission of “providing leadership in research, development and commercialization of industrial hemp.” Hemp, so important to Edison, Carver and Ford, was again on the rise, promising transformative opportunities, a new crop in the rotation, a new age of innovation for American farmers, and the resurgence of Kentucky as the Hemp Capital of the World.

In 2014, while Kentucky, Colorado and Vermont planted small research plots, Atalo Holdings was looking ahead, working with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and all of their partners to develop improved agronomics, proprietary cultivars, processing techniques and pathways to market for this unique crop. Atalo acquired the former Rickard Seed Research Facility in Winchester, Kentucky and opened the Hemp Research Campus. The Atalo Growers Group was established and by 2016, had grown from 5 farmers on 36 acres to 50 farmers on 2,500 acres; the largest tract of permitted hemp under cultivation in the United States.

Superfoods

The Chemurgists’ vision of hemp as a “billion dollar crop” focused on fiber and fuel. Hemp protein had been known for centuries in Europe and Asia and by 2014, hemp grain was “re-discovered" as the most powerful source of vegetable protein when health experts found that hemp grain, as a pure plant protein, provides all 20 amino acids, and a perfect 3:1 ratio of Omega-6 Linoleic Acid and Omega-3 Linoleic Acid. Today, hemp is being described as a “superfood.”

At Atalo’s Hemp Research Campus, scientists and growers are now working on best agronomic practices for planting, growing, harvesting and processing hemp grain for protein. New hemp seed varieties are being developed in an effort to provide better harvest and more predictable protein output from the processed grain. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for farmers to be on the front end of a brand new crop that could maybe be the premier protein source in the United States in the not so distant future,” said Atalo CEO William Hilliard, who is positioning Atalo at the leading edge of the hemp protein market.

Today, Atalo is growing, processing and distributing wholesale quantities of Hemp Protein Powder, Hemp Hearts and Hemp Oil, as research in agronomic and marketing practices continues with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

CBD – Like Aspirin from the Willow Tree

Who knew that Aspirin, one of the world’s greatest analgesics, would come from the bark of the Willow tree?

At the Hemp Research Campus, Atalo Holdings’ scientists are addressing the rising interest in CBD as a functional food and nutraceutical/lifestyle choice. With a focus on seed science and full spectrum, whole plant extraction, Atalo is collaborating with the University of Kentucky and international partners to increase CBD yield and ensure hemp’s low THC levels through their certified, international pedigreed seed and to improve the overall quality of the full spectrum extraction process.

According to Mark Blumenthal, of the American Botanical Council, "The data surrounding its (CBD) efficacy, particularly in indications such as pain relief, traumatic brain injury, suppression of seizures among others bodes well for its future in the market. If CBD had been found in another plant, it would be considered a miracle cure, a miracle functional food, or a miracle drug."

Continued Vigilance

In January of 2015 the Industrial Hemp Farming Act was introduced in the US House and Senate through H.R. 525 and S.B. 134. If passed, all current restrictions on the cultivation of industrial hemp would be removed, along with its classification as a Schedule 1 controlled substance. James Comer, now a Kentucky US representative, has teamed with Rep. Thomas Massie to push hemp legislation through Washington. “It’s an agricultural issue. It’s a jobs issue,” Comer said. “There’s a lot of opportunity for hemp to boost agriculture and jobs but it’s held back because of its association with marijuana.” Earl Blumenauer, US representative from Oregon, said, “Acceptance of hemp has been growing across the country in recent years and shouldn’t be seen as a problem. It’s absolutely ridiculous that the cultivation of hemp is still illegal at the federal level.” While these are positive signs, this is not a time to relax. According to Hickey, lobbying efforts against hemp have stepped up significantly, and not only from the DEA. “It seems that pharmaceutical interests are now lobbying to restrict hemp’s rise to protect certain synthetic compounds now in development,” he said. “This means we’re on to something good. Perhaps the Chemurgists were right. Hemp really may be a ‘Miracle Crop’ with real potential for food, fiber, fuel and medicine.”

With so much focus on the economic potential of CBD, Atalo is not losing sight of the big picture. The partners are committed to research and development, picking up where Edison, Carver and Ford left off. They’re committed to rural economic development. They’re committed to adding another crop to the rotation for the American farmer. And they are protecting their interests through continued advocacy and vigilance. In a quote to The Lane Report, Andy Graves said, “When it is fully legalized, Kentucky farmers, who are competitive by nature, will blow away the rest of the world’s hemp competition, especially since the state has already done it before.”

“My great grandfather was a hemp farmer here in Kentucky and my father grew up working with industrial hemp as part of the farming operation,” says Andy Graves. “Our hemp quality and yield was respected world-wide then and we’re excited to return to productivity now.”

And for Jake Graves, the scent of hemp in the morning is half the pleasure. “Now let’s make some green out of the green,” he says.

It’s sunrise over the emerald fields of Kentucky and hemp sways gently in the warm summer breeze …