Will there be a hemp revival in PA?

By SARAH HUIRLBURT Sentinel Correspondent

Instead of what can Hemp be used for it may be simpler to ask the question what can it not be used for?

Hemp is an incredibly versatile plant, which at one time provided a booming industry in PA. According to the Pennsylvania Hemp Industry Council, Lancaster County was the hemp capitol of early America.

Lancaster county’s original Hempfield Township was formed in 1729 and named for the vast quantities of hemp raised there. Between 1720-1870 there were over 100 water-powered mills for processing hemp fiber in Lancaster County along with dozens more in surrounding counties and hundreds throughout the state.

When William Penn founded Pennsylvania in 1681, he intended for the commonwealth to grow hemp. It continued to be grown for over 260 years in PA.

The Philadelphia ship-building industry used hemp fiber for anchor cables, rope rigging and canvass sails.

A byproduct of the enor- mous hemp industry in PA was tons of excess hemp seed. Much of that seed was pressed in oil mills. The oil could be used in paints, varnishes, lacquers, printer ink and lamp oil.

Fine linens were also made from hemp.

Despite its amazing versatility hemp was banned in the 1930’s after a law banning marijuana went into effect. The fact that the hemp plant could not provide a high since it did not contain the same chemical as marijuana called THC wasn’t discovered until the 1960s.

The PA Hemp Steering Committee states that Hemp can be produced to obtain fiber, grain, and phytochemicals. Hemp fiber is used for many industrial purposes, including production of textiles, paper, construction materials (hempcrete, hemp wood flooring, thermal insulation materials), animal bedding, and bioplastics.

Hemp is considered a highly sustainable source of fiber and other biomass raw materials due to the fact that it grows quickly in most climates with little need for irrigation, pesticides, or fertilizers. It takes up relatively little space and produces more biomass per acre than trees and most other fiber-producing plants. Hemp crops even give back by returning nutrients to the soil and sequestering carbon more efficiently than most other agricultural crops. Finally, virtually every part of the plant can be used, which minimizes the amount of agricultural waste produced.

There is a wide variety of uses for hemp flowers, seeds and leaves as well.

Some of these include CBD oils made from the flowers and hemp seed oils from cold pressing the seeds that can be used in salad dressings, as supplements or in skin care products.

In a statement at the end of January 2023 the FDA said it has not yet given the approval for CBD products to be marketed as supplements or foods, leaving producers and retailers of these products to sell in a gray market.

Animal feed is another product that can be made from some of the byproducts of the plant. At this point though, approval from the FDA and CVM has not been given for use of hemp grain in animal feed either.

Until the stigma around this plant is eliminated, and approvals come through from the government organizations that regulate them, farmers wanting to try hemp remain in a waiting stage.

Hemp has the potential to grow into a thriving market, as we seek to find more sustainable ways to live the lifestyles we have all become accustomed to.

The good news is that although the rate of progression towards Hemp becoming a viable crop in PA is slow, it is moving in the right direction.

In 2014 the U.S. Farm Bill, Sect. 7606, allowed higher education institutions or state agricultural departments to research hemp cultivation and marketing under a state-run pilot research program.

In 2018 an addition was made legalizing hemp production on a broader scale, but a permit is still required to grow hemp in the state of Pennsylvania.

Eric Hurlock, digital editor at Lancaster Farming Newspaper and Industrial Hemp Podcast host said, “In order to survive this century we have to change

What you need to know to

Applications for new and renewal hemp permits for 2023 are now being accepted through April 1.

The PA department of Agriculture is committed to continuing to foster the growth of hemp as a profitable, sustainable and in-demand product.

Through the Act relating to Controlled Plants and Noxious Weeds, Pennsylvania’s USDA-approved Hemp Program issues permits for growing and processing hemp under the PA Hemp General Permit.

For 2022, the Department of Agriculture had issued: 275 hemp growing permits, including 14 research permits, and 53 hemp processing permits, including 2 research permits

To apply for a PA Hemp Permit read the PA Hemp General Permit Guidelines, review application instructions and complete permit application on PA Plants or complete Hemp Permit Application and Renewal From or Re-