Hemp Is Hip
The other "weed" has big business potential too. Local farmers are considering jumping on the hemp bandwagon.
Years ago back in central Missouri, my grandfather farmed hundreds of acres of corn and soybeans. In the farm ponds on the property is where I learned to fish. As I got into my teenage years I began to notice large patches of what appeared to be pot growing in fence rows, along creeks, and in ditches. My grandfather informed me, "that's wild weed." "Back in the 1800's central Missouri was one of the largest produces of hemp." "What you see is what's left of that industry."
Yesterday dozens of local farmers gathered in Montrose to discuss the future of hemp production in the Grand Valley. The idea was pitched to build a processing plant that could handle up to 50,000 acres of production. In a state that's already friendly to weed production investing in hemp seems to me the right call.
Hemp is most famous for making the highest quality ropes there are. Hence the term "smoke'n a rope." During WW-II the U.S. war effort needed so much rope that it produced its own films encouraging production.
The fact is hemp can be used to make countless products from cooking oil, cloth, health & beauty aids, animal bedding, paper, and much, much more. The local farmers are wise to investigate its production and revenue potential. Hemp is indeed is "hip". It's another way for Colorado to cash in on this cash crop.
Credit: Western Slope Now