Could 2017 be the year for industrial hemp in Illinois?

BY REBECCA OSLAND

Farmers and other advocates have been trying for decades to bring hemp back to Illinois agriculture. This year, the Illinois Legislature grappled with SB1294, co-sponsored by Sen. David Koehler, D – Peoria. The bill passed the Senate unanimously.

Illinois was a leading hemp producer in the 1940s, contributing necessities like rope, sails and caulking to the U.S. military effort in World War II. Illinois was even the site of a federal hemp pilot project during the war. Polo, a town 100 miles north of Peoria, was selected as the pilot site for hemp cultivation and distribution.

Though hemp lacks the psychoactive properties of its relative, marijuana, it was swept up in the “war on drugs” and its cultivation was banned. Despite this farming ban, it has been legal to buy hemp products, including edible products, as long as they were imported from other countries and any seeds were heated or hulled to prevent them from being viable to grow. Much of the hemp available in the United States has come from places such as Canada, Europe and China.

The 2014 federal Farm Bill presented a renewed opportunity for states to allow hemp to be grown again. Hemp cultivation must be for research or pilot programs, but marketing is a permissible research purpose and crops may be processed into industrial and consumer goods and sold to the general public. Illinois took advantage of this change in federal law and passed a hemp bill in 2014, but that bill restricted license eligibility to state universities with four-year agricultural sciences degrees.

As other states have gotten in to the forefront in hemp cultivation and clarifications have been offered by both federal agencies and members of Congress, it became clear that Illinois could go beyond university cultivation as well. In Kentucky, over 135 farms and 40 processors were producing hemp last year. It is currently possible to buy products such as lip balm, protein powder and plant extracts from Kentucky, and processors are developing the capacity to produce building materials, fabrics and other goods.

In addition to providing new economic opportunities, hemp also provides environmental benefits. Hemp crops typically grow well with minimal chemical input and have some potential to remediate (detoxify) contaminated soil. This would be useful for farmers who want to grow a marketable crop while they transition to organic farming. Hemp may be able to outcompete herbicide-resistant “superweeds,” helping farmers overcome a serious problem for which only harsher and harsher chemicals have been the primary solution available.

According to a March 2017 Congressional Research Service report, hemp retail sales were nearly $600 million nationwide in 2015, with growth of approximately 15 percent per year over the 2010-2015 period.

However, it will take some time for farmers to learn how to manage this crop which differs significantly from corn and soy. While fiber production has been challenging without better equipment and technology, there is a group of Illinois farmers who have already been experimenting with the cultivation of kenaf, a plant with similar tough, fibrous properties, which could give Illinois an advantage in this sector. With over 25,000 products that can be produced from hemp, there is significant potential if this bill passes.

Rebecca Osland is an attorney and policy associate with the Illinois Stewardship Alliance in Springfield.