Montana Growing Hemp?

[anthonyr]

Yes, but will it make me rich?

[MTSilvertip]

Actually the hemp argument is specious at best.
The fiber is good, the cloth is ok if highly refined, The seeds can produce biodiesel, but so can any oilseed.

The constitution was written on Lambskin, not hemp. A special process that makes very thin paper-like leather was used for centuries and is still made for special projects. It's proper name is Vellum. Very expensive, very fine.

If all that was looked for was a substitute fibre for cotton, we already can grow a plant with all the qualities mentioned, is legal, but non narcotic. Flax.

Flax seed makes bio-diesel, high protien animal feeds, a really good dietary suppliment for humans, it can be eaten by humans as well, it produces a fantastic cloth, Linen, and can be used for ropes ect.
It can also be used as a binder for fiberboard. Not to mention, it's most common use, Linseed oil for paints.

Any use of plant fiber material you could use hemp for you can substitute Flax. The fibers aren't as long, but work just as well or better.
It also has a beautiful blue flower. A field of flax looks like a deep blue lake on the prairie.

You just don't smoke it.

The stoners want to be able to grow weed to feed their addiction, fine. Alcahol is taxed at over $18.00 per gallon,(200 proof, that is why it is cut to 80 proof or so and sold in fifths), so why not charge $15.00 an ounce for weed?

Most stoners I know aren't really the fiscally responsible type for paying taxes, but with our bad roads and weather I don't think most of them would be around long anyway. I am a volunteer firefighter and have peeled several people off the road for all kinds of reasons, some of them were even sober. So a stoner on the road probably won't complete the trip....

If the medical benefits are all that you want, the pill with the active ingredient, I belive it is called THP, is readily available and legal, so why worry about getting arrested?

The hemp legalization argument is full of holes as there are other LEGAL products that work just as well.

The bolo tie part of this thread is far more captivating. I don't have a megalodon tooth tie, but I do have a bow with mastidon Ivory tips and lamination on the grip.
There are a lot of fossils that would make really cool ties, as long as you keep the weight down. I have seen some that appeared to weigh several pounds! Don't want something that heavy tied around my neck!!
I think a small trillobite would make a really cool tie piece. I've seen some that are polished and ground into an agate type cut that would be spectacular!

Lots better than a glorified hankerchief tied in a knot!!

[Reziac]

My understanding is that commercial hemp (which is very low in THC) cross-pollinates with the high-THC varieties and effectively ruins them for THC production. So odd as it sounds, if the object is to get rid of recreational pot, the best way to do it is to grow commercial hemp, because the next generation of seeds will only produce low-THC plants -- not worth the bother and certainly not worth any money in today's market.

OTOH, since people are going to smoke pot regardless, it's a lot saner to legalize and tax it, treat it exactly like alcohol for intoxication purposes, and put a halt to the growth of the police state that the "war on drugs" (funded mainly by drug lords, to keep prices artificially high!) has produced.

No, I don't do rec-drugs of any sort, never have, but I'm sick of MY rights being trampled because of the "war on drugs" and the police-state culture it has generated.

[MTHemp]

Laws Authorizing Commercial Hemp Cultivation
Year Passed: 2001
Summary: The Montana Legislature approved Senate Bill 261 recognizing industrial hemp having no more than 0.3 percent THC as an "agricultural crop." This legislation also establishes licensing procedures to allow local farmers to grow hemp commercially. An amendment to the bill requests the federal government to issue a "waiver that will allow this act to be effective without federal preemption."

[Mod cut] Thank you.

[Reziac]

Given that, hemp farming will be self-limiting -- either you can make the same money as with flax or cotton, or you can't. Obviously cotton ain't gonna grow in MT, and I don't recall ever seeing flax either (maybe too dry for it? dunno) tho it's grown in ND and MN. My guess is that hemp production in MT will be sharply limited by its higher water requirements, not exactly a good competitor for dryland farming. And I'd guess at the moment, if you've gotta put that much water onto a field, corn is likely a higher-profit crop, what with the ethanol-for-fuel craze. But maybe hemp will work for marginal soils, dunno.

[MTSilvertip]

As of the year 2000, Montana ranked 4th in Flax production.
Flaxseed Production In Montana

If you drive around the eastern 2/3rds of the state you will still see flax growing volunteer in the barrow pits, leftovers from when flax was more widely produced.

as of the figures I found, most of the flax as an oilseed producer is in the upper NorthEast Corner of the state and along the highline.

Flax is one of the most versitile and useflul plants grown for fiber, (linen), biodiesel, animal suppliments in feed and for human consumption not to mention the uses in painting, (linseed oil) and several other applications. It can grow in very dry conditions without much if any irrigation so is perfect for production in High Plains states like Montana.

If you wish to grow a crop that will grow on marginal soils with minimal water and cultivation, and even make fuel as a secondary production to fiber, Flax is the way to go.

Plus it has a very pretty blue flower and a crop makes it look like a lake is out in the middle of dry pairie when in bloom. Beautification of the state should also count as a positive right

[judylynne]

I think it would be a great thing for Hemp Farm..It could help with jobs , etc. Hope people start reading up about how Hemp really works.

[judylynne]

But witch would make more money, Flax or Hemp? And witch one would be more useful?