SW Colorado farmers considering growing "industrial hemp" (Empire: for sale, lawyer)

[Lugnuts]

Originally Posted by highplainsrus

I was way off the mark, thinking that hemp was not for ingestion. Just started researching it and found this article talking about hemp protein powder and hempmilk produced in Canada.

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The seeds are considered a "super food". Not just for birds but for humans as well.

[highplainsrus]

Originally Posted by Annie53

Very good article on the history of marijuana/hemp.....what it can be used for.....how and why it was banned. Just sickening, IMO.

It's about time this country wakes up and takes full advantage of what this plant can be used for.

| Illuminati News | The Marijuana Conspiracy - The Real Reason Hemp is Illegal


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I can appreciate an artful counter-propaganda piece of writing. That writer has my applause, even if associated with illuminati conspiracies. Its facts may even be accurate - certainly plausible. I wonder, though, about the rush back into industrial revolution agriculture. While some see it as a human savior, others take a darker view of it as a devil to be resisted (the practice, not the crop). I look forward to seeing how it plays out with Colorado hemp.

[Lugnuts]

Originally Posted by highplainsrus

I can appreciate an artful counter-propaganda piece of writing. That writer has my applause, even if associated with illuminati conspiracies. Its facts may even be accurate - certainly plausible. I wonder, though, about the rush back into industrial revolution agriculture. While some see it as a human savior, others take a darker view of it as a devil to be resisted (the practice, not the crop). I look forward to seeing how it plays out with Colorado hemp.

The plant is naturally pest resistant so farmers don't need to poison the earth to encourage growth.

[highplainsrus]

Originally Posted by Lugnuts

The plant is naturally pest resistant so farmers don't need to poison the earth to encourage growth.

I hope someday in the future to buy all my hemp products from a local farmers market sold by just such a farmer - and not encased in plastic at the neighborhood corporate LoafNJug.

[sammy87]

I believe old school gym or climbing ropes were hemp. You cant find them anywhere. I tried to find one to hang in my brothers barn when I made my own gym in there. Anyway....There are probably more better uses for hemp than all the corn we grow. It's kind of stupid when you realize corn is in like 80% of all food we consume.

[DurangoJoe]

Originally Posted by highplainsrus

One thing for hemp farmers to keep in mind is the potential for wind-borne "contamination" from THC-heavy plants growing outside in nearby backyards. That may or may not be happening in SW CO. It will take frequent inspection to see it before the state inspectors happen by. The same caution will apply some day with GMO hemp, although maybe not as crucial since hemp isn't ingested.

This only works the other way. Anybody growing their own weed is in danger of having their it ruined by pollination from any nearby hemp fields. Pollination by hemp plants just ruins the marijuana for any purpose beyond seeds and fiber. It is useless as an intoxicant after that, containing minuscule THC levels.

[highplainsrus]

Cross-pollination may actually create a better plant, with a better balance of THC and CBD, that could adapt to less-than-ideal SW CO conditions. THC extraction processes will eventually be able to reap the 0.3% THC in ihemp, anyway. It might turn out to be wiser to just import ihemp from Canada and weave it into tshirts for tourists, rather than try to compete with countries that have been growing the stuff for many years. If Mexico ever gets going with it - game over?

[Colorado Rambler]

Originally Posted by highplainsrus

Cross-pollination may actually create a better plant, with a better balance of THC and CBD, that could adapt to less-than-ideal SW CO conditions. THC extraction processes will eventually be able to reap the 0.3% THC in ihemp, anyway. It might turn out to be wiser to just import ihemp from Canada and weave it into tshirts for tourists, rather than try to compete with countries that have been growing the stuff for many years. If Mexico ever gets going with it - game over?

Indeed, cross pollination can sometimes lead to more viable (and potent) offspring. However, would-be SW Colorado hemp growers are worried that big ag in the form of Monsanto and others will come in and start growing patented, genetically modified (GMO) hemp. The last thing we need is for Monsanto to come into the region because:

a) Anybody who buys Monsanto seeds cannot use the seeds from the resulting crop for the next season. Monsanto demands that these seeds be returned to them. They then increase the price of the seeds next season by as much as 300% adding to the farmer's costs and ultimately the consumer's as well.

b) The obvious response to the above is "Well, don't buy Monsanto seeds in the first place." Nice try, but Monsanto claims that every plant which has more than 1% of its DNA in common with the patented Monsanto strains is in violation of its patents, and the unlucky farmer whose crop has been polluted by Monsanto GPO must pay a large fine to Monsanto for patent infringement. So, if you're Joe, the family farmer, and Monsanto decides to put in a crop a few miles down the road from you, Monsanto will soon be owning your soul, as well as your farm. I kid you not. Independent and family farmers sued Monsanto over this policy and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court - which ruled in favor of Monsanto. (Government of the corporation, for the corporation, and by the corporation).

c) Monsanto has developed a strain of cannabis where the psychotropic effects are non-existant. They have bred the THC out of the plant. So, even if they don't come after you for patent infringement, your crop is ruined anyway the moment the wind starts blowing pollen around.

Of course Monsanto has some big plans for the day the Feds finally relent on the current idiotic cannabis laws. I suspect that they will step in and run the cannabis industry to its detriment and Monsanto's gain, much like the big tobacco companies in their hey day.

The Four Corner's own Colorado Plateau Growers Association has started a grassroots rebellion against the intrusion of big ag into regional, family owned farms which are planning on putting in local varieties of organic hemp from heirloom seeds. The Colorado legislature has passed a resolution in favor of legalizing the growing of hemp by Colorado farmers. The Resolution, HJR10-1027 cites the following reasons for legalization among others (emphasis my own):

WHEREAS, Colorado should support a coordinated approach that
includes universities, colleges, and research institutions, law enforcement
agencies, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and

WHEREAS, U.S. sales of hemp food are growing by 50% per
year; industrial hemp seed prices are good, as conventional seed is priced
at $0.39 to $0.52 per pound and organic seed at $0.72 to $0.87 per pound;
and yields are high, such as in Canada, where the average yield is 800 to
1,000 pounds of seed per acre without irrigation and 1,600 to 2,000
pounds per acre with irrigation; and

WHEREAS, Industrial hemp is a high-value, low-input crop that
is not genetically modified, requires no pesticides, can be dry
land-farmed, and uses less fertilizer than wheat and corn; and

WHEREAS, Industrial hemp helps meet the demands of a market
increasingly concerned about environmental impact by providing nitrogen
to the soil, sequestering carbon, and growing without the use of toxic
chemicals; and

WHEREAS, Industrial hemp provides a practical transition to
sustainable agricultural practices and the conservation of precious
groundwater resources in the state; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixty-seventh
General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein:
That the General Assembly urges the United States Congress to:

(1) Recognize industrial hemp as a valuable agricultural
commodity;

(2) Define industrial hemp in federal law as a non-psychoactive
and genetically identifiable species of the genus Cannabis;

(3) Acknowledge that allowing and encouraging farmers to
produce industrial hemp will improve the balance of trade by promoting
domestic sources of industrial hemp; and

(4) Assist U.S. producers by removing barriers to state regulation
of the commercial production of industrial hemp.

I think this last part (4) is important because it would allow the State of Colorado to decide the amount of THC permissable - NOT the Feds and NOT Monsanto.

Colorado Plateau Growers Association is calling for a moratorium to stop the growing of GMO/Patented, Low THC seeds and plants in Montezuma and Dolores Counties. You go, guys! Their next meeting is on Feb 8th. Yours truly will be in attendence and will report back to everyone what transpires.

[highplainsrus]

The Cortez Journal 01/06/2014 | Local farmers unite to talk about hemp

This report of the Jan. 5 meeting of growers in Cortez raises a question about the Colorado hemp resolution. How does it stand in regards to GMO hemp? GPGA representative Nettleton is quoted:

"The Colorado Department of Agriculture recently adopted the state’s first industrial hemp rules. Colorado Plateau Growers Association representative Lu Nettleton said he’s concerned with some of the language in the law, including the requirement to use genetically modified seeds and access to farms by law enforcement."

The resolution link from Rambler includes this clause:

"WHEREAS, Industrial hemp is a high-value, low-input crop that is not genetically modified, requires no pesticides, can be dryland-farmed, and uses less fertilizer than wheat and corn; and"

Was Nettleton misquoted?

Here is the original Truthout article on the Monsanto/Bowman Supreme Court case. It would be fun to read the actual Supreme Court decision, if I can find it.

Life in the Rural Police State of Monsanto

Can hemp growers defend against GMO by simply demanding better cannabis labeling for both high-THC and low-THC crops and products, thus letting the consumers decide which they prefer? Are the growers hampered by their desires for bigger and bigger profits? Can a "boutique industry" keep from becoming big agribusiness, demanding more lawyers, regulations, lawsuits, debts, land, water, and public media hype? Can/should Monsanto be run out of Colorado like they were in the EU?

Here is the Supreme Court decision on Bowman V Monsanto. It revolves around the "doctrine of patent exhaustion".

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions...1-796_c07d.pdf

[Colorado Rambler]

^^^

I don't think Nettleton was misquoted. Rather, I think it's a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. Officials at all levels of the Colorado government are scrambling to sort out how the new law will be enforced and just exactly what will be allowed, etc. I believe the law of unintended consequences is at play here. Colorado voters passed laws calling for the decriminalization of medicinal and recreational pot. No one seems to have addressed the implications for the growing of a crop of hemp. No one except Monsanto, that is. I would love to see Monsanto driven completely out of Colorado considering the damage they do to local, family owned farms no matter what the crop. I will pass your question along to Mr. Nettleton at the next meeting. I'm sure he can clarify his statement for us.