FRANKFORT, Ky. — As the second season of hemp production in Kentucky is about to begin, much research has focused on how to best grow the plant. But what to do with it once harvested is on the radar of those involved in this “new” venture.

Earlier this year, applications were accepted by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) from those wishing to participate in the second year of pilot hemp projects. That included applications from prospective processors.

Last year’s farm bill made provisions for hemp research in states that had in place some type of legislation regulating production of the crop. But it fell short of allowing full-scale production mainly because of hemp’s status as a controlled substance.

There is federal legislation pending that would allow for normal production. The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2015 (H.R. 525) amends the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana. The bill is in House committee but producers and processors are moving forward with pilot projects in hopes hemp will once again become a production crop.

Mike Lewis, a Rockcastle County farmer, participated in the 2014 pilot with his focus on the textile side of hemp production. “Our first challenge is to figure out how to turn this crop into something that would fit into an existing infrastructure and utilizing existing manufacturing processes,” he explained.

Lewis is working with processors that will eventually turn his crop into several American flags. In fact, the first American flags were created from hemp.

“We’re pretty excited, both as a farmer and a business that has been supporting us, it’s exciting to see it come to fruition and I think we proved that the markets do exist,” he said. “It’s going to take infrastructure not only to conform to existing manufacturing processes but also an infrastructure to be processed in the way that it used to be processed.”

Lewis added it is also exciting to look at the potential for job growth across Kentucky. As for when the time may come to grow hemp as a production crop, he doesn’t have any prediction on when but he feels confident it will be sooner rather than later.

“At this point, I’m not overly concerned about it happening. We’re in a fortunate position in Kentucky in the climate our ag commissioner and our legislators created for us in allowing to develop the processes,” he said. “It would be great if we could grow it in all 50 states, but I don’t think it’s a hindrance here. If nothing else, it’s actually a little bit of an advantage at this point.”

Patrique Veille is the CEO of American Hemp, a company created to connect future industrial hemp growers to processors. He said the positive effects from an environmental, farming and historical standpoint make the idea of industrial hemp seem like a no-brainer in coming back for the U.S. economy.

“It’s taken time, but at least now it looks like it’s is coming about,” he said. “There are an array of products that can come from industrial hemp and in terms of applications, there are quite a few.”

Veille added in the process of getting hemp back into production, this has been a state to watch. “Kentucky is one of the states we’ve been keeping our eye on because they are leading the way legislatively with the program,” he said.

“After the farm bill was passed, they were there fairly quickly to get the plots in and they definitely have the framework and are ready to see what the different varieties can produce. It was good to see Kentucky leading the way.”

Veille thinks hemp will be a viable crop for farmers and the interest, along with the markets for the crop, will continue to grow once full-scale production begins.