FRANKFORT, Ky. — If industrial hemp doesn’t become a legal cash crop, it won’t be because Kentucky’s Congressional members haven’t tried.

The latest move comes from U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a longtime industrial hemp advocate who has supported many pieces of legislation to get the crop back into production. According to information from McConnell’s office, he secured a provision in the Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill connected to the processing stage of legally grown industrial hemp.

The language in the provision would allow producers to transport “legal industrial hemp” across state lines in order to have the crop processed for commercial purposes.

Adam Watson, who heads up the industrial hemp program for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA), said in some instances, hemp is still an oddity and not something with which everyone is familiar.

“But, with the work from last year and continuing this year, we’re hoping to move hemp more to the realm of just another agriculture commodity because, in truth, that’s what it is,” he said.

The 2014 farm bill permits research plots to be grown in states with legislation in place allowing for hemp production once federal barriers are removed. This season marks the second year research has been conducted in Kentucky.

Information from the KDA noted 121 applications for hemp pilot projects, including universities, growers and processors, were approved this year, accounting for a total of 1,724 acres to be planted.

“Kentucky’s industrial hemp pilot programs continue to prosper and I want to make sure our legal hemp producers can safely transport their crops between states, including to states that maintain processing facilities, so they can fully capitalize on the commercial potential for this commodity,” said McConnell.

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer has led the effort from the state level. He said this latest language reemphasizes that industrial hemp is an agricultural commodity.

“The ability of Kentucky to research the full potential of industrial hemp through processing, marketing and sales is vital to understanding the future possibilities for industrial hemp,” he said. “Kentucky’s agriculture community continues to be indebted to Senator McConnell for his continued leadership on industrial hemp.”

Last month Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced legislation as part of the U.S. House Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) appropriations bill. The amendment, which would prohibit the use of federal funds to impede industrial hemp research, passed by a vote of 289-132, according to Massie’s office.

This latest effort comes in one of the 12 appropriations bills required of Congress each year. The fiscal year 2016 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill contains $143.8 billion in discretionary and mandatory funding for numerous projects ranging from nutrition programs to agricultural research.

Appropriations Committee Chair Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) said the purview of this bill includes many important programs that directly influence U.S. agriculture, public health and the quality of life in rural America.

“The bill adheres to our budget constraints, yet funds federal initiatives to improve agriculture production and research and to support rural economies,” he said.

According to information from Senate Appropriations Committee, the bill total is $24 billion below the president’s budget request and $3.7 billion below the FY2015 enacted level. Also, the discretionary funding portion of the bill totals $20.51 billion, $65 million below the FY2015 enacted level.

In addition to the hemp provision, highlights of the bill include $876 million for the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, $855 million for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, $1.49 billion for the Farm Service Agency, $1.014 billion for the Food Safety and Inspection Service and a total of $24 billion in loan authority for the Single Family Housing guaranteed loan program, to name a few.

More information about provisions contained in the bill can be found at http://1.usa.gov/1D3iVAw