Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is ready for Texas to legalize hemp.

At a meeting with Abilene and Cooper high school agricultural sciences students Tuesday afternoon, just after he spoke and ate lunch at the Rolling Plains Cotton Growers meeting at the Taylor County Expo Center, Miller was asked what the hottest topics in the agricultural world are right now.

"Hemp," Miller said. "The U.S. Farm Bill, on the federal level, decriminalized hemp."

It's still illegal in Texas, Miller said, but the Legislature could take action to make it legal once again.

Hemp has been outlawed due to its small amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that produces the chemical high sought when using marijuana recreationally.

"It's a good crop," Miller said. "Hopefully, the Legislature will (change the law) and give our farmers one more tool in their toolbox."

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But, Miller said, farmers can hurt themselves if it does become legal once again to grow hemp. He said crops such as hemp, which go through a change in legality, become the next big thing.

Growers tend to overdo it, he said. Then, it's a matter of too many people with too much hemp for it to be valuable.

What about that wall?

Students in the agriculture sciences programs at the two high schools converged at Cooper High for the chat with Miller, who spent about 10 minutes speaking with the students and another 10 answering their questions.

Besides the hot trends in agriculture, students wondered what a wall on the southern border means for Texas agriculture, what jobs might be available out there for future professionals, how to get started in agriculture and a little about Miller's own history in the business.

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Miler, who owns a ranch near Stephenville, said his family traces its roots to colonial times in Virginia before they moved to Texas after the Civil War.

"If you grow up in that, it's part of who you are," Miller said. "It's part of your DNA. It's part of your blood. There's nothing like fresh plowed land, smelling the dirt. It brings you close to God. If you haven't experienced it, it's hard to explain.

As to the wall question, Miller did not provide examples of how a southern border wall would affect agriculture, saying the measure would be a humanitarian effort.

Miller, who vocally supports President Donald Trump and his border wall initiative, said he's seen the areas where human trafficking and drug smuggling have led to death and destruction and building the wall would help end those practices.

"If we build that wall, there's a country-boy saying, 'Good fences make good neighbors,'" Miller said. "The same is true here. If we build that wall, we'll funnel all that through legal ports of entry, all that stops. All the drugs coming in, all of the sex trafficking, all of the human smuggling (stops).

"Where we've put it up, it's become about 99.5 percent effective. So, I'm a full believer."