Ken Krall and Jim Naumann

Hemp is a relative of the marijuana plant, but only contains trace amounts of the psycho-active drug THC found in marijuana.

For decades hemp advocates have been advocating a return to a time when hemp was legal and the farming and industrial use of hemp was common place in American lives.

November 17 is the Central Wisconsin Hemp Expo at the Marshfield Mall Expo Center in Marshfield. Event promoter Jim Naumann says hemp's modern applications go beyond the World War II uses of ropes and clothes...

"This is an agricultural product, and it will become an agricultural commodity with the signing of the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill. What that means is food. We have a great protein supply right here in hemp from the heart of that hemp seed. It is a fantastic high-protein, no fat protein source..."

And Naumann says it has many other new non-food applications...

"...All of that plastic we see in our cars that is petroleum based, that can be hemp bio-degradable plastic based. Think of all the car parts that get thrown away from accidents througout the world, even. Things that are carbon fiber can be made with a hemp fiber mat. We can make insulation. We can make roofing. This is really just the start."

The state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection began a test pilot project for hemp production in Wisconsin and renewed the pilot project for 2019.

The Central Wisconsin Hemp Expo is November 17. For more information they have a Facebook Page under Central Wisconsin Hemp Expo.