Pennsylvania farmers interested in growing industrial hemp this year have a new opportunity to pursue that.

The state agriculture department announced Tuesday that it is re-opening the application process for growing hemp in Pennsylvania this year and lifting a cap that had been set at 100 acres per applicant.

The department is also accepting applications for growing hemp commercially. For the past two years, Pennsylvania's program has allowed only hemp grown for research purposes, and the initial application process — which started before and ended shortly after the new federal law loosening restrictions on hemp passed — was also just for research.

Eighty-four initial applicants were granted conditional approval, according to the department, and those will be finalized first, with new ones reviewed and processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

PA follows Kentucky

The department reported being the second state after Kentucky to submit a plan to the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the new federal law. It plans to make industrial hemp subject to the Controlled Plant and Noxious Weed Committee, which would require all growers to register and obtain permits through the department, as well as providing for enforcement for any violation of permit conditions.

Seven of the eighty-four permits given conditional approval were for Lancaster County, according to the department, which did not provide further information on them. In neighboring counties, the totals were 10 in Berks; 10 in Chester; one in Dauphin; one in Lebanon; and one in York.

$600 application fee

Costs include a $600 administrative fee per application, which rises for those seeking more than five locations. Applicants must not have had a drug-related felony conviction in the last 10 years, and will be required to submit to an FBI background check.

Proximity is another consideration.

"Because industrial hemp pollen could potentially contaminate both medical marijuana crops and other industrial hemp plantings," the department said, it "will not approve planting hemp crops within three miles of an approved medical marijuana growing facility and does not recommend planting within three miles of a planting for CBD or certified seed. Growers should be aware that doing such could lead to legal challenges from existing growers."

"Pennsylvania’s research program puts our growers ahead of the game — they can pursue new opportunities armed with practical knowledge missing from the 80 years hemp has been against federal law," department spokeswoman Shannon Powers said in an email.

"Now producers will be able to pursue financial backing, and invest without taking on all of the risk themselves, since they will be eligible for crop insurance and investors are stepping up to the plate. There are still challenges to address, but we have a significant head start."

Local farmers interested

Two local agriculture experts also said in email that they're hearing interest from farmers.

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"Ever since the Farm Bill passed, I have been receiving calls from interested growers who missed the application deadline because they were just late to learning about the crop or were unaware of the permitting process," wrote Alyssa A. Collins, director of Penn State University's research center in Rapho Township.

She also wrote that permitting much more hemp to be grown will help to attract fiber and seed processors too Pennsylvania.

"Having processors to sell to will make it worthwhile for certain growers to 'jump into the pool,' where they may have held back before. This is absolutely critical in establishing PA as a player in this new industry since shipping the crop to out-of-state processing facilities will be cost-prohibited," she wrote.

"We will still need some intrepid entrepreneur to take the plunge and build a processing plant here to jump start the industry. Or, perhaps the state legislature might vote to provide incentive funding, like New York has done."

Processors and marketers

Jeffrey Graybill, an education with Penn State Extension, said he agrees that processors and marketers will be needed for many potential products.

"On the other hand," he wrote, "growing hemp for CBD extraction appears to be more of a hands on, specialty crop grown in a similar manner to tobacco. This is the end use for which I am getting the most calls and from smaller farmers who are interested in trying a few acres."

Investors, processors and marketers will be needed for that market too, he said, but he highly recommends that farmers have a contract and know the market before putting any seeds in the ground.

"I do not think that farmer speculators are a good idea," he wrote.

A 2015 federal report found that hemp is used in more than 25,000 products worldwide, including automotive interiors, textiles, paper, foods, beverages and nutritional supplements.

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