U.S. Customs and the Drug Enforcement Agency will not release hemp seeds the Kentucky Department of Agriculture ordered for pilot projects.

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UPDATE:The DEA agreed Tuesday evening to expedite a permit the agency claims Kentucky needs to import hemp seeds, reversing uncertainty it created when it refused to release the seeds to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.The DEA also agreed to require only the state Department of Agriculture to apply for the permit, said Holly VonLuehtre, chief of staff for Agriculture Commissioner James Comer.Earlier Tuesday, the DEA told state officials it would require the Department of Agriculture and each university participating in a hemp pilot project to apply for a permit, and said it could not guarantee when or if the permits would be granted, VonLuehtre said.The DEA has assured state officials it would grant the permit within 24 hours after the paperwork is completed Wednesday, VonLuehtre said.ORIGINAL STORY:The planting of some hemp seeds in Kentucky, scheduled for Friday, may be delayed.The U.S. Customs office in Louisville is refusing to release the seeds to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture until the state obtains a permit from the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Kentucky’s agriculture secretary, James Comer.The DEA has not yet granted that permit, he said.The state may file an emergency motion Wednesday in federal court to force the release of the seeds, he said.“We had a conference call that I wish the world could have heard this morning with the DEA, and they’ve basically said the law is what they say the law is, not what Congress says the law is, and it’s appalling," Comer said.The DEA referred requests for comment to the U.S. Department of Justice, which did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.The federal government legalized hemp crops for research and agricultural pilot programs in states where such programs have been legalized when it passed the Farm Bill in February.Kentucky’s General Assembly approved the hemp pilot projects in 2013.Six pilot projects are planned at locations throughout Kentucky. Those projects are partnerships between private groups and state universities including the University of Louisville, University of Kentucky, Kentucky State University, Eastern Kentucky University and Murray State University, Comer said.Some groups and universities already have hemp seed, although Comer declined to say who already had the seeds.Mike Lewis, of the Growing Warriors Project, says his group already has seeds and will plant them Friday at a site near Mount Vernon in Rockcastle County.Growing Warriors, a nonprofit that helps military veterans become farmers, will partner with Kentucky State University.But the University of Kentucky, which was identified by Comer as one of the universities to receive this shipment of hemp seed, does not know when it will plant its pilot project, said Carl Nathe, a spokesman for UK.UofL’s pilot project was already scheduled for next year, said Denise Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for UofL.State officials already had problems with the DEA on previous shipments, and the seeds being held in Louisville were already seized by the DEA when they entered the U.S. in Chicago, Comer said.“We’ve done everything right up to this point," he said. "We passed legislation in Frankfort. We passed legislation in Washington through the Farm Bill. We have research universities that want to research this. We have farmers grow it. We have processors that want to process it.”Hemp can be grown for a variety of uses, from food products to fibers, and could be an economic boost for Kentucky's farmers and people who make hemp products, Comer said.The plant has low amounts of the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, he said.