Gregory A. Hall

The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With just about two weeks until the end of planting season, Kentucky's Agriculture Department agreed Friday to jump through a federal agency's hoops so it can get hemp seeds that already are in the state.

State officials say they will file a four-page application for a one-page federal permit to obtain industrial hemp seeds that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Officials have detained at a UPS facility at Louisville International Airport at the request of the Drug Enforcement Administration. With the permit, the seeds would be released and Kentucky universities planning to conduct pilot projects under the new farm bill would be able proceed on their own land.

But a more complicated issue of whether farmers not affiliated with the universities will be allowed to grow hemp — whose fibers can be used in rope, clothing, foods and lotions — remained unresolved after a conference among the Kentucky officials and lawyers for the federal agencies that the state Agriculture Department is suing.

Federal District Judge John G. Heyburn II set another conference for Wednesday. State officials hope the seeds can be released by then and expect to have a proposal ready to solve the issue of third-party growers.

"We made great progress today," said Holly VonLuehrte, the agriculture department's general counsel and spokeswoman.

The Agriculture Department wants to distribute the seeds for Kentucky's first hemp crop in decades as part of a pilot project. Eight pilot projects are planned, including a few that involve private growers.

Kentucky officials filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the federal Justice Department, DEA and Customs and Border Protection because they thought that continuing bureaucratic delays would cause the agencies to give the state its seed after June 1, the last day they can be planted.

Growing hemp without a federal permit was banned in 1970 when the government classified the crop as a controlled substance related to marijuana. Hemp and marijuana are the same species, Cannabis sativa, but hemp has a negligible amount of THC, the psychoactive compound that gives marijuana users a high.

The law-enforcement arm of the federal government contends that importing hemp seeds continues to be subject to the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act.

Kentucky officials say the new federal farm bill trumps other regulations. But VonLuehrte said state officials are willing to file for the permit if it means the pilot projects can proceed.

Kentucky officials "could have had their seeds today," if they had applied for the registration and permit, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Schecter, representing all of the defendants. The universities don't need a permit but would need to be included on a list of projects that would be given to federal authorities.

Still the law-enforcement agencies don't like the idea of private growers participating in the pilot projects.

VonLuehrte and Luke Morgan, a lawyer for the state Agriculture Department, argued that the farm bill clearly contemplates third-party growers since it talks about registered sites.

Heyburn suggested that state officials submit proposed agreements between farmers and the state for DEA review, keeping Mother Nature's growing season in mind.