John R. Roby

jroby@pressconnects.com | @PSBJRoby

To hear Gov. Andrew Cuomo talk, New York State expects big things from industrial hemp in the Southern Tier.

The region's only mention in Cuomo's traveling state of the state addresses was in the context of the crop, which was grown in New York last year for the first time since the early 20th century.

It is "ideal for hemp farming … we want the Southern Tier to lead the way" Cuomo said Wednesday in Syracuse, where he proposed relaxing a rule that caps participants in the state's experimental hemp program at 10.

So far, New York has seen just one harvest, from one farm, in Madison County. But a crop in the first year for legal cultivation of the formerly banned plant is proof of concept, officials say, and if it worked there, it will work even better here.

"People had to see a crop. You stand in the field with farmers and you realize you're witnessing history, the first crop grown in this state in, forever," said Patrick Hooker, deputy secretary for food and agriculture in Cuomo's administration. "Now we know we can grow it. It's been successfully grown, combined, processed and sold."

New York first launched a pilot program to research hemp in 2014, and last year it was expanded to allow the hemp to be sold.

Both efforts were championed by Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Endwell, and state Sen. Tom O'Mara, R-Elmira, who sponsored the legislation in their houses.

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Before 2014, "the frustration was, you could legally produce products with hemp materials but you couldn't grow it," Lupardo said. "The demand for alternative, greener, safer products had burgeoned into this $600-million-a-year consumer market, but nobody could grow the material."

Hemp is similar to marijuana but contains only small amounts of the drug's active ingredient. Hemp's stalk, seed, oil and leaves can be used to make clothing, building materials, fuel, paper and other products.

The progress from growing to sale validates years of effort, Lupardo said, and it opens further economic opportunities.

With the first crop grown and harvested, JD Farms in Eaton, which partnered with Morrisville State College on one of the 10 licenses, drew attention from companies in-state and elsewhere that previously had to import hemp products from overseas, where it was never outlawed.

"Their phone was ringing off the hook from manufacturers interested in purchasing parts of the plant — cosmetic companies interested in the roots, a company interested in stalks for the fiber for pressboard, a company that wanted to talk about using the seeds for protein supplements," Lupardo said. "A light bulb went off: This is manufacturing."

Of the 10 state research licenses currently available, two have been claimed. In addition to Morrisville and JD Farms, Cornell University is growing hemp for research. Lupardo said she has spoken with Binghamton University, and with Clarkson University and a partner farmer, all of which have shown interest in the license process.

Compared with other parts of upstate, the Southern Tier tends to have more growing days and available land with a history of agriculture, and has yet to see the growth of farming sectors like dairy in Central New York or vegetables in the Hudson Valley.

As for the region "leading the way," lifting the cap would remove a barrier to private farmers who want to experiment with the crop, according to Cuomo. Lupardo said the region already has the four things it needs: land, farmers, interest and funding.

"Senator O'Mara and I have been relentless on how the Southern Tier is perfectly situated for this development," she said. "We have a lot of available land that was once in farming use, lots of people who are interested in farming new products, and we have designated agriculture as one of our [economic development] priorities."

Cuomo's proposal rises from the fact that the direction of the nascent hemp industry in New York is not yet clear, Hooker said.

"Will we focus on the seed, on the fiber, on the parts for pharmaceutical production?" he said. "The governor wants to press hard on all the research angles and find where the best market is."

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