CSU Extension Agent Wilma Trujillo and Farm Service Agency County Executive Director Scott Brase visited the Prowers County Commissioners May 19, and offered their opinions about agricultural Hemp in Prowers County.

Hemp has been making headlines in Otero County as the economic development group has announced an agreement that includes an aggressive incentive package to bring game changing development to La Junta, including up to 200 new jobs in the next 24 months.

County Attorney John Lefferdink has been researching the item and said a commercial application is available to bring hemp into the area.

“In Colorado you can get registered for research and development or commercial growth,” he said. “Under federal law, as I understand it, under the 2014 farm bill the federal government did permit hemp growing for research and development only.”

In Colorado they added commercial growth, which is a question whether it’s legal under federal law.

“I don’t think it is legal,” he said. “Anyway if you want to get in the business this is what it takes.”

The application is cost-effective, he said, and costs $500 plus $5 per acre of hemp.

“The biggest operator is Mr. Loflin in Baca County who I think has three sections of hemp,” he said.

Commissioner Henry Schnabel wanted to know If raising hemp would put a farm out of compliance with other programs.

“It does not,” Brase said. “In the new farm bill there are provisions there and I have the national notice here that it does not throw you out.”

You can’t participate in a program with the crop (hemp) but it does not take a farm out of compliance.

“We’re asking that you certify that crop just like a normal crop,” he said. “We do have codes for that now.”

The exception is the farm loan.

“There are still some questions about whether it will throw you out of eligibility because you are taking revenue from that crop,” he said. “As of now, with limited knowledge because Washington D.C. is still looking at it, they probably aren’t call your loans if you are making payments on it.”

Hemp can grow in Prowers County.

“We have well-drained soils and the PH,” Trujillo said. “The only thing we don’t have is the moisture. It’s going to be the same as corn or Milo.”

The crop suffers in drought conditions, she said, and doesn’t do well in high temperatures.

Commissioner Wendy Buxton-Andrade noted that sandy soils do not provide the best growing conditions, but Trujillo said they could fertilize the ground and reiterated that it would grow much like corn and wheat.

“It’s just like any other crop,” she said.

Buxton-Andrade asked if there was any way the county could reassure its constituents that hemp is growing and not a large amount of marijuana.

“If they (constituents) drive by a field that has been tested and it’s a hemp plant compared to a marijuana plant,” she said. “I want to make sure that we have precautionary measures in place, to reassure our people that we aren’t having big old marijuana grows.”

Trujillo said there is no physical difference between the two plants.

“Chemically you have the capacity to make a difference between the two of them,” she said. “It’s the concentration on the THC.”

When someone plants hemp you have to notify the department of agriculture.

“When you harvest you also have to notify the department of agriculture,” she said. “They have to send samples to the department of agriculture and they will test it.”

There is no clear guideline if an inspector visits the grow operation.

“What they are saying is we don’t have the money,” she said.

The inspection cost is $35 per hour which does not take into account the travel time.

“It’s expensive,” she said.

Brase said most marijuana grows are indoors.

“The hemp is predominantly outdoors and the two don’t want to cross paths,” he said. “It will cross-pollinate.”

If they do cross pollinate, the crop is ruined from both sides.

“Then it lowers the THC in the marijuana and raises them in the hemp,” he said.

Buxton-Andrade said there is a new operation in Fort Lupton that will create hemp products with crops from Canada.

“I look at some information that the University of Kentucky has put together and to be profitable they recommend to go into the seed production route,” Trujillo said. “In Canada they don’t have the right technology to process the fiber that is profitable. “

With that said, it doesn’t mean that someone isn’t going to try.

“Whatever the technology is in Canada and China, that’s the technology the U.S., is going to look into and maybe improve that,” she said.

Commissioner Ron Cook said hemp is not allowed in Prowers County and the current ordinance would have to be changed.

“There is a question about that,” Lefferdink said. “It’s exclusively regulated by the Colorado Department of Agriculture, so if you want to grow it you have to get a permit.”

The county does not have a regulatory roll.

“If you look at the fiber it is better for the community maybe at that sense, but I’m just looking at me going out there and planting hemp. What’s the advantage of it,” Schnabel said.

To him, it “smacks” of the same attributes of growing medical marijuana to get recreational marijuana.

“This smacks of the same thing,” he said. “Let’s have hemp so we can get marijuana,” he said.

Based on feedback from Otero County, Brase said hemp is valued highly because of the hand labor involved.

“It will all be hand-planted, weeded and harvested,” he said. “To me, that tells me there is a lot of dollars involved. There’s gotta be an end result there to make those producers take the risk.”

Cook said the voters have already spoken about Where the county should go.

“It’s a hard decision when there are jobs at stake,’ he said.

Lefferdink said that under the law, there is a specific difference between marijuana and hemp.

“Hemp is defined as .3 of 1 percent maximum THC,” he said. “As long as you don’t exceed that limit it’s not considered marijuana.”

Lefferdink said in his opinion the county is not prohibiting people from growing the crop.

“I think La Junta beat us to the punch and they developed a very lucrative incentive package,” he said.

Lefferdink said he will review the ordinance.

Chris Frost: 719-336-2266, editor@lamarledger.com