BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The 2018 Farm Bill, passed in December, removed hemp from the list of controlled substances.

Since then, hundreds of North Carolina farmers are looking into growing the plant. So will this be the new cash crop of the future?

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North Carolina allows farmers to grow hemp with an industrial research purpose, but research is ongoing about the safety of this plant and studies show this could cost a pretty penny for those trying to get started.

NC State University, the Industrial Hemp Commission, and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services are leading the state’s pilot program.

Any farmers wishing to grow hemp must follow strict guidelines including having all plantings subject to THC sampling at any time with no prior warning.

“I’m currently doing construction work but we have a bunch of farm land that has been in the family for quite some time and my father-in-law he’s a former tobacco farmer, so we figured we’d kind of just explore the economic benefits of growing hemp,” Hemp Farmer Moses Frazier said.

Research shows farmers could make up to $60,000 per acre in this business.

Hemp can be used for more than 20,000 possible applications related to seed, fiber or floral material.