Salisbury University hopes to become a pioneer in experimenting with the newly legalized hemp plant in Maryland.

The university announced recently it plans to work with area farmers to grow and research the crop.

"It looks like we will have growers this spring planting industrial hemp that will be the first crop to be grown here in Maryland in 70 years," said Salisbury University professor Mark Holland.

Hemp is a relative of marijuana: The plant smells and looks similar, but has very little Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the compound in marijuana that gives a high.

Maryland's pilot industrial hemp program, passed in 2018, allows farms to cultivate the crop as long as they partner with institutes of higher learning.

Hemp was previously included with marijuana as a federally controlled substance that could not be cultivated in the U.S.

Under the pilot program, farmers are allowed to harvest and sell the hemp they grow. Fabrics, paper and the recently popular cannabinoid or CBD can all be made from hemp.

Once restrictions on hemp were lifted, a number of local farmers contacted Salisbury University interested in the collaboration, said Holland.

"We’d like to support them if they’d like to give it a shot," he said.

He sees it as part of the university's mission to enable local growers to produce new crops.

More:'The kind of thing that draws us closer': SU looking to be further annexed into Salisbury

Hemp was produced in the U.S. through the early 1900s, reaching 150 million pounds of production in 1943, according to the USDA.

Following this peak, production started to decline sharply due to legal restrictions, changing attitudes on marijuana and the rise of competition.

All cannabis was placed under federal control in the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, with no distinction made between plants with low and high THC.

But after congress opened the door for state-level changes in 2014, industrial hemp was nationally legalized in the 2018 Farm Bill.

The bill removes hemp from the list of federally controlled substances and allows the crop to be grown as an agricultural product — it can be cultivated, sold and receive crop insurance.

It also includes restrictions on hemp and requires the creation of programs to oversee production. That process will take time for some states.

While that procedure continues, Maryland farmers are able to use the pilot program to grow hemp as long as they find a university to work with.

"In order to give the farmers in Maryland the opportunity to get started, we’re pushing forward," said Jim Drews, program manager at the Maryland Department of Agriculture. "It (hemp) has been gathering momentum."

Holland said Salisbury University hopes to partner with at least six farms, mainly on the Eastern Shore.

Hemp is thus far untested in the area and that brings uncertainty about how the crop will perform.

"I don’t know how hemp is going to work on the Eastern Shore of Maryland," said Andrew Ristvey, UMD extension specialist. "I think there’s going to be a lot of people interested in trying to find out."

That prediction has proved true so far.

A lot may depend on the weather in hemp's inaugural summer of production, said Holland.

2018 Last year brought a summer wetter than many area farmers could remember, and another similar year could impact hemp's growth.

"It’s going to be a steep learning curve for everyone," Holland said.

The research linked to the pilot applications is on potential impacts of an agricultural probiotic developed at Salisbury University.

A probiotic is a "helpful" bacteria that can provide a range of benefits.

Trials of the probiotic have already begun on soybeans, corn and peanuts, and are showing promising results.

In this case, the probiotic has been shown to improve plant's growth and yield, and speed development.

More:Hemp to be 2019's new crop on the Eastern Shore

More:Septic system frustrations boil, state and local changes proposed

The Maryland Department of Agriculture began accepting applications for the industrial hemp pilot program in January.

They've seen interest in the program since then and have several applications under review, said Megan Guilfoyle, public information officer at the MDA.

"It (hemp) has the possibility to have a positive impact," said Drews. "It’s not just the growing of the crop, it’s developing infrastructure on ways of using the crop also."

The goal of the pilot program is to learn more throughout the process of hemp production.

At Salisbury University, Holland said if the applications are approved, they will be looking for several student interns to work monitoring the hemp during the summer.

He said students have expressed interest in working with the crop.

"Does it peak their curiosity to know that we may be doing a research project for it? Of course it really does," said Holland. "It's just something exotic and something different."

Are you planning on getting involved with hemp? Contact reporter Jenna Miller at 443-669-4005, jmiller@delmarvanow.com or on Twitter @jennamargaretta.

More:Wicomico superintendent addresses safety concerns at Salisbury Middle

More:Maryland air quality monitoring plan reignites poultry battle