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TOTALLY DIFFERENT KIND OF CROP. NBC FIVE'S JACK THURSTON HAS THAT STORY. (áááPKGááá) Eric Alan isn't here to pick his own apples or pumpkins ... he's come to a farm field in tiny Stannard, Vermont ? to pick his own hemp. ((ERIC ALAN / Pick- Your-Own Hemp Customer: 9:13: I've been drinking tea, and it has a nice little feeling without getting high.)) It's the end of the season for this cannabis cousin to marijuana, that lack pot's mind- altering THC. So Baramu Farm's Johanna Polsenberg got an idea... ((JOHANNA POLSENBERG / Baramu Farm: 13:21: the same way you pick your own apples; you pick your own blueberries.)) Her pick your own hemp long weekend was aimed at giving folks an up-close look at this crop that's exploded across Vermont's landscape. ((Nats cutting down hemp)) Baramu's staff is hard at work harvesting ? on one of about 900 farms now growin hemp in the state ? largely to cash in on a movement that's seen consumers increasingly turning to ointments and other products containing CBD oil extracted from hem to provide relief from problems like anxiety or soreness. Agriculture leaders here see hemp as a way a place better known for dairy and maple syrup can diversify its farm sector. Though big questions linger about CBD remedies. Many swear by them, but so far the federal Food and Drug Administration has only approved CBD to treat rare forms of epilepsy. So that has Vermont's Agriculture Agency cautious about predicting any windfalls... ((ALYSON EASTMAN / Deputy VT Agriculture Secretary: 15:06: a lot revolves around what FDA does?whether they allow this to be a nutraceutical or pharmaceutical.)) ((JACK: is it possible thi bubble could burst? JOHANNA POLSENBERG: It's absolutely possible. Whe we were at a conference with other hemp growers and hemp folks in Vermont, ther were jokes being made that where it used to be a fear of the DEA, the drug enforcement agency, now most hemp growers?their fear is the FDA.)) Hoping for more growth, Baramu's optimistic the administration will listen to promising early findings about CBD, and see what Vermont has done at the state level to encourage safe and reputable farming and manufacturing practices. As for Baramu's rare pic your own hemp concept? The farm's already thinkin

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Over the long holiday weekend, a grower in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom held a new twist on the familiar “pick-your-own” farm trips—encouraging visitors to pick their own hemp.At Baramu Farm in Stannard, the pick-your-own hemp offering was aimed at giving folks an up-close look at the crop that’s exploded across Vermont’s landscape.“The same way you pick your own apples, you pick your own blueberries,” Johanna Polsenberg of Baramu Farm said of the pick-your-own hemp promotion over the three-day Indigenous Peoples’ Day Weekend.It’s the end of the season for the cannabis cousin to marijuana, which lacks pot’s mind-altering THC.“I’ve been drinking tea, and it has a nice little feeling—without getting high,” Eric Alan, who was picking hemp at Baramu Farm Monday, said of what he plans to do with the product he was putting into a brown paper bag in a small section of field open to visitors.In the industrial fields of the farm, Baramu’s staff was also hard at work harvesting Monday. It is one of about 900 farms now growing hemp in the state.Those growers are largely aiming to cash in on a movement that’s seen consumers increasingly turning to ointments and other products containing CBD oil extracted from hemp to provide relief from problems like anxiety, arthritis, or soreness.Agriculture leaders in Vermont see hemp as a way the state better known for dairy and maple syrup can diversify its farm sector, as they said in a news story last year, when there were fewer hemp farms enrolled with the state.Big questions linger about CBD remedies, however. Many consumers swear by them, but so far, the federal Food and Drug Administration has only approved CBD to treat rare forms of epilepsy.That has the Vermont Agency of Agriculture cautious about predicting any windfalls.“A lot revolves around what FDA does—whether they allow this to be a nutraceutical or pharmaceutical,” Deputy Vermont Agriculture Secretary Alyson Eastman told NBC5. Asked by NBC5 whether it is possible the CBD bubble could burst, Polsenberg acknowledged, “It’s absolutely possible,” then relayed a story about comments she has heard from other growers.“When we were at a conference with other hemp growers and hemp folks in Vermont, there were jokes being made that where it used to be a fear of the DEA, the Drug Enforcement Agency, now most hemp growers—their fear is the FDA,” Polsenberg said.However, Polsenberg is optimistic the CBD sector can continue growing, saying Baramu Farm hopes the administration will listen to promising early findings about CBD. She said she would also like federal authorities to study what Vermont has done at the state level to encourage safe and reputable farming and manufacturing practices.As for Baramu’s rare pick-your-own hemp concept? The farm is already thinking of offering more dates next fall, Polsenberg said.