Kentucky’s new agriculture commissioner says he will pick up where his predecessor left off when it comes to industrial hemp.
Ryan Quarles was in Bowling Green Friday for the Kentucky Commodity Conference.
Commissioner Quarles says Kentucky is re-learning a crop that has been lost through three generations. But pilot projects have shown that hemp can grow well here. More than 900 acres of the crop were grown in 2015. Quarles says the state must continue to develop a market for the crop.
"Right now, Kentucky is the best positioned state in the entire country for industrial hemp and it's important that we continue to encourage processors to locate in Kenutcky," Quarles told WKU Public Radio. "Right now we have over two dozen."
The crop can be used in a wide range of products from paper to pharmaceuticals.
The state remains a partner with Kentucky universities to grow and research hemp. Efforts continue in Washington to legalize full-scale hemp production.