A group containing hundreds of farmers gathered from across the Florida Panhandle in Jackson County to discuss the future of hemp.
The event served as a tool to educate new farmers about everything that experts currently know about the crop. While there is still a lot to be learned about this crop, they want any potential farmers to get off on the right foot. Farmers were also able to voice their own questions, challenges, and concerns. Some, already knowledgeable of the industry, shared tips to help budding farmers find their stride in this new landscape.
“Hemp is an incredible commodity, a fiber that can be made into the estimates are over 25,000 products. From cloth to paper, building materials, it can be used for livestock feed, this is a product that could really create jobs from the farms to the factory and beyond for our region,” Kristin Dozier, a Leon County Commissioner, told the press.
The hope was for this event to inspire more farmers to try the crop.
“Hemp and marijuana are the same family but hemp has no THC which is the part that gets you high, and that is the biggest distinction. There’s a lot more research, there’s a lot more questions that need to be asked and answered as we move forward and this the beginning,” said Dozier.
“This opportunity allows the University of Florida/IFAS to talk about the hemp pilot project, our early science and what we’re seeing both out in the greenhouse and in the field,” said the Director of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Jerry Fankhauser.
The feeling of the event was that hemp is a crop that will enable farmers to turn a tidy profit in myriad ways. They are enthusiastic about this opportunity and are looking to take full advantage of it.
