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CapitalPress.com
March 10, 2017
Oregon grower sees opportunity in hemp
By GAIL OBERST
For the Capital Press
SALEM — More than 100
farmers in Oregon are expected
to grow or process one of the
Northwest’s newest cash crops
next year, and it’s not marijuana.
About 1,300 acres of indus-
trial hemp are planned this year,
according to Lindsay B. Eng,
director of Oregon Department
of Agriculture’s hemp certifica-
tion program. Thirteen growers
signed up for licenses in 2015,
the program’s first year.
Hemp is a variety of Can-
nabis sativa, but shares none
of the psychotropic character-
istics of Oregon’s newly legal-
ized marijuana. Hemp has long
been used as animal bedding,
fiber for clothing, and oils for
foods, remedies and lotions. It
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won’t get you high, but even
so, hemp has long been lumped
with marijuana, requiring com-
plicated federal approval and li-
censing to grow it. Hemp grow-
ers have lobbied to distance the
crop from marijuana.
Jerry Norton of Salem, now
in his third year as a hemp seed
grower and processor, said
the new industry has gotten a
recent boost from hemp oil’s
rise in popularity. He recently
attended a cannabis conference
where hemp was the new star.
“CBD is all they talked
about. For health benefits, it’s
the flavor of the month,” said
Norton. CBD is cannibidiol,
the main ingredient in hemp
oil. Claims that hemp oil can
improve mood, sleep, appe-
tite, hormone regulation and
immune response and relieve
pain have prompted producers
to include it in products ranging
from soap to craft beer, avail-
able at your corner grocery
store. Demand is rising but U.S.
growers are still scarce. Norton
is among those who hope to
change that.
Industrial hemp does have
trace amounts of THC, tetra-
hydrocannabinol, the substance
that produces the “high” in
marijuana. But industrial hemp
plants for public consumption
Courtesy of Jerry Norton
At a farm in the mid-Willamette Valley, Jerry Norton, far right, is
growing hemp with help from supporters. From left are Courtney
Moran, a Salem attorney; Rep. Carl Wilson, R-Grants Pass; and
his chief of staff, Michelle Binker.
by law must contain .3 percent
or less THC. Marijuana’s THC
content can range from 6 per-
cent to 25 percent THC.
The surge in demand for
hemp products is a boon for
growers, Norton said. With one
of the few plant and seed pro-
cessing cooperatives in the area,
his Salem company, American
Hemp Seed Genetics, is reach-
ing out to attract more growers.
Norton and his company have
grown more than 100 acres of
hemp for seed, scattered around
the mid-Willamette Valley.
The crop is fast-growing
and lucrative, Norton said. In
90 days, hemp grows to 6 or 7
feet in the Willamette Valley’s
clay soils. Almost any crop that
needs a rotation can be rotated
with hemp, Eng said.
But although the crop prom-
ises to be lucrative, challeng-
es remain for this newcomer.
Money is foremost. Equipment
specific to hemp harvesting,
seed research, licenses and
certification is expensive and
hard to find, Norton said. Eng
suggested that current grass
seed and grain farmers may
have a leg up if they own
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ment.
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