Folks-
Yet another great read, this one from Wisconsin, where the farmers are suffering from the current economic doldrums and are looking to hemp as a crop that could return them to profitability!

Excerpted from: http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt_and_politics/article_697f2da6...

On a recent day, the grandson of "America's Hemp King" relaxed poolside while reminiscing about his family's "sordid" history in Wisconsin's once-booming hemp industry.

"I get chuckles and sly smiles until I clarify what I'm talking about," says Dennis Rens, 70, in a phone conversation from his winter home in Fort Myers, Fla. Rens' grandfather, Matt Rens, was the state's largest hemp producer and owner of the state's largest hemp processing mill during the crop's heyday from 1914 to the 1950s. "In casual conversations, most people associate hemp with marijuana. Back when my grandfather had the mill, hemp was a crop, not something people talked about smoking."

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Despite the fact that the DEA isn't handing out permits, nine states have sided with farmers and legalized hemp farming. In January, state Rep. Louis Molepske Jr., D-Stevens Point, introduced a bill that would make Wisconsin the 10th. With smoking bans on the rise and tobacco use on the decline, struggling state farmers say they want another cash crop to replace tobacco. Some in law and drug enforcement circles remain opposed, saying a state law will have little effect if the federal government continues to restrict hemp and that the need to test different varieties of cannabis for court cases will be costly.

Molepske says the state had it right at the time when the Rens family cultivated acres of hemp. "Nobody had concerns about growing hemp back then. It wasn't an issue," he says.

Hemp Oil Canada incorporated three days after hemp was legalized by the Canadian government in 1998. To date, its biggest customer base is in the United States.

From January to October of 2009, the company exported roughly $600,000 in hemp oil and $1.8 million in hemp protein powder to the United States. As evidenced by Canadian exports, the hemp market is much more diversified than when Wisconsin farmers last grew hemp. Lack of product diversification led to decreasing sales for hemp when demand began to shrink after World War II and cheaper, synthetic fibers started to enter the market.

Anndrea Hermann, Hemp Oil Canada's industry liaison, says the company, along with the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance, works with up to 150 hemp farmers annually to supply the expanding market.

"The years they plant hemp are the years my farmers go on holidays," says Hermann, a Missouri native who immigrated to Canada to cultivate hemp seeds. "They know they will make a profit."

Farmers can make up to $750 an acre for hemp, while corn farmers, for example, are barely breaking even in a volatile market, according to figures provided by UW-Extension and Hemp Oil Canada.