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Kentucky Ag News Headlines |
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Organic Association Hosts Field Day at Kentucky State
Kentucky Ag Connection - 09/19/2018
The Organic Association of Kentucky (OAK) hosted an organic hemp production and research field day Tuesday at the Kentucky State University Harold R. Benson Research and Demonstration Farm.
A focus of the College of Agriculture, Food Science, and Sustainable Systems at Kentucky State University is researching and developing new opportunities for underserved and underrepresented farmers in Kentucky. Given Kentucky's rich agricultural
resources and fertile soils and the price premiums associated with organic production, Kentucky State has long seen organic agriculture as an area of opportunity for Kentucky producers, large and small.
The 2014 Farm Bill allowed for the reintroduction of industrial hemp into the Kentucky agricultural landscape through the Kentucky Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Program. As this program has grown since 2014, there has been increasing interest in hemp in
general, as well as in organic hemp production. Since the hemp program's inception, Kentucky State has been a leader in hemp research and outreach in Kentucky and across the nation.
Dr. Shawn Lucas, assistant professor of organic agriculture at Kentucky State, and the Kentucky State organic program staff hosted this field day, focusing on Kentucky State's current organic hemp research, including use of hemp in a grain rotation, and
organic soil fertility via integrated livestock production. Three major hemp production aspects -- fiber, grain, and nonintoxicating cannabinoids -- were discussed and included in the field tour. Additionally, Doris Hamilton, Kentucky Department of Agriculture
Hemp Program manager, was on hand to discuss the state's pilot program, and Chad Rosen, founder and CEO of Victory Hemp, shared marketing successes of his hemp business and his vision on the future of the hemp industry in Kentucky.
Participants had the opportunity to extend the learning with an optional visit to Kentucky State's aquaponic production facilities and heritage hemp operation.
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