Today we dive into the heady world of industrial hemp. Hemp is no longer just for Canadian cereal companies and scratchy beige t-shirts. This low-THC strain of cannabis, think of it as the well behaved fraternal twin to marijuana, is, as of the 2018 Farm Bill, a legal crop in all 50 states. And the hemp hype is real, mostly because of CBD, a hemp extract that's popping up in everything from $8 cans of seltzer, to medicinal tinctures, and even Carl's Jr hamburgers. But if there's such huge consumer demand for hemp, and it doesn't even get you high, why was the crop criminalized in the first place? And now that it's legal, what does this mean for farmers across the country who want to start growing it? We talk with Michael "Mr. Hemp" Bowman and Ben Banks-Dobson of Hudson Hemp and Old Mud Creek Farm.

Special thanks to our podcast editor, Hannah Beal, producer, Jessica Manly, Ben Banks-Dobson, and Michael "Mr. Hemp" Bowman.

More on industrial hemp and CBD:
https://nifa.usda.gov/industrial-hemp
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrebourque/2018/12/17/how-hemp-and-the-farm-bill-may-change-life-as-you-know-it/#1bfcbe2e694c
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/us/cbd-cannabis-marijuana-hemp.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/14/magazine/cbd-cannabis-cure.html

Hudson Hemp:
http://www.hudsonhemp.com/

Michael Bowman:
https://www.agprofessional.com/article/how-serve-growing-hemp-market
https://www.agriculture.com/news/crops/what-farmers-need-to-know-about-growing-hemp
https://www.agweb.com/article/three-potential-paths-for-farming-hemp/

Show art credit: Hudson Hemp @hudsonhemp