Big Sandy farmer experiments with hemp

Big Sandy organic farmer and entrepreneur Bob Quinn is one of 14 Montanans taking advantage of the state's brand-new hemp-growing law by planting six acres of the previously illegal crop.

This was the first year Montana's Hemp Pilot Program was allowed under the Department of Agriculture's 2014 Farm Bill. Quinn and son-in-law Andrew Long, who is in charge of the project, planted all three of the permissible types of hemp - the CFX-1, CFX-2 and CRS-1 - in June and expect to harvest sometime in September. It depends on how much sunlight the crop receives, Long said, as hemp is a photo-sensitive crop.

Montana hemp growers bought 16,250 pounds of hemp seeds through a DEA-approved process that includes a $400 participation fee, a $50 license fee and fingerprint requirement.

Pest Management Program Manager Ian Foley said Sunday that seeds were imported from Canada's Hemp Genetics International to the USDA and then distributed to growers. The USDA has a DEA-controlled substances permit and the DEA issued import permits for all of the seed from Canada.

"Next year, growers will be able to import any available seed that is on the Health Canada or European Commission approved list. Seed availability is a major issue," Foley said in an email.

Quinn said the seeds arrived three weeks late and since they won't be allowed to keep the seeds from their future crop, they'll have to go through the ordering process again next year.

Industrial hemp does not have the mind-altering properties of cannabis. Montana code says industrial hemp has no more than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main psychoactive element in marijuana.

Quinn and Long were looking for a "very interesting additional oil crop" that's not readily available in the U.S., and hemp seed oil met that requirement, Quinn said.

Long said they are still exploring the markets, but they plan to crush the seeds for oil, and then use the dry byproduct in pellet form for protein. There are other possibilities, too, Long added.

"With the right varieties, you can also grow it for fiber - rope, clothing, textiles. If you have the right equipment, the sky's the limit," Long said.

While developing the crop's practical application, the Big Sandy growers are also working on growing a consumer base.

"We're planting - doing some trials here - and at the same time, talking to some of our existing customers and other potential customers and seeing if they'd be interested in buying it," Long said.

Both men agree the U.S. market is ripe for hemp.

"People have been clamoring for it," Long said. "If we can get it to grow well enough, I think we'll be able to take advantage."

Quinn, who has multiple experiments on his property - most of them produce - and is known for trademarking the ancient khorasin grain-based Kamut Brand Wheat, said he was glad to get onboard the hemp experiment.

"The most exciting thing for me is to see the next generation doing what I've been trying to do for the last generation - starting new things and thinking about new things. That's what this is," Quinn said.

For Long, a California native who moved to Big Sandy six years ago when he married one of Quinn's daughters, the idea for growing hemp was sparked at trade shows.

"A lot of people had used it in products at food shows, and I thought it might be a good product to at least try," Long said.

The hemp will be processed in the Oil Barn, a processing facility on Quinn's farm in which he and Long have been processing high oleic safflower oil, a high-temperature culinary oil.

Quinn and Long said they see no reason not to continue the experiment should it prove successful.

"Bob likes anything that's successful," Long said.