Press "Enter" to skip to content

Opinion: Hemp can offer Missouri farmers a lifeline in tough times

My name is Jeric George, I am a senior agribusiness management major at Mizzou, and I am pursuing a career in hemp cultivation. I grew up in St. Louis, in a home with two working parents. Growing up, my mom was practicing as an attorney and my dad was running a small business. Since my parents both worked I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, Nelson and Cordell Kirn, who live in Perryville. My grandfather owns a farm there that was passed down to him by his uncle and will hopefully be passed down again to my generation. My whole life I remember Perryville and that farm as my second home. I would go every weekend and every summer to ride horses with cousins and help out with the cattle. I remember a time when our small herd of cattle and horses was financially profitable for my grandparents and my family, but with the way that prices of beef have changed and the industry has started to rely more on operations of massive scale, it is no longer possible for us to produce on our farm. It is an expense for my family every year at this point and by the time my grandpa passes away, we will have to sell the property.

I believe that hemp is the new commodity that is going to save small Missouri farms like the one my grandfather owns in Perryville. Hemp opens up a whole new world of opportunity and income for small farms because it so much more profitable per acre. On our property, right now, we have five acres of arable land. With this acreage there is no way that we could produce corn or soy profitably. With the current restriction of a minimum ten acres in Missouri, it is not realistic for farms like us to grow. I believe that this restriction unfairly favors larger farms with more money. I am a member of a family who have been constituents of the

Perryville district for nearly one hundred years. I should have the right to plant five acres this year so that I can start working towards a more sustainable form of income for our farm and keep it in our family for one hundred more years.

It is truly exciting that in the prime of my life a brand new commodity is emerging in my state and I have the opportunity to be one of the pioneers of the industry. One of the things that sparked my interest in hemp is that way it can be processed into an animal feed. The seeds from the plant can be milled down into a feed that could one day be more sustainable and a

healthier feed option compared to corn.

Missouri is the Show Me State, and I believe that we can be an industry leader in hemp, but without the passing of this bill, with an emergency clause for production, many Missouri farmers like me will not have the opportunity to plant this year, and will face continued economic pressures to sell our farms. Our livelihood and homes are literally at stake.

Kentucky grew 6,700 acres in 2018 and has authorized more than 42,000 acres of production for 2019. It would be a shame and a travesty if Missouri farmers are not given an opportunity to compete, and reclaim our heritage of hemp agriculture.