Originally published on pg 80 in issue 10 of Cannabis Now Magazine
Here’s a Sneak Peak:
In 2012, Ryan Loflin, 41, had a successful business building designer homes from reclaimed barnwood. But in 2013, Loflin defied federal law and converted 55 acres of alfalfa on his family farm in southeastern Colorado into the first hemp field grown in the United States since cannabis prohibition began over 70 years ago.
“It’s all about job creation, that’s the whole point of this industry,” says Loflin, “To get small town America back to having jobs that are profitable. The end result in rural America is going to be pretty outstanding.It has so many uses… everything except glass can be made from hemp, it’s a special crop.”
Loflin had been mulling the venture for years, ever since Canada relegalized the cultivation of the crop in 1998. According to the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance, farmers in the country planted 6,000 acres of hemp in 1998 and will plant an estimated 100,000 acres this year. The CHTA estimates the gross value of the crops to range between $30 million to $34 million, or between $990 to $1,100 per acre. In comparison, American corn farmers made just under $1,000 an acre in 2013, making hemp far more profitable.
“It was just the right time, we moved ahead as we realized everything was falling in place,” says Loflin.
His 2013 crop was largely exploratory, but it sparked buzz in… purchase issue 10 to read more.
