NASHVILLE (AP) — With a decades-long ban on hemp production in Tennessee finally lifted, some farmers say they want to grow the crop but aren't used to the government oversight that comes with it.
WPLN-FM reports (http://bit.ly/1vn9ckl) the state Agriculture Department held a hearing on Tuesday about proposed rules it hopes to finalize before spring planting. They include a requirement to let inspectors enter hemp fields at any time to check the levels of THC, the only real difference between hemp and its cousin, marijuana. Farmers would have to pay the $35-an-hour bill for inspections.
In addition, they would be required to purchase an annual hemp license that would cost $250, plus $2 per acre.
Farmer Linda Albright of Williamson County said the strict oversight isn't typical.
"We've been growing tobacco and corn and soy and all of this for years and years," she said. "We've never had to apply for a license to grow it."
But Harold Jarboe of Maury County said the rules are understandable.
"We cannot have an industry here if we don't invite law enforcement in and make them a part of the process," Jarboe said. "Because if I'm hauling 50 pounds of hemp tops up to the juice company to be juiced and I get pulled over, I can't have my crop confiscated while they figure out if its legal or not."