{"id":4724,"date":"2020-04-04T11:56:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-04T15:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.alumni.ncsu.edu\/?p=28"},"modified":"2024-02-01T16:30:08","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T21:30:08","slug":"risky-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/2020\/risky-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Risky Business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Mary Cornatzer | Photography by Simon Griffiths ’85 and Marc Hall, NC State<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

On a chilly morning last fall, machines clanked and the smell of dried tobacco was in the air on Randy Edwards\u2019 farm in eastern Wake County. In a large metal barn, a half dozen workers were pitching dried leaves onto a conveyer belt that carried them to a machine that pressed them into bales. It\u2019s a scene that has played out on Edwards\u2019 farm for decades. But this year, Edwards had only planted half as much tobacco as usual \u2014 500 acres instead of 1,000 \u2014 in part because China, in the middle of a trade dispute with the U.S., wasn\u2019t buying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a row of small steel barns contained what he hoped what be an insurance policy. Instead of tobacco, the barns were drying hemp. Edwards planted 30 acres of hemp this year as an experiment \u2014 one that more and more farmers throughout North Carolina, and the nation, are undertaking. There\u2019s been talk that hemp could be North Carolina\u2019s next cash crop, and the Edwards family is waiting to see how much the hemp harvest will bring in. \u201cI haven\u2019t seen a reward yet,\u201d says Edwards\u2019 son, Simon. \u201cBut the talk is pretty nice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Simon Edwards, left hopes this drying hemp will be a new source of income for his family’s farm. Right, a close up look at hemp seeds. The seeds are a nutritious grain for consumption or extraction for hemp oil. The stalk, leaves, and flowers of the hemp plant are used to produce CBD oil. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hemp can be grown for its seed, its flowers, its leaves and its stalks. You can eat it, wear it, bathe with it, and its fibers can be used in construction material. But much of the boom in hemp farming is due to demand for products that contain CBD oil, which some credit with relieving everything from pain and anxiety to insomnia. In North Carolina and across the country, stores with names like the Hemp Farmacy and Nature\u2019s Releaf Hemp Store have popped up, selling CBD capsules, ointments, hemp-infused chocolate, gummy bears and even pet food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBD products became wide-spread after 2018, when Congress made it legal to grow hemp and sell hemp-derived products. The FDA has not weighed in on any potential benefits, and has said more study is needed to ensure that CBD does no harm. Meanwhile, anecdotal, non- scientific reports that the products have value have kept up consumer demand, even though the products can be expensive (a bottle of 30 capsules can set you back $65). Farmers quickly saw the potential, and last year, more than 1,400 farmers in North Carolina were licensed to grow hemp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n