Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles says sales of Kentucky hemp products in 2018 were more than 3 and a half times higher than the previous year and that the amount that farmers were paid for their harvests more than doubled.
A news release cites data from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture that shows hemp processors reported $57.75 million in gross product sales last year. That compares with $16.7 million in gross product sales in 2017.
Processors paid Kentucky farmers $17.75 million for harvested hemp materials in 2018, up from $7.5 million the year before. Hemp processors spent $23.4 million in capital improvements and employed a total of 459 people in 2018, according to the processor reports.
Commissioner Quarles says, “I am encouraged by these numbers and hope this news solidifies Kentucky’s reputation as the hemp center of the United States.”
He notes that the numbers were recorded before industrial hemp was removed from the federal list of controlled substances.
Commissioner Quarles will be the keynote speaker Tuesday morning at 7:30 in the Siloh Event Center for the Christian County Chamber of Commerce and Christian County Agri-Business Association’s annual State of Agriculture Breakfast.