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April Danner
The Virginia site is about to plant its first hemp crop since the 19th century
Smithfield Plantation broke ground recently for its first hemp crop since the early 19th century. The Blacksburg, Virginia property is adding the plot of the maligned marijuana cousin to its regular tours.
Industrial hemp has been grown in Virginia since European settlers arrived in early 1600s. In fact, it was illegal not to grow hemp in Virginia’s early history. Planters in British colonies were compelled by law to supply hemp for the empire’s sailing ships.
After the American Revolution, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp and Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on strong hemp paper.
“Hemp was Smithfield’s main crop for a while,” says April Danner, Smithfield’s museum director. “Before the Revolutionary War, Smithfield Plantation had a contract to supply hemp for the British navy.”
Smithfield’s hemp harvest may be used in demonstrations of the arduous business of processing hemp in bygone days.
“The hemp has to be retted—rotted—to separate the fiber from the stem. That can be stinky,” says Danner. “Then the stalks must be broken with some sort of wooden or stone crusher. Because natural fibers are short, they must be twisted together, starting at different points along the rope, to make it strong.”
The Smithfield plot is part of Virginia’s Industrial Hemp Research program, which allows certain institutions to grow hemp legally for research. Professor John Fike, who oversees Virginia Tech’s hemp research, says hemp cultivars for both fiber and grain are planted at Smithfield. Though it is grown in many other countries and used in numerous products, the crop has been illegal in the U.S. for decades because it is a variety of cannabis, the same species as marijuana.
But there is a big difference. Marijuana contains the psychoactive compound THC; hemp doesn’t. With a level of THC less than 1/30th that of marijuana, hemp doesn’t yield any kind of high.
Smithfield Plantation, located adjacent to the Virginia Tech campus, opens for tours Thursday-Tuesday.