ASHEBORO -- It's been illegal to grow hemp in North Carolina for more than sixty years, but now, the state's first hemp processing plant in Asheboro officially has it’s permits to move it’s operation foward.
Founder's Hemp, the company leading the project, is planning to build a five-thousand two-hundred square foot facility. They hope to break ground in the beginning of the year, and have the first round of crops in the ground by the spring.
Waylon saunders, a farmer in Asheboro and the Director of farmer operations at Founder’s Hemp, said, "I think it's going to do really well here because predominately in the years past it's always grown good in North Carolina, and I think it will grow good again in north carolina."
The company plans to utilize the hemp plant in several ways.
Jamie Crumley-Tate, the Vice President of Farmer Operations at Founder’s Hemp explained, "Every part of the plant is useful, from the roots, the stems, the flowers, the seeds, each part of the plant has a lot of different benefits. For instance, the seeds you can actually eat, you can put on salads, you can toast them."
Saunders added, "Hemp is also a good ground builder. It puts a lot of nutrients back in the ground, so if I wanted to put a cover crop on the acres next year, I probably wouldn't have to use any fertilizer or little fertilizer at all because it has so many nutrients and builds the ground up."
The company's hope is that between ten and fifteen farmers will get approved to grow ten acres of hemp. After a test year, they hope that number will increase.
The farmers who are interested will have to go through an application process with the commission in charge of approving them.
Not all farmers who apply are guaranteed a permit, but the company is encouraging anyone who is interested to do so through the Asheboro City Council office.