How Hemp Could Rebuild the U.S. Agricultural Economy Hey blades, I wrote a research paper on how Hemp is a super crop and could rebuild the U.S. economy.... * Please log in to reply * * * * * * * * * * #1 [How Hemp Could Rebuild the U.S. Agricultural Economy: post #1] DragonSmoker Posted 04 March 2013 - 10:06 PM DragonSmoker Registered User * * Registered Upgraded * 334 posts Hey blades, I wrote a research paper on how Hemp is a super crop and could rebuild the U.S. economy. I got a 95 on it and it was an Honors English 111 class. I actually got a job at my colleges Academic Assistance Center as an English tutor because of this paper. I hope you blades enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. :hello: :hello: How Industrial Hemp Could Rebuild The U.S. Agricultural Economy Hemp is a robust material that has been utilized around the world for centuries to make a wide variety of products. Hemp makes so many products that the first U.S. laws on hemp required farmers to grow it (Thomas Jefferson Papers 3). In the past century hemp has gone from the world’s number one cash crop to illegal in the land of the free. Eleven U.S. States have passed legislature legalizing the production of hemp, yet due to DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) intervention licensing for cultivation, before the 2012 election, was only available in Oregon. State legislatures and citizens have shown great interest in this plant’s uses, such as replacing corn in bio-diesel and ethanol production which subsequently would lower corn prices across the United States. The legalization and utilization of industrial hemp could rebuild the U.S. agricultural economy. Hemp can produce two forms of infinitely renewable energy, bio-diesel and ethanol, which will greatly reduce U.S. dependence on petroleum and corn-based energy sources. Henry Ford’s first cars ran entirely on hemp fuel. According to a multi-author article on hemp oil biodiesel, “The Hemp Oil Biodiesel (HOB) was found to be clean, environmentally friendly, and exhibit fuel properties within the range of American Standard for Testing Material” (Ahmad et. al.). Hemp bio-diesel meets American fuel standards and is cheaper than gasoline. Hemp also produces a higher yielding and higher quality ethanol than corn. Fuel ethanol is currently a limited market because most crops that can make ethanol are also used as food. Hemp differs from corn in the fact that inedible parts of the plant can be used to produce ethanol. Essentially this allows the global prices of corn to go down. Hemp could easily replace corn as the leading bio-diesel and ethanol raw material. In addition to replacing corn, hemp could replace wood pulp in all paper products. The hemp plant makes a higher quality paper product while using fewer raw materials than wood pulp. Hemp can produce more paper with less land than forestry. According to a University of Waterloo environmentalist study, “Hemp can maintain and even surpass any necessary rate of production with… a yield of 4 acres to every 1 acre of forest used” (Chen et. al.). Wood-based paper uses more land to produce a lesser quality product. Additionally, hemp paper is more robust than wood paper. According to the a University of Waterloo study, “Hemp makes paper stronger and which lasts centuries longer than wood paper… hemp paper does not yellow, crack, or otherwise deteriorate like tree paper does now” (Chen et. al.). Hemp paper lasts centuries without deteriorating and can be recycled up to seven times. Hemp arguably is a better paper product than wood because it uses fewer raw materials and produces a higher quality product in larger quantities. Hemp isn’t just an industrial crop; hemp seed is very nutritious and tastes like a nut. Hemp is a super food containing very high amounts of omegas and protein in its seed. Hemp seed contains all essential amino acids, which are the building blocks to proteins. According to Lynn Osburn of the Hemp Line Journal, “Eating hemp seeds gives the body all the essential amino acids required to maintain health” (Osburn 1). Hemp is such a complete source of protein that it has been used to treat nutritional deficiencies brought on by tuberculosis (Osburn 1). Hemp seed oil has perfect concentrations of three omegas, 3, 6, and 9. In her research, Osburn has discovered that no other plant source contains the essential fatty acids in as perfect a ratio as hemp to meet the nutritional needs of humans (Osburn 1). Omegas are essential to cardiovascular health and have great anti-inflammatory effects. Realistically, hemp seed could end world hunger due to its nutritional value and potential for mass production. Hemp seed doesn’t only feed people; it can also make a cheaper, higher quality animal feed than corn or wheat. Hemp seed has been touted by the European Food Safety Administration (EFSA) as a complete food source for animals. According to the EFSA, “Hemp seed and hemp seed cake could be used as feed materials for all animal species” (EFSA 44). Hemp seed contains 26 to 37.5 % lipids, 25 % crude protein and 28 % fiber; hemp seed meal/cake contains 11 % lipids, 33 % crude protein, 43 % fiber making it a perfect food source for most types of animals (EFSA 1). Due to a lack of mass production, hemp seed prices are currently higher than corn and wheat. According to the United States Drug Administration, “China began producing and exporting hemp seed in large quantities in 1986, causing world prices to fall from 25 cents per pound in 1985 to 15 cents in 1986. In 1991 China stopped exporting hemp seed and prices nearly doubled in 1992” (USDA 15). Correlation is shown through world price decreases during times of mass production and world price increases when production is down. Ultimately, using hemp seed cake as animal feed is an effective way to nourish animals while also dropping prices of corn and wheat. Even after extracting the hemp seed for consumption, the fibers and other components of the hemp plant can still be harvested and sold. Hemp makes one of the strongest natural fibers known to mankind. Hemp has been used since ancient China to make durable and inexpensive fabric. According to former University of California San Diego professor David Jordan, “From prehistoric times, hemp… was the principal material used to make cloth in eastern Asia” (Jordan 1). Hemp fibers make strong and rot resistant canvases and rope. Hemp fibers are very strong and durable, particularly against decay. This makes hemp useful for making rope, sail cloth, and other high strength materials (Small and Marcus 1). When dipped in kerosene, hemp canvas and rope becomes very resistant to rot, especially from water. Durable and comfortable clothing is in demand, and hemp fits that criteria and can be produced in mass. Hemp fibers can also form very strong plastics and fiberglass, which can be used in the automotive industry. Hemp plastic and fiberglass panels are more impact-resistant than steel, and it’s biodegradable making it a better automotive building material. According to Paul Benhaim of Hemphasis magazine, In a 1941 film, Henry Ford demonstrated that his hemp cars could resist blows from a sledgehammer more so than steel bodied cars. (Benhaim 1). Also according to Benhaim, “Carmakers such as Ford, GM, Chrysler, Saturn, BMW, Honda, and Mercedes are currently using hemp composite door panels, trunks, head liners, etc.” (Benhaim 1). Hemp plastics are 100% biodegradable and less expensive than other fiberglass alternatives. When comparing prices for parts, Hemp fiberglass only costs 50-70 cents a pound, and it could replace the more expensive carbon and glass fibers which cost 60 cents to 5 dollars a pound (Benhaim 1). Hemp plastic or fiberglass is less expensive and stronger than most materials used in the auto industry today such as aluminum and steel. A wide market is open for hemp products because it appeals to the masses, it is environmentally friendly, and it is safer than more commonly used materials due to its high impact strength. In addition to the plastics and fiberglass, hemp can also make concrete-like building material for houses. Hemp fibers and hurds can produce cheap high strength building material for homes across the United States. Hempcrete can be used to build foundations and is touted as being up to 7 times stronger than concrete with half the weight and three times the elasticity (Priesnitz 1). According to a Natural Life magazine article by Rolf Priesnitz, “This superior strength and flexibility means that hemp foundations are resistant to stress-induced cracking and breaking, even in earthquake-prone areas” (Priesnitz 1). If hemp was mass produced, hempcrete could make stronger earthquake-resistant homes for a fraction of current costs. Additionally, hemp based materials are self-insulating and share or improve on many features of modern building materials (Priesnitz 1). Natural Life magazine claims, “The building material also is self-insulating; resistant to rotting, rodents and insects; and fire proof, waterproof and weather resistant” (Prieznitz 1). If hemp was mass produced, hempcrete could provide a stronger and more durable building material at a fraction of the cost of modern building materials. Hemp building materials are already being utilized in other countries with great success; if hemp was mass produced in the United States hempcrete would likely overtake concrete, brick, and other materials as the primary structural component because it would be stronger, more durable, and cheaper. Despite hemp’s wide variety of uses, propaganda derived from hemp’s relation with the female cannabis plant, marijuana, has led to hemp being seen as a harmful unusable resource (West 3). In reality hemp contains less .3% of the psychoactive compound Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (Vantreese 5). Hemp is not psychoactive, but due to the Controlled Substances Act and anti-marijuana propaganda U.S. research on hemp is very limited. Despite opposition, progress in legalization efforts was made during the 2012 elections. The citizens of Colorado and Washington state have voted in initiatives, Amendment 64 and I-502 respectively, that legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana, regulate and tax marijuana distribution, and establish a distinction between industrial hemp and marijuana. The hemp plant could rebuild our agricultural economy because of hemp’s wide variety of uses and high potential for mass production. Civilizations have long used hemp as a source for many of the things the modern world uses corn and other lesser materials to make. When hemp replaces corn in areas such as ethanol production and grain animal feed, prices of corn will go down nationwide. Unlike any crop currently grown in America, hemp can be grown in nearly every continental U.S. state. The hemp plant has been a staple of the Americas since before its colonization, and as new technology allows us to broaden this versatile resource’s potential it will be proven that the wonder crop of the past is also the future of modern agriculture.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 20:50:06 +0000
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