April is the “Farmer’s Goal Month”
April marks the big push in the agricultural industry. In the North East, most nurseries are planting their starter pots and customers are getting their first look in the green houses. Further south, the weather has warmed enough for outdoor planting.
For those commercial farmers doing rotational crops (corn to soybeans to wheat) some of the fields are lush green with the burgeoning winter wheat crop growing fast and furious. This is a time for the remaining fields to be thrashed of the weeds and crop debris and ready for either corn or soybeans. Since the seeder equipment needs to be setup for one or the other, most farmers will start with one and switch to the other rather than attempt to plant both at the start of the season. There is a lot of work and the goal is to “getter’ done” in April.
However, a growing number of farmers are hoping to cash in on the “green train” and are starting to plant hemp. Yes, hemp. Hemp farming is still illegal but farmers have devised a solution. Rather than declare to the USDA that a field for hemp, farmers simply write in “grass” and smile.
Hemp farming uses fewer pesticides so there is less work for the farmer. Hemp can be harvested twice in one year so some farmers are forgoing a second rotational planting which means even less work for the farmer. Hemp can be used as a building product so there are fewer trips to Home Depot for the farmer and Hemp oil can be used as a biofuel which means fewer trips to the fuel depot for the combines, tractors, and trucks. Farmer’s spouses are even starting to sew with hemp fabric. The farmers prefer it to their flannel shirts as it is softer and lighter yet more resistant to wearing out in the seat of the pants from those long hours on the tractor … but with hemp farming, those hours are far fewer than with previous crops. About the only thing farmers are not doing with hemp is smoking it, because even farmers know a thing or two when it comes to the affects of smoking grass <grin>
