The Quest for Hemp Freedom Continues

When we reflect on the 250-year history of the United States we see that it is a continuous struggle for independence, economic self-determination and the freedom to innovate. And running parallel to our nation’s grand political narrative is a complicated story rooted deeply in our soil. It is the story of industrial hemp—a crop that was once legally mandated for early American survival, subsequently shackled by decades of regulatory overreach, and now fighting its way back into the heartland’s crop rotations.

Recently, our co-founder and CEO, Sarah Stephens, stood inside Independence Hall in Philadelphia with her children, wearing a hemp blend t-shirt of course. Looking around that historic room where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were debated, was a profound reminder that the quest for true freedom isn't a stagnant chapter in a history textbook. It is an ongoing, multi-generational effort to protect our collective right to build, innovate and farm without the weight of arbitrary government restrictions.

Standing in the birthplace of American liberty, the famous words of Emma Lazarus come to mind: "Until we are all free, we are none of us free." In the world of agriculture, that sentiment rings incredibly true. Our agricultural economy cannot be fully liberated and resilient when a single, vital crop is held back by the ghosts of outdated policies.

In the late 18th century, the founders sitting in these chairs in Philadelphia recognized hemp as a strategic necessity for a young republic trying to secure maritime and economic independence. Hemp fiber forged the sails and rigging of our early naval fleets, clothed our pioneers and provided the paper upon which early versions of these country-birthing documents were drafted. For generations, the freedom to grow hemp was synonymous with our country's independence from foreign powers.

The trajectory changed dramatically as corporate and federal bureaucracies expanded. The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 and the subsequent Controlled Substances Act of 1970 systematically severed American agriculture from its hemp heritage. In a sweeping regulatory move that favored synthetic, petroleum-based alternatives and timber monopolies, the federal government lumped industrial hemp into the same restrictive classification as psychoactive cannabis. The nuance of the plant was entirely lost to political narrative, and American farmers were stripped of a resilient, high-margin agricultural staple for more than half a century.

1700s–1800s: Strategic Necessity 

• Hemp sails, ropes and textiles anchor early American survival 

1937: Tax Act Bureaucracy 

• The Marihuana Tax Act places prohibitive regulatory burdens on growers     

1970: Total Prohibition 

• The Controlled Substances Act classifies all cannabis as a Schedule I drug     

2018: Federal Re-legalization 

• The Farm Bill officially redefines and liberates industrial hemp for research and commerdcial production

Still today, following the hard-fought victories of the 2018 Farm Bill, our quest for complete hemp freedom remains bottlenecked by a lingering societal and regulatory hangover. The single greatest obstacle to the industrial hemp revolution is a massive misunderstanding of what this plant actually is. To move forward, we must clearly delineate between the high-volume industrial agricultural markets we serve and the highly publicized cannabinoid sector. We, as Americans, must not repeat the same mistakes of the past. Instead we should demand smart, thoughtful policy from lawmakers that represent a clear understanding of hemp's benefits to our country.

Industrial hemp grain and fiber are traditional row crops, plain and simple. When you drive past a field of industrial hemp, you are looking at a field that functions like a Kansas wheat or Missouri corn field. We plant thousands of seeds close together per acre, encouraging the plants to shoot straight up into towering, thin stalks that maximize high-protein grain production and strong fibers. It is harvested with the exact same conventional combines our family farms already own, and it is processed in bulk industrial facilities—like our hub in Augusta—to enter domestic supply chains that range from livestock feed to biodegradable boxes.

Feature / Trait	Industrial Grain & Fiber Crops	Cannabinoid Products (CBD/THC)
Planting Method	High-density row cropping (planted like wheat or soy)	Wide-spaced orchards (cultivated like tobacco or tomatoes)
Primary Harvest	High-tensile stalks and nutrient-dense seed heads	Resin-heavy floral heads and unpollinated buds
Equipment Used	Standard grain drills and conventional combines	Labor intense hand harvesting or specialized machinery
End Market	Bioplastics, automotive parts, equine bedding, grain feed	Tinctures, topicals, edibles, and pharmaceuticals
Sourcing Goal	Bulk manufacturing inputs to replace synthetic materials	Extraction of volatile active chemical compounds

The quest for hemp freedom continues because the regulatory framework hasn't fully caught up to this agricultural reality. Treating an industrial bio-input that replaces plastic or carbon fiber with the same bureaucratic scrutiny as a highly processed retail supplement stifles local manufacturing and burdens our family farms.

True freedom for this crop means allowing it to behave like the commodity it is—traded openly, processed locally and grown freely. At Midwest Hemp Technology, we are proud to stand on the front lines of this effort along with an incredible group of peers in the industry. Rebuilding the domestic hemp infrastructure that returns this foundational asset to its rightful place in American agriculture, and ensures a more prosperous, independent future for the next generation, requires all of us to understand and support hemp.

Here's the next 250 years, America! May they be full of peace, love and hemp!

#America250