HAZEL GREEN, Ala. — Some fascinating research is being done at the Winfred Thomas Agricultural Research Station of Alabama A&M University and it has to do with hemp plants - but it's not being grown and used for what you might think.
We often hear about how hemp plants can be used as a more natural medical treatment. But what about the fact that it can help build houses and make things like toilet paper?
Well here at the university's research station, Dr. Ernst Cebert, who manages the property and who is a big part of this project, says growing these plants is all about expanding a portfolio for farmers and the industry.
"This crop behind me is not for medical purposes, it's not for CBD purposes. It's strictly for industrial to be able to make fibers, for clothing, to be able to use the hurd fiber for building houses," Dr. Cebert said.
Their research shows farmers that this kind of plant can be grown and processed here and it's sustainable.
This plant is a weed in the sense that it will grow regardless of the environment, only really needing water or some rainfall.
Dr. Cebert adds that, "this is a crop that does not require any kind of inputs for pesticide."
It also grows really fast, as Dr. Cebert shows a tall crop that's only two months old.
When the plant is ready to be harvested for fiber, it goes through a process called "retting" where it's cut, then rots in the field, and, "will begin to separate itself from the core fiber. That's the hurd. And that happens naturally with micro-organisms in the soil on the ground. Then eventually the whole material that's cut will be baled just like a round bale of hay."
Right now the materials here are sent to Montgomery where two streams of fiber are created:
"A bast fiber for clothing, that would go to Patagonia, that would go to Columbia [Sportswear], those type of companies. And then the hurd fiber will actually come back here in Huntsville to go to a local developer who's going to begin the process of building houses with hemp products," Dr. Cebert said.
That local developer is Hyde Homes and not only is this research at AAMU expanding knowledge for farmers and the industry, it's also helping out the Federal Government.
"By testing new genetic lines of hemp. So the USDA and the Federal Government can replenish their stock of genetics of hemp," Dr. Cebert said.
The 2018 Farm Bill opened the door for researchers and farmers to grow hemp but you must have a permit to do it. And the plants can't contain more than .3% THC.
Dr. Cebert explains, "our work here is very, very crucial for the rebounding of hemp, at least the scientific part of it here in the United States."
And through their industrial hemp research they're beginning the process, " to let local farmers, local builders, manufacturers, the auto industry, all these people to know that this product has a future in their world."
FOX54 plans to do more coverage in the future on the research that they're doing here at AAMU.