A western Kentucky business is bringing industrial hemp to market.
Kentucky Hemp Works has opened a processing facility in Christian County. Owner Katie Moyer says the small, family-run business is taking hemp seed and turning it into oil that can be used in a number of products, including salves and lip balms.
"Quite frankly, a lot of farmers aren't going to want to put seeds in the ground if they don't think there's a market for it," Moyer told WKU Public Radio. "We need to develop those markets and show farmers and elected officials that there is a market for these things."
According to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, the state has 35 processors participating in a pilot program allowed under the federal farm bill. Kentucky Hemp Works is the first to locate in western Kentucky.
Kentucky began growing hemp in 2014 for research purposes after a decades-long federal ban.
