West Virginia Department of Agriculture

1900 Kanawha Blvd. East

Charleston WV 25305

Standard Agriculture Ltd.

STAG

Don Smith II

COMMENTS CONCERNING PROPOSED RULES FOR

AGRICULTURAL HEMP

Commissioner,

I have developed Standard Agriculture Ltd. – STAG - to provide sales and services to alternative agricultural crops and their associated industries in West Virginia. Industrial Agricultural Hemp and Bamboo are my specialties. Over the years, I have compiled a great amount of research and have performed my own experiments with tissue cultured test plots of bamboo.

I have lectured the philosophy of starting this business with the concept of imagining a completely satisfied and loyal customer, and then reverse engineering the policies all the way back through the mills, factories, refineries and other associated businesses, then back through the largest farms, plantations, and on back to the smallest garden plot.

To successfully develop the “farm to the fork” operations envisioned, millions of dollars of capital will need to be raised to reopen shuttered industrial locations and to open new facilities. Capital will flow to where it’s treated nicely. The financiers I have dealt with are interested, but only if they have a high degree of “certainty” that their investments will be protected. Of course, this same principal applies to the farmers and plantation operators.

There are many opportunities that present themselves. We can develop Agricultural Hemp Industries very quickly if we work towards a goal of providing that “certainty” to all parties and develop a cooperative environment that will foster a new prosperity in West Virginia.

Industrial Agricultural Hemp may provide the raw natural resource needed to begin America’s Second Industrial Revolution.

At this time, the current legislation and these rules make raising the capital necessary to develop these new industries, completely impossible to generate.

For now and until new and business friendly legislation is developed, I will offer the following commentary on the proposed rules …

3.2.h and all of 5.1.c – 5.6.b - I fail to see the necessity – as I see it, if a person has repaid their debt to society and choose agriculture as their vocation, then society has succeeded in reforming a criminal – further punishment and exclusion from a legal activity and vocation is draconian …

7.1 - I fail to see the necessity – as a matter of fact, this is the wrong way to proceed due to several factors – One, every other exclusionary zone for alcohol, gambling, and other vices is 1000 feet, not a mile. Two - As hemp seeds are scientifically proven to be one of the “PERFECT FOODS”, providing all essential amino acids, every attempt should be made to bring it into the classroom, school gardens, and other youth agricultural enterprises. As this legislation dictates research under University Auspices, there will obviously be many youth involved in research. Three - Approved cultivars of Industrial Agricultural Hemp are NOT the plant that gets one intoxicated. This rule implies that it is some form of high potency marijuana. The youth and students of West Virginia are our future farmers and industrialists. They are the ones who will be taking over this new/old enterprise and enjoying the prosperity it brings, far into the future.

7.2 – I fail to see the necessity – this rule implies we are dealing with a dangerous substance, which is not the case. The security of the storage of Industrial Hemp should be at the discretion of the farmer, operator, or industrialist, just as it is with any other crop.

7.3 – Ornamental Industrial Hemp Plants should be encouraged. They pose no threat.

9.1 through 9.5 – I would reconsider this entire section of the rules. Illegal marijuana production throughout West Virginia is prolific and our number one cash crop. Therefore, it is conceivable, cross - pollination could occur. If a registered farmer had a registered cultivar that had suffered this cross – pollination, it would seem quite draconian and ruinous to suspend and revoke that farm’s registration. This only takes away from the “certainty” I had mentioned earlier. Perhaps we can conceive other “QULITY ASSURANCE” measures that will make allowances and possibly provide regulated markets for crops that exceed the THC limits …

61-29 – 12 FEES – I would recommend a complete reevaluation of the fee structure. At this rate, only millionaire farmers and plantation operators could grow Industrial Hemp with these fees. As I had mentioned earlier, Hemp Seeds are a perfect food. If a citizen of West Virginia should choose to grow a small plot of Industrial Hemp for their own larder, they should not have to pay such exorbitant fees. Likewise, should a cooperative of small farmers decide to grow Industrial Hemp, accommodations should be made to provide them with a cost competitive fee structure that will be fair. Perhaps a sliding scale of fees would be far wiser. For example, sliding scale fees based on meters, hectares, square footage, or other measures that accommodate small plot production would be preferable.

This would foster small farm production and self - sufficiency. American history is full of stories of how small time operations soon develop into economic power - houses. Every effort must be made to insure everyone who is involved with Industrial Hemp operations are not faced with cost prohibitive and unfair fees.

OTHER RULES TO CONSIDER:

GMO Industrial Hemp Production.

With the advent of GMO crop production, a whole series of unintended, unplanned, and unmanageable consequences have occurred and ruined the production capacities and businesses of many farmers who do not use GMO plants. This is another example of the effects of cross – pollination having detrimental effects on approved Industrial Hemp Cultivars. Yet, GMO crops are a viable business and it can be assumed some farmers and plantation operators will proceed with their GMO crop operations. Therefore, it would seem wise to restrict GMO Industrial Hemp production to enclosed, indoor, and adequately filtered production facilities. This is apparently the only means to insure the purity and viability of the Certified Industrial Hemp Cultivars we will be using.

Seed Savers.

Saving one’s seeds is one of the oldest and wisest methods of developing and maintaining a hardy stock of plants. This age old method of agriculture is wise and provides a natural self - sufficiency. There are those of us now, who are searching for the old cultivars, that grow wild in West Virginia to this day, that could be possibly traced back to the same cultivars that were grown by Washington, Jefferson, and Adams. Every effort must be made to insure the farmers who choose to practice this method of agriculture are protected from undue and malicious legalities.

Certifying Carbon Sequestration Rates.

The EPA is now allowing States to establish rates for carbon cap and trade. This offers West Virginia a potential opportunity to allow for a more responsible and palatable carbon fuels industry and provide Industrial Hemp Growers another source of income. The going carbon rate and proposed tax levels are at $20.00 per ton. My research shows, for every one ton of Industrial Hemp harvested, 1.67 tons of carbon is sequestered back into the ground. That potentially equates to an additional value of $33.40 per ton of Industrial Hemp, minus fees. This carbon sequestration industry is a whole new opportunity as new financial markets and exchanges can be developed right here in West Virginia. It is a win – win opportunity for our fossil fuels industry and the Industrial Hemp Planters. In essence, we are paid to put carbon into the atmosphere and we are paid to remove carbon from the atmosphere. A complete and scientific examination of this opportunity should be started immediately and appropriate rules and policies should be developed.

Using Industrial Hemp as a “MOP CROP”.

Across the world where people are FREE to use Industrial Hemp, it is being effectively used as a “Mop Crop”. Industrial Hemp is a “hyper accumulator”. This means it will take up and metabolize many pollutants, which are currently running straight into our West Virginia waterways. In areas of West Virginia that are adversely affected by pollutants, Industrial Hemp can be used as a natural pollution abatement system. Pollution hot spots from municipalities, industrial sites, mines, drilling operations, chemical plants, waste - water treatment facilities, farm – feedlot – field – poultry runoff, and a whole host of other contaminating facilities could benefit from the phytoremediation properties of Industrial Hemp. This represents a cost effective and natural means of controlling one of the worst threats to our economy and humanity. A complete and scientific examination of this opportunity should be started immediately and appropriate rules and policies should be developed.

In closing, I will say we have been given an opportunity to prosper, redevelop, and to reengage in an industry that is thousands of years old. This Cannabis Prohibition is proving to be the most unwise and ruinous public policy in American History. Hemp has a revered place in our lives and the thought of having it criminalized and demonized is counterproductive. I recommend we proceed with a heightened sense of urgency to quickly normalize all aspects of the Industrial Hemp Industry. We are in a unique location, we have the manufacturing infrastructure, and we have the need to revitalize our State’s economy as quickly as possible. Industrial Hemp can play a big part in West Virginia’s future. Other State’s are proceeding with their Industrial Hemp tests and some are even proceeding with actual production. At this time, with these new efforts underway, we can write and develop the BEST INDUSTRIAL HEMP POLICIES and bring about the BEST INDUSTRIAL HEMP OPERATIONS IN THE WORLD.

If I can be of any service, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.

Regards,

Don Smith II