Hemp has been grown in America since the 1600s. It was a colonial cash crop, a strategic wartime fiber, and then, for most of the 20th century, illegal. The 2018 Farm Bill brought it back. Today, hemp farming is a real American agriculture sector again, with USDA-certified organic farms in states from Kentucky to Oregon producing flower, fiber, and grain.
This is the story of how hemp farming got here, what it looks like in 2026, and how a farm-direct CBD hemp farm actually operates.
The Colonial Roots of Hemp Farming in America
The first hemp seeds planted in the American colonies arrived in Jamestown in 1611. Within a few decades, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut required farmers to grow it. Hemp made rope, sails, paper, and clothing, and the colonies depended on those imports from Britain. Growing it locally was a strategic call.
George Washington grew hemp at Mount Vernon. Thomas Jefferson grew it at Monticello. The Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper, and the sails of the USS Constitution were woven from hemp fiber. For roughly 250 years, hemp was a normal American row crop, no more controversial than wheat or flax.
Kentucky became the country's leading hemp-producing state by the mid-1800s. Limestone-rich soil and a long growing season made the Bluegrass region one of the best places in the world to grow it. By 1860, Kentucky was producing more than half of all American hemp.
Hemp's 20th-Century Prohibition and Road Back
The Controlled Substances Act and Hemp's Decline
Hemp's legal trouble started with the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. The law lumped industrial hemp together with marijuana even though they're the same species (Cannabis sativa) grown for completely different purposes. Hemp acreage cratered.
A brief revival came during World War II. The USDA's "Hemp for Victory" program in 1942 paid American farmers to grow hemp for rope, parachute webbing, and naval cordage when supplies from the Philippines were cut off. That program ended after the war.
Then came the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. It scheduled all cannabis as a Schedule I controlled substance, with no distinction between hemp and marijuana. For the next 44 years, you couldn't legally grow a hemp crop in the United States no matter how low its THC.
The 2014 Farm Bill: Hemp Research Pilot Programs
Section 7606 of the 2014 Farm Bill cracked the door open. It allowed state departments of agriculture and universities to grow hemp for research under "Industrial Hemp Pilot Programs." Kentucky moved fast. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture, working with the University of Kentucky, was one of the first in the country to license farmers under the pilot program.
That's when the modern Kentucky hemp industry started. By 2018, the state had hundreds of licensed pilot growers and a real working supply chain.
The 2018 Farm Bill: Legal Hemp Returns
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the "2018 Farm Bill") removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act entirely. It defined hemp as cannabis with no more than 0.3% Delta-9 THC by dry weight, and it made hemp a federally legal agricultural commodity.
That single threshold, 0.3% Delta-9 THC, is the line between hemp and marijuana under federal law. Every legal hemp crop in the United States has to test below it. Every batch we ship at Wholesale Hemp Farms is third-party tested and Farm Bill compliant. (You can read the farm bill compliance page for the regulatory specifics.)
Hemp Farming in America Today
Where Hemp Grows Best in the United States
Hemp grows in most of the country, but it grows best in places with long warm summers and well-drained soil. Kentucky, Oregon, Colorado, Tennessee, and North Carolina are the largest producing states for CBD hemp. Industrial hemp for fiber and grain is more common across the Upper Midwest, Montana, and the Dakotas.
Each state runs its own hemp program under USDA oversight. Farmers register with their state department of agriculture, pay licensing fees, and submit to pre-harvest THC testing. If a crop tests above 0.3% Delta-9, it has to be destroyed.
Kentucky: America's Hemp Farming Capital
Kentucky's the historical hemp capital of the country, and it's reclaimed that role since 2014. The combination of climate, soil, and farming culture is hard to beat. Limestone soil and warm humid summers grow good hemp, and Kentucky farmers already knew tobacco, corn, and tall row crops, so the agronomy translated naturally.
Wilmore is in the heart of that region, in Jessamine County, just south of Lexington. The Bluegrass soil here is the same soil that grew the country's first big hemp crops in the 1800s.
USDA Organic Certification for Hemp Farms
USDA Organic certification is a federal audit. To grow USDA Organic hemp products, a farm has to keep three years of clean field history (no synthetic pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers, no prohibited inputs), document every input applied to the soil, undergo annual on-farm inspection by an accredited certifier, and maintain a written organic system plan.
It's expensive and slow. Most hemp acreage in the country isn't certified organic, partly because the certification cost runs thousands of dollars per year and the audit process is rigorous. Farms that carry the seal earn it.
Types of Hemp Crops: CBD Hemp vs. Industrial Hemp
CBD Hemp Flower
CBD hemp is grown for its flowers. The plants are female-only (males get culled or never planted), spaced wide apart for airflow, and grown more like a horticultural crop than a row crop. The goal is high cannabinoid content (CBD, CBG, CBN, CBC) and full terpene expression. A single high-quality CBD hemp plant can produce one to two pounds of dried, trimmed flower.
This is what we grow. CBD hemp flower for smokable flower, pre-rolls, and extract.
Fiber and Grain Hemp
Industrial hemp is a different program. Fiber hemp is planted dense, allowed to grow tall (10 feet or more), and harvested for stalk fiber that goes into textiles, building materials (hempcrete), bioplastics, and paper. Grain hemp is grown for hemp seed, which presses into oil and protein powder.
Industrial hemp is a row crop. CBD hemp is a horticultural crop. Different equipment, different plant counts per acre, different harvest methods, different end markets.
Why the Distinction Matters for Buyers
If you're buying CBD hemp flower, you want a farm that grows for flower quality. Fiber farms can't produce smokable flower. Grain farms aren't set up for it either. The agronomy is different from the ground up.
When a brand sells smokable hemp without owning the farm, that flower came from somewhere. Asking who grew it, where, and how is fair.
How Hemp Is Grown: A Season on the Farm
Soil Preparation and Seeding
Soil prep starts in early spring. We test soil for nutrients, pH, and organic matter. Hemp likes well-drained loam with a pH between 6 and 7, and it's a heavy feeder, especially for nitrogen. Cover crops planted the previous fall get tilled in to add organic matter.
Seedlings or clones go in the ground in late May or early June, after the last frost. Spacing depends on what we're growing. CBD hemp gets planted at four to six feet between plants for full canopy development.
Growing Season and Care
A hemp plant takes about 100 to 120 days from transplant to harvest. The vegetative phase runs through July. Around mid-August, the plants enter flower as day length shortens, and that's when the cannabinoid and terpene content really develops.
Care during the season is hand-work. Scouting for pests (especially corn earworms and budworms), pulling male plants the moment they show, foliar feeding when needed, and managing irrigation. Organic farms can't use synthetic pesticides, so we lean on beneficial insects, neem, and good airflow.
Harvest and Processing
Harvest in Kentucky usually runs late September into October. Each plant gets cut by hand, hung whole in a climate-controlled barn, and slow-dried for 10 to 14 days. Slow drying preserves terpenes and prevents the harsh, hay-like smell that comes from rushed flower.
After drying, the flower gets bucked off the stems, hand-trimmed for bag appeal, and cured in glass or sealed containers for two to four weeks before it ships. Every batch is sent to a third-party lab for cannabinoid potency, pesticides, heavy metals, and microbials. The COA goes online before the batch ships. (Ours are on the hemp lab results page.)
Wholesale Hemp Farms: A Kentucky Hemp Farm Story
Family-Owned, USDA Organic, Farm-Direct Since 2018
Wholesale Hemp Farms started in 2018, the same year the Farm Bill made hemp federally legal. We're a family-owned, USDA Organic, licensed Kentucky hemp farm. We grow our own flower, lab-test it, package it, and ship it. There's no broker between our field and your door.
That's what farm-direct means here. We're the farm. We grow the flower we sell.
Why We Grow in Wilmore, Kentucky
We grow in Wilmore because Bluegrass soil and a long Kentucky summer produce better flower than we could grow anywhere else. Jessamine County has a long agricultural tradition, hemp included, and it's a quiet stretch of farmland where the work can stay focused on the crop.
Our Live Farm Camera and Seed-to-Shipment Process
We run a live farm camera so anyone can see the field. It's pointed at one of our hemp blocks during the growing season. You can watch the plants grow, watch the harvest, watch the work. We did it because hemp customers ask, fairly, where their flower comes from. The camera answers it.
Every step from seed to shipment happens on or close to the farm. We grow it, we cut it, we dry it, we cure it, we trim it, we test it, we pack it, and we ship it. You can read more on the about our Kentucky hemp farm page.
Buying Direct from an American Hemp Farm
Most CBD on store shelves comes through three or four hands before it reaches you: a contract grower, an extractor, a private-label manufacturer, and a brand. Buying direct from a working farm cuts that chain to one. The price is lower, the freshness is better, and the COAs come from one source you can verify.
When you order from us, the same farmers who grew the crop are the ones answering your email. Real farmers, real hemp.
Disclaimer: All products contain less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis and are compliant with the 2018 US Farm Bill, or products sold on this site contain 0% THC. All our hemp derived products are U.S. grown non-intoxicating cannabinoids.
FDA Disclaimer: The statements made regarding these products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The efficacy of these products has not been confirmed by FDA-approved research. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. These products should not be used if you are pregnant or nursing. No statements are offering medical advice. Please consult a healthcare professional before use of any of our products.
