Recently I wrote how we are all too often our own worst enemies. See Rural Wealth Creation – Part I.
It wasn’t always this way. It was “Democratic Socialist” policies, rooted in The New Deal, that gave rural America the foundation upon which we built our network of thriving agriculturally-based communities.
Now, as we start our New Year, I believe this New Year! … 2023 … is a perfect time to consider more new thinking.
Colorado’s Amendment 64 results: majority “Yes” = green
Old lies die hard, none more complex than our eight-decade relationship with Prohibition, Nixon’s preposterous War on Drugs, and the perpetuation of industrial hemp as a scheduled drug under the Controlled Substances Act.
Colorado became the first unit of government in the world to end Prohibition. Soon after, it was dubbed “The Great Social Experiment” by then-Gov John Hickenlooper. The “Great Social Experiment” was Prohibition, failing miserably under any plausible metric. It took the leadership of a majority-informed electorate and an army of passionate advocates to unwind this long-standing federal law.
We’re not there yet, but in the journey to full US legalization (which we’ve accomplished with industrial hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill), many great things have happened: Colorado has been the #1 state in industrial hemp development since its conditional legalization in the 2014 Farm Bill (thanks exclusively to the work of then-Congressman Polis), and we’ve managed to develop a regulated marijuana market that has generated over $10 billion in sales.
Congressman Polis introduced the hemp amendment to the 2014 Farm Bill with a US flag made from hemp in hand. As a review, USDA has a good section about industrial hemp on its website.
The passage of Amendment 64 revealed yet another disconnect in rural Colorado: even though the amendment included the constitutional right for every farmer to grow a new crop — industrial hemp, a crop that may well be a valuable transition crop from high-impact irrigated crops like corn and alfalfa being grown over the aquifer, we sent a resounding message via our ballot to Denver: Hell No! This is despite the fact that many Coloradoans wear jeans and sweaters made from industrial hemp every day. Where does the hemp in these fabrics grow … oops! Not here. Think Europe.
Marijuana aside (the ballot initiative gave every local government unit the right to ban grow houses and sales), even industrial hemp had its foes in the hinterlands. Often referred to as the dreaded ‘gateway,’ the ‘slippery slope to marijuana.’ What is factual in Colorado’s case is that it has been a gateway to bringing young entrepreneurs to our communities, a slippery slope from corn to something more sustainable – and profitable.
Where do we go from here?
US Hemp forecast: 2020 – 2025
No single initiative or crop will be our silver bullet; 21st-century agriculture will be more diversified, driven by new technology and global markets. Will Colorado agriculture choose to lead or wait for early movers to define the marketplace and rules of engagement? Can we think big, like the Netherlands? A country smaller than Vermont that is the second-largest ag exporter in the world? Will we conclude that a robust livestock industry can thrive alongside the global opportunities in plant proteins? Can we embrace the idea that the very people we describe as our enemies are also our potential customers?
If we’re going to be serious about building rural wealth, we must think differently. We must change the narrative. Building rural wealth isn’t just about money; it’s also making sure we’ve built rural communities that thrive in social, civic, health care, and educational endeavors. Our public schools must be the best! Let’s build bridges from the outreaches of our prairies and western slope to the Gold Dome; let’s create an eco-system that allows us to leverage the entirety of our resources – human, natural, and financial – into a robust rural Colorado.
We don’t lack resources; we lack imagination.
To quote Steve Jobs, we must “Think Different” this time.