The Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative Association is a member-owned corporation providing assistance, information, and resources to partner-members endeavoring to produce or sell industrial hemp.
Incorporated in 1994, the Cooperative seeks to uphold a tradition of legal and profitable hemp production in Kentucky. The original Kentucky hemp cooperative association, organized during WWII, produced high-quality industrial hemp for vital military stores, including oil, textiles, and cordage for naval vehicles and airplanes. After the Allied victory in 1945, loosely applied federal anti-Cannabis laws targeting marijuana abusers contributed to the rapid decline of America’s industrial hemp industry. The first iteration of the Kentucky hemp growers association disbanded soon after the war.
Burgeoning national and international markets for industrial hemp spurred the re-formation and re-incorporation of the Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative Association in the 90s.
The Cooperative strongly believes that federal laws prohibiting the cultivation of industrial hemp are an economic and environmental hindrance; were the American government to adopt and implement a program permitting legal hemp to be grown from Certified Seeds containing negligible amounts of THC, farm and rural economies in Kentucky would benefit directly. That is why the Cooperative seeks to establish, stabilize, and maintain a legal and equitable market for industrial hemp in the U.S.
The Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative Association is organized for agricultural purposes and economic enrichment as follows: to increase the income of Kentucky farmers through the foundation of programs establishing the production and marketing of high quality industrial fiber hemp and hemp seed; to provide members with the approved Certified hemp seed varieties for specific contract applications; to increase the quality and quantity of industrial hemp and hemp seed available through the Cooperative; to collect and disseminate technological and economic information relating to the production of industrial hemp; to implement a quality control program for industrial hemp and hemp seed in Kentucky; to promote the profitable use of hemp as a primary resource in the production of food, fuel, fiber, and pulp; to cooperate with other associations and organizations promoting the production and marketing of true Kentucky hemp; to insure all membership abides by state and federal guidelines for the production and marketing of legal industrial hemp.