Prices collapsed because of an oversupply on the market.
Shaun Chornobroff of the South Carolina Daily Gazette
Thomas Garrison is a farmer from Anderson County who has been farming for several generations. He said that he believes the hype surrounding hemp.
Garrison has farmed in Pendelton, South Carolina, since 1980 when he graduated from Clemson. He was part of the group that pushed to pass a law in 2017 that allows farmers in that state to cultivate hemp. It’s a similar plant species, but it doesn’t contain the THC which gets you high.
He abandoned hemp after only two seasons, despite being a pioneer in the state. In 2020, he didn’t bother to apply for a hemp permit. Garrison said to the SC Daily Gazette that his hemp venture was the most disastrous in 45 years of farming.
Garrison’s son, 67, who is the son of late State Sen. T. Ed Garrison (namesake of Clemson’s livestock arena) estimates that the risk cost him over $100,000, in crops not harvested, equipment, and wasted time. He refused to say how much money he had lost.
It was a bad experience, he told me.
Hemp had been predicted to be the new moneymaker in South Carolina. The farmhands were eager to jump on the opportunity as soon as they could.
Garrison was not the only one to suffer similar tragedies.
Farmer and legislators have described hemp as an industry in which the supply has outweighed the market demand. This led many farmers to abandon the plant.
Garrison told The SC Daily Gazette that it was “like the Wild West”
The 20-to-265 Club
The state pilot program granted 20 hemp farmers a permit after the law was passed in 2017. Each farmer could grow hemp for a maximum of 20 acres. The state denied more than 100 applications. Danny Ford, Clemson’s first football coach to win a national championship, and Chip Limehouse, a former Republican state representative, were among the 20.
A pilot program established by law in 2017 allowed for an increase to 40 farming permits of 40 acres per permit.
In March 2019, the Legislature, in response to the federal Farm Bill of 2018, which legalized this crop across the country, passed a new law that removed the restrictions and permitted the Department of Agriculture of California to grant licenses to farmers who meet the legal requirements.
In the end, only 161 licenses were granted for 2019. In 2020, this number will increase to 265.
This year the number of permits has dropped to just 80.
There is no way to know how many farmers of these 80 actually grow hemp. Some of these farmers are going through the licensing process, which involves background checks and costs around $600. However, they don’t grow hemp. But they’re keeping all their options available.
The arrest in 2019 of Lowcountry Farmer John Trenton Pendarvis could have been one factor that affected the desire to plant the crop.
The law enforcement said that his hemp fields in Harleyville, Virginia were not registered and cut them down on the same day.
Pendarvis was the first to be accused of violating the hemp law in the state. Pendarvis filed a complaint against the State Law Enforcement Division. This included SLED Chief Mark Keel acting as his representative, Attorney General Alan Wilson among others.
SLED was forced in 2023 to pay Pendarvis more than $11,000 for the discovery process of its lawsuit. The allegations were denied by a SLED spokesperson at the time.
Brad Hutto (state senator and Pendarvis lawyer) said that the mess might have discouraged farmers from committing crimes, if they were afraid of being targeted.
Hutto’s (D-Orangeburg), told SC Daily Gazette, “It definitely did have a chilling impact.” They put a grower in jail for growing a legal plant.
This case continues. Hutto expects a resolution to take place at the very least in late summer.
As soon as South Carolina allowed farmers to cultivate hemp, both lawmakers and farmers believed they would be able to cash in on this next major cash crop.
Many farmers are able to make money with a particular crop. Hemp is a versatile crop that can be grown all year round for many different purposes, such as clothing, food and textiles.
House Majority Davey Hiott said the laws were passed to encourage hemp growth to help farmers continue to make money even when they could not produce their main crops.
Pickens Republican: “It should have helped them earn a small amount of money.”
Hiott wanted farmers to capitalize on industrial hemp uses, like clothing. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2017, Pickens County had 740 farms.
The story began in this way. Hiott stated that it didn’t finish this way.
David Dewitt is an agronomist from Clemson university. He said that “what people want to change their mind about” is the state of their minds.
CBD Problems
The 2014 legislative session passed a bill legalizing CBD or cannabidiol. This hemp-derived oil is non-psychoactive and used to treat various illnesses. This state law, however, was extremely limited and only authorized it for severe epilepsy patients.
The farmers saw an opening after the new federal law in 2018 broadened legality. The majority of hemp farmers in California wanted to get in.
Farmers told The Gazette that this is when the problems began.
James Fairey from Williamston is a 50 year old man who started to grow hemp in the State’s maximum number of permits, 2020.
He continued to expand even after other companies left the business. In 2024, after four years of losses, he turned a profit. The gradual growth of his customer base, and the willingness to keep learning along the journey are credited with turning around his fortunes.
According to him, the main difference between his and many other hemp growers was that he began growing it because he believed in CBD’s ability to relieve pain. The money came second.
Fairey claimed that “the only things that are important in life are kindness and health.”
DeWitt explained that the first time hemp was grown, biomass materials used to produce CBD were sold up to $60 per pound. Farmers were then offered $5 per pound a couple of years after that.
DeWitt stated that “nobody would want to produce something they couldn’t sell.”
If the market shifts, farmers with licenses who have been sitting out of the field may want to jump in again.
Dewitt explained that “some of the people who haven’t planted anything at all are not penalized for it.”
Other early hemp growers included Cannalina Hemp Company, formerly known as Charleston Hemp Company.
In 2018, the company began growing its own hemp and operating a retail store.
The decision to cease crop production in 2020 was taken.
Lina Wu is the owner of this company. She said that there was a glut on the market and prices fell.
But there is still money to made by selling CBD gummies.
Goose Creek’s retail store of the Cannalina Hemp Company is up and running. According to the company’s Facebook page, it has a large customer base and buys hemp from many South Carolina growers. It also prides itself in offering quality products for an affordable price.
Wu pointed out that “there are a lot of products cheaper, especially at gas stations.”
Wu responded that it was too early to return the company to the cultivation of its own hemp.
She said, “There are too many producers on the market.”
Kurt Brower is the co-owner and partner of Carolina Botanicals. After losing around $200,000 on his business, Kurt Brower echoes a similar sentiment. He said that although the company has a hemp licence, growing hemp is not economically viable at this time.
Brower’s focus is now primarily on converting biomass from farmers to products that they can then sell.
He said that he used to buy hemp from South Carolina’s farmers. However, as their numbers have decreased, he has had no choice but to purchase from Georgian and North Carolina farmers.
Farmers have no way to sell hemp, according to him. It put growers in a “chokehold”.
Next steps
Hiott said that hemp was no longer on the radar of Hiott.
Eva Moore is a spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture of Washington State. She said that recruiting farmers to grow hemp was not a big problem. Farmers are usually interested in this crop. A shift away from CBD and towards hemp fibers or grains would create new opportunities for the economy.
Moore has been hearing reports from processors that they are still holding onto hemp bought back in 2022.
Moore says that “the market hasn’t been good for farmers.” Moore said that farmers must be able make money, whether they are growing hemp, cotton or peaches.
South Carolina Daily Gazette was the first to publish this article.
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Side Pocket Images. Image courtesy Chris Wallis.