CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) -
More than 100 South Carolina farmers have applied for permits to grow hemp.
The South Carolina Department of Agriculture will select 40 farmers to receive industrial hemp permits.
These permits will allow farmers to grow up to 40 acres of hemp.
According to the SCDA’s communications director, the department received 133 applications and is expecting additional applications that were postmarked by last Friday’s deadline.
During the program’s pilot year in 2018, 20 farmers were picked to grow up to 20 acres of hemp, including two with land in Charleston County.
Hemp can be used to make products including rope, clothes, food, paper, textiles, plastics, insulation and biofuel, according to the SCDA.
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