18-Greenhouse Hemp Farm Opening in Eastern Arizona

One Under Farms will soon be growing hemp in St. Johns, Arizona, a town near the border of New Mexico. The farm plans to hire 30 full-time employees by Dec 1, 2019.

The company says it has plans to build at least 18 greenhouses, WMIcentral reports. The industrial hemp plants will be grown for extraction purposes to make CBD tinctures and topicals.

By spring, One Under Farms expects to grow its staff to 75. There are no pre-requisites, but those with prior agricultural experience are preferred. The company did not provide how or when they will be holding job interviews.

St. Johns’ City Manager, Paul Ramsey, said, “There is a positive outlook on hemp in St. Johns, just for the fact that it produces jobs. It goes back to an agricultural base that this community was established on. I hate to speak for the council, but I would say that the majority are behind it and desire to see some new industry developed here in our community.”

State officials will inspect the plants during their growth cycle to ensure that they are not testing above 0.3% THC. The visits will be random and unscheduled. Plants, according to some new USDA regulations, have to be tested at least 15 days before harvest.

“It’s not pot,” said One Under Farms. “All industrial hemp has a small amount of THC in it. Studies have shown that there’s no psychoactive effect with THC until you reach two full percentage points (2%). So, our federal 0.3% [limit] is significantly lower than what we would ever experience to have a psychoactive effect.”

Photo: SBSO via AP