Why is Kentucky Cannabis So Good?

Kentucky blue grass cannabis

Hemp-derived CBD products are everywhere these days. To fill that demand, hemp is being grown in nearly every state and territory. The top three states for growing hemp are Colorado, Oregon, and Kentucky. That’s an odd group — Colorado and Oregon are both legal marijuana states in the western US. But what does Kentucky have in common with them?

Despite being a conservative state with no legal marijuana programs, CBD companies from all around America like to brag that they source their CBD oil from Kentucky hemp. So what’s the big deal about hemp from Kentucky? What makes Kentucky CBD oil so special?

In a lot of ways, the answer to these questions is the same as “Why is Kentucky bourbon the best whiskey?” There’s just something about Kentucky that makes cannabis feel at home. But it’s not just one thing that makes Kentucky hemp unique. Here are all the reasons why Kentucky cannabis makes the best CBD oil in America.

Bourbon, Horses & Cannabis

Kentucky bourbon is the best whiskey in the world because the soil, the water, the sun, and the seasonal cycle of heat and cold helps the bourbon age through Kentucky’s hot summers and cold winters. Kentucky hemp is grown in that same soil and the same limestone-filtered water.

Kentucky is also known for its race horses, and for similar reasons. Kentucky horses drink from that same mineral-rich water and eat grasses grown in the same soil. Because of that, many think that they build stronger bones that gives them an advantage to horses from other regions. There’s just something about Kentucky’s climate that makes superior agricultural products, like CBD oil.

Some places are just special and produce a product that’s better than everywhere else: cigars from Cuba, wine from Napa Valley, — and Kentucky for bourbon, horses, and hemp.

The Perfect Parallel

But there is another key reason that Kentucky hemp-derived CBD oil is superior. Kentucky’s hemp farms are situated along the 37th parallel. On the other side of the world, the same latitude line runs through the Hindu Kush mountains. The Hindu Kush is a rugged, rocky region at the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where all indica strains of cannabis originated.

That means that Kentucky’s light cycles are same as those in the Hindu Kush, which makes them perfect for cannabis. But while the Hindu Kush is rugged and barren, Kentucky hemp farms are one of the world’s most welcoming agricultural microclimates. That begins to explain why so many CBD brands claim that Kentucky is the home of their hemp crop. But that’s still not the only reason why Kentucky hemp is so special.

Generations of Experience

Kentucky farmers have been growing hemp since at least 1775, when the first recorded hemp crop was planted. That means Kentucky has been growing hemp since before the Revolutionary War. Historically, Kentucky’s hemp was used for textiles, paper, and rope. It was a major cash crop for Kentucky through the 19th century.

By the turn of the 20th century, the Kentucky hemp economy began to decline. But Kentucky farmers kept growing hemp until the federal government banned it in 1937. With the start of World War II, the U.S. Navy was in great need of hemp rope, and the “Hemp for Victory” movement briefly re-legalized hemp cultivation in Kentucky.

At the conclusion of WWII, the government re-imposed prohibition. That forced Kentucky farmers to stop cultivating hemp for good. But the hemp itself never stopped growing wild in fence lines. Fathers would point at the jagged leafed plant and tell their sons how they grew hemp during World War II.

The Cornbread Mafia

During the Vietnam War, the next generation of Kentucky men went to fight overseas, and they discovered how much money other service members were willing to pay for illegal cannabis. These Vietnam veterans returned to Kentucky and began cultivating illegal cannabis on a large scale, keeping Kentucky cannabis traditions alive.

When federal law enforcement figured out what these outlaw Kentuckians were doing, they began to round them up. Between 1985 and 1989, at least 70 Kentucky men were arrested on 30 farms in 10 states with 200 tons of marijuana in the biggest domestic marijuana bust in American history — earning them the title of the “Cornbread Mafia.”

Cornbread Hemp

In 2012, a writer named Jim Higdon published a nonfiction book about “The Cornbread Mafia,” which led him into a career in journalism. Higdon covered cannabis policy for outlets like POLITICO and Thrillist. Then in 2018, Congress declared hemp to be legal again through the 2018 Farm Bill.

Sensing an opportunity to make Kentucky hemp products the correct way, Higdon partnered with his cousin, Eric Zipperle, to found Cornbread Hemp. Together, they have created one of the top CBD brands in America, and the only one that authentically taps into the 250-year hemp growing traditions of Kentucky.

More Sustainable in Kentucky

But why is hemp from Kentucky more desirable than hemp grown in a legal cannabis state? Isn’t hemp better when it’s grown in Colorado or Oregon? In fact, the opposite is true. Some of these states only have massive hemp operations because there was an existing framework for legal marijuana, not because the region is well suited for hemp.

Marijuana and hemp are grown quite differently. Marijuana is typically grown indoors under very controlled conditions, while hemp is grown in much larger plots outdoors. Growing hemp outdoors at scale requires substantially more resources than indoor grows, especially water. And many states with legal marijuana are also faced with over-development and man-made drought conditions.

For instance, the Colorado hemp industry requires industrial scale irrigation, which makes Colorado’s drought conditions worse. That’s not true in Kentucky, where the climate is so perfect for outdoor hemp cultivation that irrigation is rarely necessary. Sun-grown Kentucky hemp is watered from the natural summer rains. That means that Kentucky hemp is not just better, it’s also more sustainable than hemp grown in western states.

Kentucky Cannabis

These are the reasons why CBD brands all over America like to claim that they source their hemp from Kentucky. But once you understand that Kentucky hemp is better, it just makes sense to buy your CBD products from a Kentucky-based company that embodies the 250 years of Kentucky cannabis traditions. That’s why so many CBD consumers have turned to Cornbread Hemp, the leading CBD brand from Kentucky.

Cornbread Hemp offers USDA organic CBD oils sourced for a single family farm in central Kentucky. Named after the Cornbread Mafia that kept Kentucky’s cannabis traditions alive during decades of prohibition, Cornbread Hemp understands more than any other brand in America what makes Kentucky hemp special.

Kentucky has been farming cannabis nonstop since the founding of the nation. Families have passed on cannabis farming traditions to their children, even when it wasn’t legal. Now that hemp is legal again in Kentucky, Cornbread Hemp is open for business.