Hemp is the not-so-secret Ingredient in Farmer’s Cow Feed
Global Hemp May 13 th 2004
David Wise of Hemp Fed Beef Company, at a
North American Industrial Hemp Council
meeting, explained the role that hemp played
in his cattle feed.
“Hemp acts as a nutritional uptake catalyst
which enables the cattle to gain lean muscle
mass.”
Wise had ordered. Wise paid $1.10 per pound
for the hemp, which he wishes he could grow.
Since the 1950s, hemp has been illegal to
grow in the United States. But, years ago, it
was a very popular crop in Kentucky.
In 1915, hemp was the state’s largest crop.
Many factories used hemp to make twine,
rope and cotton bagging.
When World War II ended, the U.S.
government cancelled virtually all hemp
farming permits.
Seven years ago, David Wise created his own
special recipe for cow feed.
It consists of 400 pounds of soybean meal,
200 pounds of distiller’s grain and the key
ingredient — 100 pounds of hemp.
Yes, hemp.
The high protein mixture, which contains 34
percent protein and essential fatty acids, has
made his cattle healthier, happier and heftier,
according to Wise.
So far, he’s had no complaints from his four-
legged consumers.
“It’s really working,” Wise said.
The only complaint Wise has is that he can’t
grow his own hemp to feed the animals.
For now, he has to get his hemp supply from
Canada.
“I can grow my own soybeans, I can grow my
own corn,” Wise said. “If I had the hemp, I
would have it all in one sock.”
Recently, his friend, Craig Lee, who
introduced him to the hemp feed, travelled to
Canada to pick up 1,200 pounds of hemp that
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration, both hemp and marijuana
have the psychoactive THC ingredient.
Hemp remains strongly identified with
marijuana but, according to Lee, who is also
the director of the Hemp Fed Beef Company
in Willisburg and the secretary/treasurer for
Madison Hemp & Flax Company 1806, Inc.
in Lexington, hemp is nothing like marijuana.
“What you have here is a lot of people with
their heads stuck in the sand,” Lee said.
Hemp’s connection to marijuana has ruined
opportunities for farmers, such as Wise, to
grow the crops on their farms, he said.
Its uses are endless and its success with
Wise’s cattle is one example of that,
according to Lee.
“Because of the high oil content and the fatty
acids, the animals actually utilize more of
their feed, he said. “They digest more of it,
which means the farmer is getting more out of
his feed.”
Aside from hemp feed being high in protein
and fatty acids, hemp-fed cattle are antibiotic,
steroid and hormone free.
Hemp-fed cows taste better too, he said.
“It has a better flavour, a better taste,” Lee
said.
According to Lee, Wise is probably the only
farmer in the United States that feeds his cows
hemp.