Western Kentucky University assistant agriculture professor Paul Woosley (second from right) of Bowling Green talks to student volunteers Thursday, September 11, 2014, about harvesting, bundling, and weighing hemp plants at the WKU Farm. (Bac To Trong/Daily News)

Kentucky expects to see a major boost in hemp production this year.

Between 2016 and 2017, the number of growers participating in the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s hemp program will rise about 50 percent.

Paul Woosley, an assistant professor of agronomy at Western Kentucky University who oversees the school’s hemp production project, said he was thrilled about the rise in the number of producers in the program. “I think that’s a good sign that there’s a lot of interest in the crop,” he said.

The hemp industry has a lot of potential in Kentucky, Woosley said, noting that it could be a nice niche for local farmers.

“Hopefully it’ll be a tool where we can keep more small families on the farm,” he said.

Different parts of the hemp plant have numerous applications and can be used to make a wide range of plastic-like goods, rope and medicinal oils, Woosley said.

Woosley believes an increased public understanding that hemp, though a member of the cannabis family, does not yield the same psychoactive effects as marijuana when ingested, as well as the crop’s novelty, spurred the newfound interest in it.

“It’s something new, and it’s something different,” he said.

A KDA news release said the hemp program began in 2014 with a total of 33 acres being put aside for production of the crop.

In 2017, 209 producers will be growing hemp on a combined 12,800 acres, up from 137 growers on 4,500 acres, the release said.

Though hemp is still classified as a schedule I drug along with heroin and LSD, a provision of the Agricultural Act of 2014 permits industrial hemp pilot programs in states where state law

permits hemp production.

Woosley said WKU’s hemp research project has grown over the years, operating on a quarter of an acre in its first year and now occupying five acres.

The research has been aimed at controlling or suppressing weeds like pigweed and Johnson grass that hinder the crop’s growth.

“That’s been our main focus, trying to attack the main problem,” he said.

Because hemp is still not legal at the federal level, there is no pesticide or herbicide that has been legally licensed for use on hemp. That means WKU, which is researching with pesticides and herbicides, has to destroy its hemp at the end of the growing season.

Doris Hamilton, manager of the hemp program, said the program is important because it allows producers and the KDA to learn how to grow and market hemp as well as learn about its applications.

“I think the growth just shows there is potential and the applicants see the validity of a hemp industry in Kentucky,” she said.

In the KDA release, Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles said he wants Kentucky to be a “national leader” in industrial hemp production.

“Our strategy is to use KDA’s research pilot program to encourage the industrial hemp industry to expand and prosper in Kentucky,” Quarles said in the release.

— Follow Daily News reporter Jackson French on Twitter @Jackson_French or visit bgdailynews.com.