A federal food lab on the University of Minnesota campus is getting a half-million dollar grant to research how best to tap into the state's burgeoning hemp industry.
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar says the future of Minnesota's industrial hemp knows no bounds at the moment.
"And so, this research will show what can you do with this stuff, and how can you use this for things like, believe it or not, concrete," says Klobuchar. "They call it hempcrete and we want Minnesota to be on the front line, just like we have been for biofuels, for sustainable aviation fuel."
Minnesota has more than 130 licensed hemp growers and 96 processors in what is now a $445 million industrial hemp industry.
"Once you grow it, how do you process it so it can be turned into clothes or automotive parts or concrete," Sen. Klobuchar asks.
Industrial hemp can be used in everything from concrete to auto parts, and the research will help further those industries.
In addition, Klobuchar helped secure another half-million in the recently passed agriculture funding bill for research on a harmful fungi that has resulted in devastating crop losses for Minnesota farmers.