David Monson plans on being one of the first in line to apply for a license to grow industrial hemp legally in North Dakota.

Monson is a state representative from Osnabrock and a farmer who watches his Canadian neighbors grow the crop just 25 miles north of his farm. Hemp production has been legal in Canada since 1998, after 60 years of prohibition.

Monson said it's time for North Dakota to cash in on the crop.

"We know it will grow here," Monson said.

North Dakota farmers may start applying for state licenses to grow industrial hemp on Jan. 1, but no seed may be sown until federal drug agents approve, Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson says.

"We'll see where it goes," said Johnson, who, like Monson, has been pushing industrial hemp as a crop in North Dakota for more than a decade. "Hopefully, North Dakota will be the first state where producers can grow hemp for legitimate uses."

The federal Drug Enforcement Agency remains a major hurdle for would-be growers of marijuana's biological cousin.

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said last month that the rules crafted by North Dakota's Agriculture Department comply with state law. A state legislative committee approved the rules on Monday, with no changes, Johnson said.

"Nobody has ever put something like this in front of the DEA," he said. "We want to make industrial hemp happen.

"We have put these rules together in such an airtight fashion that we know we are not going to have illicit drugs being grown in North Dakota," Johnson said."

Hemp contains trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, a banned substance, and it falls under federal anti-drug rules, said Steve Robertson, a DEA special agent in Washington.

"There is no differentiation between hemp and marijuana," Robertson said. "The regulations for hemp are the same as they are for marijuana."

The rules, which take effect on Jan. 1, require a criminal background check on farmers who want to grow hemp. The sale of hemp and the location of the hemp fields must be documented.

The application fee for the state license will cost at least $150, said Ken Junkert, the state agriculture department's plant industries manager. He said the total amount of the application fee won't be known until next month.

Industrial hemp would be an alternative cash crop for North Dakota farmers because it's used to make food, clothing, cosmetics, paper, rope and other products, Johnson said. It's the only crop that would have to be licensed in North Dakota, he and Junkert said.

"It gives us another tool to make money off of small acreages," Monson said. "It is a very high-value crop that will help value-added industries spring up."

Monson said he was the primary sponsor of North Dakota's first bill to authorize research on industrial hemp, which was approved by the 1997 Legislature.

Johnson and Junkert said several North Dakota farmers are interested in getting a state license, despite the unknowns with DEA.

"I don't think there is going to be a stampede, but there are going to be some farmers who will want to go through this process with the intent of at least planting a small amount of industrial hemp this spring," Johnson said.

It would be up to farmers to seek the final approval from federal drug agents once the state license is approved, Johnson said.