Two North Dakota farmers who received the nation's first state licenses to grow industrial hemp have been granted renewals, though the question of whether they will ever get a crop in the ground will be decided largely by forces outside the state.

David Monson and Wayne Hauge had state licenses in hand last year but never got approval from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. This year, they are hoping for a favorable ruling from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a change of heart by DEA or action by Congress. None is likely by spring planting season.

Hauge, who farms near Ray in northwestern North Dakota, said Thursday that he paid his $150 license renewal fee even though he sees no possibility of seeding industrial hemp this spring.

"We just wanted to keep the licenses going," he said.

Early last February, the North Dakota Agriculture Department granted commercial hemp farming licenses to Hauge and Monson, a state lawmaker who farms near Osnabrock in northeastern North Dakota. Hemp, a cousin to the illegal drug marijuana, can be used in products ranging from paper to lotion. Hemp proponents say that unlike marijuana, it does not produce a high.

Hauge and Monson last year suffered several setbacks to their efforts to be the first in the country to legally grow industrial hemp.

The licenses were granted under state regulations that required the farmers to get approval from the DEA. That approval never came, though the agency says it is still processing the applications.

Monson said it probably is unrealistic to think the DEA will change its position. "That's why we're in the courts," he said.

The farmers sued last year with the financial help of the nonprofit lobbying group Vote Hemp, asking U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland to bar the federal government from prosecuting them for growing hemp under state rules.

Hovland threw out the lawsuit late last year, saying the matter is best left to Congress. The farmers are now appealing to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Members of North Dakota's congressional delegation say there is little chance Congress will change the legal definition of industrial hemp to explicitly distinguish it from marijuana.

State Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson said that under a change in North Dakota law, this year's state hemp licenses are not subject to DEA approval. However, he said Monson and Hauge still would be opening themselves up to prosecution if they plant a crop, and he is not encouraging them to do so.

"Unless there is a change in federal law or the federal courts intervene or the DEA itself changes policy, I believe it would be risky to plant industrial hemp," Johnson said.