VIENNA, W.Va. (AP) — American Independence Day aside, this past Tuesday marked the first day West Virginians could apply to the agriculture commissioner for a license to grow industrial hemp for commercial purposes, although several industry pioneers already are well into their second growing season and thinking big.

Morgan Leach serves as the president of the West Virginia Hemp Industries Association and executive director of the West Virginia Farmers Cooperative, some of whose members already hold 14 licenses to produce hemp through the commissioner of agriculture and grow 30 acres of the cr...