But life as a Kentucky tobacco farmer is not as lucrative as it once was. Thanks to anti-smoking campaigns and high taxes on cigarettes, domestic demand is down and federal government price supports are gone.

The days when Kentucky’s crop grossed nearly a billion dollars a year are no more — forcing Brian, and farmers like him, to imagine a future without tobacco and diversify their farms.

His move to cattle paid off with rising beef prices, but Brian’s most recent bet is cannabis sativa, also known as hemp.

But there is a catch. To the federal government, hemp is just as illegal as marijuana.