Jahala Dudley with a hemp plant Just two years ago, hemp looked like a crop that could inject some life into Vermont s flagging agricultural economy. At Statehouse meetings, entrepreneurs, lawmakers and regulators who were giddy with optimism talked of harnessing the profits of the fast-growing industry for societal good. One of them was Carl Christianson, who had just set up a hemp processing facility and testing lab in a newly purchased 10,000-square-foot former bread bakery in Brattleboro. But a nationwide rush to plant in the summer of 2019 led to an oversupply in the fall. Would-be purchasers backed away, so many farmers left their plants standing in the field and took a loss. Others harvested their crop and were left high and dry by buyers who never paid up.