Whitetail Institute email

I got an email today from Whitetail Institute letting me know that Powerplant is now in stock. Strange thing though, when I clicked on the link to see the prices, there is a statement on their website saying that seed mixes containing sunn hemp are not legal in Alabama. Anybody else ever heard of this?

I had emailed Wilson Scott at the Institute to see if there were any dealers in my area and he sent me this back;


Unfortunately, we don't have any dealers that carry PowerPlant in north FL. The closest dealer to you would be in south AL but we found out last Friday from the Alabama Seed Inspector that we can't sell PowerPlant in Alabama. They will not allow the Sunn Hemp which is one of the ingredients to be mixed with other seed and sold in the state. We can't even bring it into our AL warehouse. Every other state in the country allows the PowerPlant to be sold but somehow this seed and a 2-3 grass types have been banned in mixes at least for this year. We can sell the straight Sunn Hemp but not the PowerPlant mix in AL

Same issue with Petcher Seeds, they just give you the mix and hand you a small bag of Sunn Hemp that you mix in yourself.

Thanks for the info. So they can sell sunn hemp seed by itself, but not mixed with beans and sunflowers??? That makes absolutely zero sense. Then again, I am not at all surprised that we would have such a ridiculous regulation.

Man that crazy but you can search 80-11-1-05 seed mix. Look like it has been on the law book since 2012.

Just received (4) bags in the mail yesterday straight from Whitetail Institute. They didn't say anything about not planting it in Alabama.

I tried to add it to my cart on W.I. website and it removes it once I enter my address. I was able to order it from another website though but I wonder if it will eventually get cancelled.

Sounds like somebody thinks sunhemp might be an invasive grass or something, like cogon. Does sunhemp reseed by itself?

I have not seen any we planted come back from reseeding.

Sunn Hemp absolutely will reseed in SE Bama. Last summer I planted Sunflowers on what had been a Sunn Hemp field the prior year because I had heard they do not reseed. Well it reseeded good enough to obliviate the Sunflowers.

Mow it down earlier before it seeds.