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.