Once-banned ‘miracle’ crop could hold future to farming elisfkc2 / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0 “You’ve got this gross misunderstanding,” said Fred Hagan, owner of Sugar Bottom Farms. The future of a plant known to be among the oldest grown by man must first overcome its soiled past. “Hemp is truly one of the most miraculous plants ever planted,” Hagan said. Hemp, a non-intoxicating form of cannabis and cousin to marijuana, is grown for its fibers, stalks and seeds, and is used to produce everything from clothing, construction materials, paint, paper, biofuel, plastics and medicine. Hagan, a historian and owner of Sugar Bottom Farm in Bucks County, is on a mission to cultivate a new image for this ancient crop.