A bill to open up the industrial hemp industry in Indiana passed a Senate panel, even as supporters face pushback from some skeptical lawmakers.

The committee hearing Thursday was the Senate’s first look this session at legislation meant to support the broader hemp sector. That’s while a measure to legalize the hemp byproduct cannabidiol, or CBD, already cleared the Senate this year.

The 2014 federal farm bill allowed limited hemp growing. And some states have since used that law to pursue expanded production. That includes Kentucky, where Brian Furnish helped lead the charge. Furnish says hemp is the crop of the future.

“Hemp in the United States, and Indiana and Kentucky especially, will be bigger than corn in my lifetime,” Furnish says.

Hemp byproducts include fiber, oil, food supplements, and cosmetics. Gregg Baumbaugh owns an Indiana company that uses hemp in auto parts. He says he wants to get that hemp from local producers.