IOW, I wanted to know what it would cost me for this service.
The market has a way of finding the right price. I think you would find a closer answer to your question if you were to analyze the cost to grow hemp... doesn't cost much, comparative to other crops. Less water. Less to zero pesticides. Farmers stand to benefit, too, as hemp can be grown more than once per year on same land, or used in rotation.
More so, I believe you hit the nail on the head as to why every state looking at hemp - over 30 states, now; more than half the nation - are beginning with pilot programs, for research, in order to discover more about 1) costs, 2) methods, and 3) applications, among other sciencey (yes, I just made sciencey a word) things.
The $21K you're quoting is the value of the seeds, but that's not what I was asking Gailm about.
That, for one, is correct - it doesn't "COST" $21k/ac to grow. So if the seed alone generates sales of tens of thousands per acre, for only one component to the overall harvest, the better question is, WHY WOULDN'T A FARMER CONSIDER GROWING HEMP? (rhetorically speaking)
As for the $21k figure, I can't in that article anywhere stating that that number was for seed alone - it says "as much as... per acre" - but I like your higher price!