AgNet DEMO

Category: Hemp

  • Green Point Research Cannabis Center of Excellence Hosts Ribbon-Cutting

    JASPER, Fla. — Green Point Research, an international phytocannabinoid-rich biomass originator and processor, celebrated the official opening of its Hamilton County headquarters and 32-acre Cannabis Center of Excellence (CCoE) with a ribbon-cutting event held in partnership with Hamilton County Board of Commissioners and Hamilton County Economic Development Authority (EDA), and North Florida Economic Development Partnership.

    The event came just several weeks after the company announced its purchase of the property, located in an Opportunity Zone in an economic development agreement with the county.

    David Hasenauer welcomed attendees and shared his vision for the future of the campus location that he expects will be a Southeast hub for innovation, sustainable agriculture and economic prosperity. Guest speakers included Deborah Tannenbaum, Florida’s Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture; Holly Bell, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Director of Cannabis; Randy Ogburn, Hamilton County Board of Commissioners Chairman; and Chadd Mathis, Hamilton County Economic Development Authority Executive Director.

    The campus is already serving as a logistics and drying hub for the company. In December 2020, more than 150,000 pounds of hemp biomass were shipped out of the facility to customers across the Southeast, primarily in Florida. The company’s hemp dryer has also been installed at the facility and provides unique large-scale capacity with its ability to dry greater than four input tons of hemp her hour. Extraction and laboratory equipment is being installed this week that will allow the company to extract and process cannabidiol (CBD), and other refined cannabinoid products.

    “Our goal has always been to serve farmers by providing them with the hemp services they need to be successful,” said David Hasenauer, Green Point CEO. “The newly-installed dryer and infrastructure additions will help provide farmers with the scale, accessibility, and expertise needed to more productively and profitably farm hemp. We could not be more pleased to be Cultivating A Better Future in Hamilton County, one of the top producing agriculture counties in the country.”

    “Florida’s reputation as an agricultural and economic powerhouse is driven by its superior environmental conditions such as abundant sunlight and rich soil, and a culture of growth and innovation, as demonstrated by this facility,” said Deborah Tannenbaum, Florida Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture. “Congratulations to Green Point Research and Hamilton County on the significant progress with this facility and for the agriculture industry.”

    Florida’s Director of Cannabis, Holly Bell, provided context on the growth of the hemp industry and the opportunity that exists for the county.

    “Florida has over 23,000 acres approved for cultivation, yet in 2020, only 293 acres were planted,” Bell stated. “Over a third of the acres successfully planted in the state in 2020 were in Hamilton County with Green Point Research and local farms. Hamilton County has demonstrated its capacity for agriculture excellence, and we look forward to continued progress with Green Point’s newly expanded capabilities.”

    “Hamilton County’s friendly business climate and superior environmental conditions make it an ideal location for agriculture activity,” said Randy Ogburn, Hamilton County Board of Commissions Chair. “We are very excited to see the progress Green Point Research has already made in its infrastructure and facility build out.”

    “We continue to be impressed with David Hasenauer’s vision for Green Point Research and the impact the company will bring to our region,” said Chadd Mathis, Hamilton County Economic Development Authority Executive Director. “As a result of this investment, we expect the agriculture and manufacturing interest in this area will continue for decades to come.”

    The company successfully yielded two hemp harvests last year, including one that was deemed the largest legal hemp harvest in the state’s history. Green Point is gearing up for a busy hemp planting season this spring as many farmers will be looking for expertise and services as they prepare to expand current hemp farming acreage or add hemp to their existing crop rotations.

    Green Point Research (GPR) is a vertically integrated hemp phytocannabinoid-rich biomass originator and processor founded in 2016. GPR controls its supply chain from seed to processing bulk cannabinoids for business-to-business sale. Satividol, a cannabidiol (CBD) softgel, is among the products the company produces. Contact Green Point Research at 954-500-HEMP to learn more about the Green Point Method® and how to purchase seeds, seed starts, and clones. For more information, please visit www.greenpointresearch.com.

    Additional coverage provided by Riverbend News and others.

    About Green Point Research

    Green Point Research (GPR) is a vertically integrated hemp phytocannabinoid-rich biomass originator and processor founded in 2016. GPR controls its supply chain from seed to processing bulk cannabinoids for business to business sale. Satividol, a cannabidiol (CBD) softgel, is among the products the company produces. Contact Green Point Research at 954-500-HEMP to learn more about the Green Point Method and how to purchase seeds, seed starts, and clones. For more information, please visit www.greenpointresearch.com.

  • Alarming Ant Issue: Pest Impacted Hemp in 2020

    File photo shows fire ants.

    Commercial hemp production has taken off in the Southeast. A key takeaway from the different production sites in Georgia and Alabama in 2020 was the alarming number of ant problems reported on production.

    “A lot of times it was fire ants, but it wasn’t exclusively fire ants. There were some other types of ants as well,” said Tim Coolong, associate professor in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

    “It was actually a significant issue. It was somewhat sporadic because some people didn’t have any problems with it. But in other fields, people were losing 10% to 15% of their plants, if not more.”

    Problem in Alabama As Well

    It was a similar problem that was reported in Alabama hemp. Katelyn Kesheimer, Auburn University Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, said last June, “What I’m seeing now is they’ll kill a plant and just move to the next one pretty quickly. You can see this pattern as they move their mounds. They make these mounds around the base of the plant as they’re feeding.”

    The ants were especially detrimental to plants that were young and vulnerable.

    Ant Feeding

    “They actually feed on the plant. I don’t know if they’re actually consuming that or chewing part of the stem off to use for material in the anthill or ant colony, rather,” Coolong said. “They’ll actually chew into the stem and girdle it and actually put little holes into the stem.

    “Because there’s many insecticides labeled for hemp, when we are growing other crops that may have received insecticide applications at planting or prior to planting, ants aren’t an issue in many cases. Either that plant or the land around it is treated already. But in hemp that’s not an option in many cases. Therefore, it’s certainly more noteworthy.”

    Baits may be the best source of management for producers gearing up for the 2021 season.

    “While the baits themselves are not labeled for hemp production, if those baits are placed outside your production area and then therefore that crop is not coming in contact with them, that would not be an off-labeled use,” Coolong said. “That’s probably the best bet for growers.”

  • Marketing Key Issue in Hemp Production

    File photo shows a hemp field.

    Marketing remains one of the top challenges facing Alabama hemp producers. It’s also a topic that Katelyn Kesheimer, Auburn University Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, hopes to address during a series of informative webinars this spring.

    “A lot of questions are revolving around, ‘What does the market look like?’ ‘How do I market and sell my hemp?’ ‘What variety should I be growing?’” Kesheimer said.

    “I think a lot of it is around the market stability and consumption of the product. Are people still holding on to it? Should they sell it to be turned into crude oil? How do you find a buyer? Should you go into a vertical integration where you’re processing and doing everything on your own. Should I even get into this business because of the market? The biggest questions are around, what does it look like and can I actually make money off this crop?”

    Kesheimer said she is working to schedule multiple webinar sessions designed to educate potential producers about hemp. It will include speakers from across the Southeast, including economists, agronomists, plant pathologists and entomologists.

    Further details of the meetings are still being finalized.

  • Examining Issues Facing Hemp Production and Processing

    UGA CAES Photo/A survey conducted by UGA researchers examined whether respondents had any concern about the growing of hemp and the creation of hemp products in their area.

    By Allison Fortner for CAES News

    Hemp is a promising new industry for profitability, but growers of this newly legal crop will face a mix of public opinions according to University of Georgia research into challenges those in the hemp business may face in the southeastern United States.

    A recently published article in the Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics identified the concerns nearby residents may have with local hemp production and processing. The study was led by UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences faculty Benjamin Campbell and Julie Campbell in collaboration with Adam Rabinowitz at Auburn University.

    “We got involved in doing hemp economics two years ago when it was passed with the legislature,” said Benjamin Campbell, associate professor and UGA Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. “We started asking if there would there be a negative perception or externalities associated with these hemp processors coming [into communities].”

    With the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp was legalized as a crop in all states. Though hemp is not a novel crop, the legislation opened opportunities for markets in new areas and resulted in a fast push to produce and process the plant. The research team initially examined budgeting and markets surrounding hemp but found there was a lack of research in hemp production perception. They sought to identify potential problems that could arise in communities where the crop is grown and processed into various goods.

    “We kept seeing people concerned about light pollution and the smell in popular press-type reports,” said Julie Campbell, an assistant research scientist in the Department of Horticulture.

    The group put together a list of questions that was distributed via an online survey to southeastern U.S. residents. The responses were representative of the population, with consideration to household income, race, education level, age and gender.

    Demographic Considerations

    The survey examined whether respondents had any concern about the growing of hemp and the creation of hemp products in their area.

    Researchers found that Republicans are 4.8% more concerned about hemp production and 4.9% more concerned about processing than Democrats. Therefore, the political landscape should be considered when hemp firms are garnering local community support.

    The research also revealed that education level does not necessarily dictate the amount of concern. Respondents with a high school education or less and those with graduate degrees expressed more concern about local hemp production and processing than those with a bachelor’s degree.

    “There’s not one consumer. There’s a whole various subset of consumers that believe different things,” Ben Campbell said. “Surveys allow us to understand these different groups and assess what their perceptions are. This helps us inform these groups so they can understand what’s going on with the new technologies.”

    Differences Between Hemp and Marijuana

    Though hemp and marijuana are identical in appearance, the determining difference between the two is the level of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) present in the cannabis plant. THC is the chemical responsible for most of marijuana’s psychological effects, but its levels are strictly regulated in commercial hemp crops. Ben Campbell said a resulting concern is consumer belief that hemp is the same as marijuana, though smoking a hemp plant does not result in a high.

    The survey collected information about consumer knowledge level and found that 44% of respondents thought that hemp and marijuana were the same, while 44% knew hemp and marijuana were different. The remaining 12% had never heard of hemp.

    “For years there have been entire drug campaigns saying, ‘Marijuana is horrible.’ People associate hemp and marijuana as being the same thing. Now all of the sudden we’re saying, ‘Hemp is good.’ It’s kind of hard to have people turn on a dime,” Julie Campbell said.

    While the plants have different chemical compositions, their matching appearance leads to concerns of illegal activity.

    “You have people breaking into fields in other states and stealing hemp plants because they think it’s marijuana. That’s one of the externalities I was looking at — illegal activity,” Ben Campbell said.

    The survey examined the perceived concerns of respondents and found that the potential for illegal activity and overall safety were the highest-rated concerns for both local growth and processing.

    Therefore, engagement with communities to dispel myths about hemp and to educate about its benefits is crucial. These efforts should also address issues of local concern to help neighborhoods feel more comfortable with the hemp firms in their areas.

    “I think it brings up a point that you need to have producers and processors interacting with their neighbors to show them what they’re doing and alleviate any concerns so that they are informed. If not, you’re going to have people believing that you’re hurting them or harming them when that may not be the case. That’s the biggest overall takeaway,” Ben Campbell said.

    Future Research

    Julie Campbell said this research provides a perspective on what hemp firms will need to consider before investing money and establishing themselves in a community, especially considering the government hearings businesses must go through for community input. However, she said communication and education on this matter will be up to both industry and academia.

    “People growing hemp, people growing medicinal marijuana – it’s coming,” she said. “We have to be able to do research on this so that we’re not left behind. People are looking to the university for guidance on this.”

    The questions and results from this study will inform future consumer surveys. Recently, Ben Campbell received a Federal State Market Improvement Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in collaboration with Auburn University, the University of Delaware, and the University of Kentucky, to conduct monthly consumer surveys over the next three years, allowing for further hemp research, among other public perception and marketing surveys.  

    Ben Campbell’s research and Extension efforts are devoted to better understanding the consumer marketplace for horticultural products, notably green industry products. He has more than 15 years of experience in conducting market and production economics research throughout the U.S. and Canada.  His work has focused on market intelligence, market identification and the economics of production for varying horticultural commodities.

    Julie Campbell’s recent research focuses on a number of issues facing the green industry, including consumer perceptions, marketing, disease mitigation and best management practices. Her research helps link consumers, retailers and producers, often intertwining multiple disciplines.

    For more information on the UGA Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics Department, visit agecon.uga.edu. For more information on the UGA Department of Horticulture, visit hort.uga.edu.

  • USDA Issues Domestic Hemp Production Final Rule Notice

    Photo by Luis A. Monserrate

    The flurry of last-minute regulations from the Trump administration includes a final rule concerning domestic hemp production. The Department of Agriculture published the final rule notice in the Federal Register Tuesday. The U.S. Hemp Growers Association says the final rule appears to address many of the concerns the organization expressed during a comment period.

    Changes include allowing a producer a maximum of one negligent violation in a growing season, but the threshold for finding such negligence is moved from .5% to 1%. Alternative disposal for non-compliant plants will be outlined in a separate remediation techniques paper from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. Disposal and remediation measures will be expanded.

    Because there are not enough Drug Enforcement Administration registered laboratories to test all hemp in 2020 and 2021, non-DEA registered labs will be recognized for testing until Jan. 1, 2022. Sample collection is expanded to 30 days before harvest instead of the former 15 days.

    (From the National Association of Farm Broadcasters)

  • Florida Hemp Research: Diseases Present, Minimal Impact

    File photo shows field of industrial hemp.

    Hemp plant diseases are present in University of Florida (UF)/IFAS research trials. But their impact has been minimal so far, says Johan Desaeger, Assistant Professor of Entomology and Nematology at the UF Gulf Coast Research and Education Center.

    “So far, honestly, we haven’t seen too much in our trials here. We’ve seen some fungal diseases some leaf spot. We’ve seen some mites; we’ve seen some worms but nothing that I would say was really causing damage to the crop. Another thing we’ve seen is nematodes. They do get nematodes, but again, we haven’t seen so far any clear evidence of damage caused by the nematodes,” he said. “They feed on the crop. We know that. They’re a host for root-knot.

    “Hemp, these plants, they put on so much roots that I feel they can kind of overcome the damage.”

    Hemp research is still in its infancy stages, not only at UF, but at universities across the Southeast. Desaeger believes as more hemp is produced across the state, diseases will become more prevalent.

    “I think they will show up eventually. I think we just haven’t seen much because we just started growing it. It often takes a few seasons and few years for these diseases and pests to come in when you start a new crop. The more we start growing hemp, I’m sure the more issues that are going to be reported,” Desaeger said. “I (also) think we’ll start learning a lot more when we have growers start to plant it in their fields. Most of the stuff we’ve done is on station, research trials, not really out there in the real world if you know what I mean.”

  • USDA Publishes Final Rule for Domestic Production of Hemp

    WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2021—The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today the final rule regulating the production of hemp in the United States. The final rule incorporates modifications to regulations established under the interim final rule (IFR) published in October 2019. The modifications are based on public comments following the publication of the IFR and lessons learned during the 2020 growing season. The final rule is available for viewing in the Federal Register and will be effective on March 22, 2021.

    “With the publication of this final rule, USDA brings to a close a full and transparent rule-making process that started with a hemp listening session in March 2019,” said USDA Marketing and Regulatory Programs Under Secretary Greg Ibach. “USDA staff have taken the information you have provided through three comment periods and from your experiences over a growing season to develop regulations that meet Congressional intent while providing a fair, consistent, science-based process for states, tribes and individual producers. USDA staff will continue to conduct education and outreach to help industry achieve compliance with the requirements.”

    Key provisions of the final rule include licensing requirements; record-keeping requirements for maintaining information about the land where hemp is produced; procedures for testing the THC concentration levels for hemp; procedures for disposing of non-compliant plants; compliance provisions; and procedures for handling violations.

    Background: 

    On Oct. 31, 2019, USDA published the IFR that provided specific details on the process and criteria for review of plans USDA receives from states and Indian tribes regarding the production of hemp and established a plan to monitor and regulate the production of hemp in those states or Indian tribes that do not have an approved state or Tribal plan.

    The IFR was effective immediately after publication in the Federal Register and provided a 60-day public comment period. On Dec. 17, 2019, USDA extended the comment period until Jan. 29, 2020, to allow stakeholders additional time to provide feedback. USDA re-opened the comment period for 30 days, from Sept. 8 to Oct. 8, 2020 seeking additional comments from all stakeholders, especially those who were subject to the regulatory requirements of the IFR during the 2020 production cycle. In all, USDA received about 5,900 comments.

    On Feb. 27, 2020, USDA announced the delay of enforcement of the requirement for labs to be registered by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the requirement that producers use a DEA-registered reverse distributor or law enforcement to dispose of non-compliant plants under certain circumstances until Oct. 31, 2021, or the final rule is published, whichever comes first. This delay has been further extended in the final rule to December 2022.

    The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) directed USDA to issue regulations and guidance to implement a program for the commercial production of hemp in the United States. The authority for hemp production provided in the 2014 Farm Bill was extended until January 1, 2022, by the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021, and Other Extensions Act (Pub. L. 116-260) (2021 Continuing Appropriations Act) allowing states and institutions of higher education to continue to grow or cultivate industrial hemp at certified and registered locations within the state for research and education purposes under the authorities of the 2014 Farm Bill.

    More information about the provisions of the final rule is available on the Hemp Production web page on the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) website.

  • UF/IFAS Industrial Hemp Virtual Workshop available Jan. 11

    industrial hemp
    File photo shows industrial hemp.

    By Brad Buck

    The UF/IFAS Industrial Hemp Pilot Program is launching a virtual workshop with research and program updates, available online beginning Jan. 11 for $40. The workshop consists of a collection of pre-recorded lectures and prepared documents available for on-demand viewing.

    In addition to the virtual delivery, there are opportunities to engage with experts from UF/IFAS.

    As the two-year pilot project ends and phases into the established research program, UF/IFAS faculty will share research outcomes, on-farm trial updates and more.

    Sessions include:

    • From Pilot Project to Program, Zack Brym, assistant professor of agroecology, UF/IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center (TREC).
    • UF/IFAS Hemp Pilot Project Cultivar Approval Program, Jerry Fankhauser, assistant director of the UF/IFAS Florida Agricultural Experiment Station.
    • On-farm trial updates, featuring the UF/IFAS Hemp Extension Team.
    • Hemp physiology and management updates, featuring faculty from UF/IFAS Mid-Florida Research and Education Center and several graduate student researchers
    • Invasion risk updates, Susan Canavan, post-doctoral researcher and Luke Flory, associate professor, UF/IFAS agronomy.
    • Pest and disease updates, featuring Johan Desaeger, assistant professor of entomology and nematology, UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center and new website resources.
    • Insights into Building a Hemp Industry in Florida, Trent Blare, assistant professor of food and resource economics and statewide Extension specialist at the UF/IFAS TREC.

    For more information, visit the UF/IFAS Hemp Program site. To gain access to the pre-recorded workshop presentations, register online.

    Presentations will be available on demand from Jan. 11 through Nov. 1.

  • S.C. Farmers Can Apply Jan. 1 to Grow Hemp in 2021

    Industrial hemp. Photo taken 06-12-19.

    COLUMBIA — The South Carolina Department of Agriculture (SCDA) will accept applications for hemp farming permits for the 2021 growing season from Jan. 1 through Feb. 28, 2021.

    The state’s Hemp Farming Program has grown from 20 farmers in 2018 to 265 farmers in 2020 – and each year, the program has changed as state and federal laws changed. When the federal government approved South Carolina’s State Hemp Plan in April 2020, the program entered a new period of regulatory stability, one that SCDA expects to continue in 2021. The agency now has six full-time staffers devoted to hemp regulation.

    Requirements to receive a hemp farming permit include:

    • Proof of South Carolina residency
    • Criminal background check (A new check is required each permit year.)
    • FSA (Farm Service Agency) farm number
    • $100 nonrefundable application fee and $1,000 permit fee
    • GPS coordinates of all locations on which hemp will be grown
    • Submitting application and all required materials by the February 28, 2021 deadline
    • Attending an SCDA orientation and signing a Hemp Farming Agreement before possessing any hemp, including clones and seeds

    Online Portal

    All farmers must apply through SCDA’s online portal at agriculture.sc.gov/hemp. There are no paper or printable applications. Because it may take several weeks for farmers to obtain FSA farm numbers and background checks, applicants should review requirements and begin the process as soon as possible.

    Permits are only good for the current year, so 2020 permit holders who wish to farm in 2021 must apply for a new permit. SCDA will not award a 2020 farmer a 2021 permit unless he or she has reported his or her 2020 hemp acreage to the FSA by the 2021 application deadline.

    For information about the South Carolina Hemp Farming Program, visit agriculture.sc.gov/hemp or email hempstaff@scda.sc.gov.

    SCDA is tasked with regulating hemp farming. At present, our agency cannot provide training, information or grants for growing or processing hemp. Those with questions about hemp farming practices should contact their Clemson Cooperative Extension agent.

  • Hemp Testing Expected More Frequently in 2021

    hemp program
    File photo shows a field of industrial hemp.

    Some Georgia hemp producers were victimized this year by having their crop’s THC level exceed 0.3 level. Subsequently, the hemp was destroyed, which was the case for 11 producers.

    Tim Coolong, associate professor in the University of Georgia (UGA) College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and leader in hemp research at UGA, said he heard farmers in east Georgia who had a crop that tested hot. He believes next year that producers will test their hemp more frequently to avoid instances where the crop must be disposed of.

    Testing Benefits

    “I think certainly that anyone who tested hot this year that decides to grow again will certainly be doing it. I think for the most part, the growers that I did visit with last year understood the value of testing and how important it was,” Coolong said. “I think going into it next year, depending on how many growers we have, I think they will be a little more targeted perhaps or maybe just have a little bit better plan because they’ll have more time.”

    Coolong added that he is still waiting to see how farmers fared financially after the state’s first commercial growing season.

    “That’s obviously where, it doesn’t matter how good your yields are or quality, the bottom line is how much profit did growers make. People are still processing their product and all those sort of things right now. I’m not sure the profit levels on some of the growers I worked with,” Coolong said.

    According to the Georgia Department of Agriculture, applications for new Georgia hemp grower licenses and hemp processor permits will be accepted, beginning in January, 2021.