Industrial hemp, an infant crop heading for its first year under national regulations, is likely be a small player in the farm sector, with a future like a rodeo ride, said panelists at the Ag Outlook Forum on Thursday. “This is going to be a rough-and-tumble ride,” said Tyler Mark, associate professor at the University of Kentucky. “There are losers in this. There will be winners.”
“Rough and tumble is putting it mildly,” agreed Steve Silverman, Colorado’s deputy agriculture commissioner. Colorado is one of the leading hemp states, with about 90,000 registered acres in 2019. Still, many growers say it is a challenge to make money on the crop.
Hemp, which can be grown virtually anywhere, has attracted attention with reports of high returns for CBD oil, which is pressed from the plant’s leaves. Hemp can also be used in apparel, biocomposites, food, and livestock rations.
“This is the one crop we all have the opportunity to participate in,” said Geoff Whaling, chairman of the National Hemp Association. Yet many aspects of the industry are still in development, from reliable sources of seed, to equipment to harvest plants that can grow more than 10 feet tall, to a network of buyers. “We don’t have many of those answers yet.”
Whaling said automakers are interested in hemp, which can be woven into fabric or used in strong, lightweight panels. The industry could consume a million acres of hemp, he said, if a steady and affordable supply were available.
Although there is broad interest in hemp, a USDA report suggested this week that it was likely to become a specialty crop, concentrated in a few states, with a production volume dwarfed by such mainstays as corn, soybeans, and wheat, which are projected to cover 224 million acres this year. By comparison, growers reported planting 165,065 acres of hemp to USDA local offices last year.
The states most active in hemp so far tend to be those not dominated by the mainstay crops. Mark listed Kentucky, Montana, Oregon, and Colorado as the states with the largest plantings under the hemp research and pilot projects authorized by the 2014 farm law. The 2018 farm law legalized hemp cultivation, with the USDA to oversee state regulators to assure uniform standards.
So far, the USDA has approved six state and seven tribal plans to regulate hemp producers, said Stephen Vaden, the USDA’s top lawyer. The Agricultural Marketing Service “anticipates approving more applications in the weeks to come,” said Vaden.