News
The News category provides comprehensive reporting on the most significant internal updates and industry-wide announcements impacting the industrial hemp sector. This resource covers a wide range of essential topics, including state-level regulatory changes, research breakthroughs from Michigan universities, and strategic shifts within the marketplace. By offering consistent and accurate information, this category ensures that industry stakeholders remain prepared to respond to the complexities of a rapidly growing bio-economy.
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Michigan Hemp Harvest Comes In, With Farmers High On Its Potential
by Dave Crabill
/ November 11, 2019
While the rest of you stoners have been drooling over the dawning era of legal weed, Michigan’s hemp farmers just pulled their first legal crop of cannabis’ sober first cousin. And they have big plans for the future.
Long awaited USDA Industrial Hemp Growing Rules are released. Michigan is excited for the future of growing hemp.
โPeople say you can just cast your seed on the ground and this stuff is going to grow, that it will grow like a weed, for all intents and purposes, you donโt have to do anything. Most of those things are a misnomer and misinformation when you are looking at producing this crop for a commercial endeavor,โ said Davidย CONNERย of the Paw Paw Hemp Company. He was speaking today at a media roundtable sponsored by iHemp Michigan, an organization of growers and processors.
Hemp Farmers Working Through First Michigan Harvest
Hundreds of growers participating in the stateโs hemp pilot program are starting the physically demanding harvest process where most of the profit could come from the flower, which is used for CBD products that have blown up in popularity during the last year especially.
The leading statewide trade association representing industrial hemp today hosted a roundtable to review Michiganโs pilot hemp season and discuss the highs and lows of the stateโs newest agricultural commodity.
The roundtable, hosted by iHemp Michigan, featured regulators, farmers, processors and product manufacturers representing just a few of the many uses for industrial hemp โ ranging from CBD oil to high-tech plastics.
iHemp Michigan was launched prior to the passing of the 2018 US Farm Bill and the timing of our first event couldnโt have been better in January 2019. Since then we have hosted events in St Johns, Bad Axe, and Lansing. For the last couple of months, we have been communicating with members through email and phone calls to share resources and knowledge to get planted.
Michigan was poised to take advantage of the 2018 US Farm Bill with the legislation passed in 2014, so we are off and running! MDARD released their Industrial Hemp Ag Pilot Program for the 2019 season and report that as of June 7th there have been 331 Grower Registration and 223 Processor-Handler licenses issued with more in the pipeline. There are 615 โgrowing locationsโ in Michigan that total over 25,000 acres!
MSU Extension has recently released an introductory bulletin about growing industrial hemp in Michigan,ย E3402 Industrial Hemp Production in Michigan.ย This effort has been led by Dr. Kurt Thelen.ย Other people involved in this effort are; Chris DiFonzo, Erin Burns, Marty Chilvers, Dean Baas, James DeDecker, Brooke Wilke, Marilyn Thelen, Eric Anderson. The bulletin can be found on theย MSU Hemp Production website.ย
About sixty people interested in hemp attended the educational seminar in Benton Harbor. Many in the room are iHemp members. Eric reviewed the history and uses along with some interesting economic data that I will share. Chris Veley from Material Control Solutions, LLC explained his chipping equipment and the benefits of chipping prior to processing to maximize CBD extraction.
While many turn to CBD to avoid the many side effects of traditional medicine, you have to wonder what is in the CBD your buying. There have been many well-covered studies that show that CBD product labeling falls well short of the mark. Who can you trust? Understanding the labeling and finding products with clear third-party testing will help.