CSU researchers test hemp’s hardiness in US

Somewhere in Northern Colorado, just starting to peek out above the corn stalks that surround it, is an often misunderstood and recently approved test crop.

Colorado State University is starting to research hemp, a plant with practical uses but which is also the same species as marijuana, cannabis sativa.

CSU researchers planted 17 varieties of hemp on just less than a half acre on June 6. CSU is using the same protocols as a research project underway in Europe.

“We’re sort of piggybacking onto that as our first foray into working on hemp,” said John McKay, associate professor of plant evolutionary genetics in CSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences. “The Colorado Department of Agriculture worked with the researchers in Europe as well as negotiated with federal agencies to import the seed on our behalf.

“We’re basically looking to see, overall, how does this plant grow? (And) How does this plant grow in Colorado — because we can compare it to their data.”

Conducting hemp research is permitted under the Agricultural Act (Farm Bill) of 2014, though the United States is the only developed country in the world where domestic hemp production has been outlawed.

Industrial hemp is botanically the same as marijuana, but differs in that it contains less than 0.3 percent THC, the psychoactive compound found in marijuana.

So, while CSU prefers that the exact location of the trial is kept discreet to keep the curious from breaking stalks and dislodging seeds, anyone looking for the hemp for its THC value would be extremely disappointed.

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The College of Agricultural Sciences works with the Colorado Department of Agriculture to manage the crops, in part because the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration considers hemp to be the same as marijuana and classifies it as a Schedule 1 narcotic crop.

“While this emerging industry faces a number of unique challenges, such as its legal landscape on a federal level, Colorado’s hemp farmers are becoming national leaders in their industry,” said Don Brown, Colorado’s commissioner of agriculture.

According to votehemp.com, Colorado is among 26 states that have defined hemp as distinct and removed barriers to its production, and is one of seven states that has research crops planted in accordance with an amendment to the Farm Bill written by U.S. Rep. Jared Polis.

“I’m thrilled that CSU will finally begin investigating the properties of industrial hemp, a crop with enormous economic and agricultural promise,” Polis said. “Hemp is used in products ranging from foods and cosmetics to cars and fuel, and I’m confident that CSU’s leadership in agriculture will lead to new innovations in efficiency and certified seed.

“Hemp is an agricultural commodity, not a drug, and I’ll continue working to improve the legal framework for industrial hemp so that researchers, entrepreneurs, and consumers can fully realize its potential.”

Hemp hadn’t been grown in large amounts in the United States since 1957, according to votehemp.com. Growing it without a federal permit was banned in 1970. Colorado, Kentucky and Vermont farmers harvested hemp crops last fall.

Because a half century has passed since hemp was last grown in large quantities, research such as that being done by CSU is needed proponents say. CSU has another variety trial underway on land in southwest Colorado.

Among other things, McKay’s group is trying to determine which varieties might be best suited to Colorado. Hemp is grown in a manner similar to irrigated corn, and the trial grow is also irrigated.

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“Certainly some (varieties) are doing better than others, and some are doing poorly enough that they wouldn’t do well, on average, in any year,” McKay said. “Some are producing a lot more stalk and biomass. So it depends what the market would be … if you were a farmer and you grew this crop, who would you sell it to, someone who was interested in the fiber or someone who is interested in the grain?

“Some of these varieties are producing more grain, some more fiber, so we can start to get a handle on that.”

Traditionally, hemp is often thought of as being used for rope, but it has hundreds of other uses.

According to the Hemp Industries Association, hemp fiber, oil seed and flowers can be used for health foods, dietary supplements, cosmetics and body care products, building materials, automobile parts, bio-composites, batteries, biofuels, textiles, papers and others.

HIA market research estimates that in 2011, sales of all hemp products in the United States was $452 million, including sales of hemp foods of $43.5 million.

McKay said that the U.S. has lost its market share of natural fiber crops over the last 100 years, to production and processing in countries with cheaper labor like India and China.

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“So it is unlikely that millions of acres of hemp will be grown for textiles anytime soon,” he said. “But there is some interest and investment going into higher tech applications of fiber. At present, the U.S. imports lots of hemp grain from Canada to produce health food (oil and protein) for humans.”

The possibility for good results in Colorado appears to exist, though potentially one of the wettest years on record in the state may have contributed to the trial’s success.

“As a whole the species is pretty vigorous, and nothing is eating it,” McKay said. “We’re not allowed to treat it with anything (pesticide). … But since this (hemp) hasn’t been grown here, there aren’t organisms sitting around waiting to eat it.”

Harvest time would likely require additional equipment for farmers with a lot of hemp, McKay said.

“For the European varieties growing here, it’s unclear exactly how to harvest them,” he said. “These would end up looking different if you grew them in the Ukraine, because of the latitude, the day length and the climate.

“Wherever these have been bred for, they have some system for planting and harvesting. For Colorado, they’re pretty large and most farmers don’t have the infrastructure to deal with them.”

McKay said the project, funded by CSU’s Agricultural Experiment Station, cost about $10,000. Another trial next year is possible, he said.

“We would need to re-import the seed from these varieties,” McKay said. “Now that we’ve done it once, I presume it will be smoother next time.

“We’re still figuring out funding for it. All of our other projects here are funded largely by federal grants, and that’s not an option with this.”