Tackling The Obstacles In The Hemp Market

As the rise in hemp farming increases, so do the misunderstandings, frustrations, and theft. The New York Times recently ran an article depicting the struggles and hefty costs one invests when getting into the hemp biz. Hemp may now be acceptable for smoking for pleasure, using as medical relief, or even in apparel, but it still closely resembles its illicit cousin: marijuana.

The article depicts Iris Rogers, a New York hemp farmer, struggling against thievery in her farm as well as law enforcement officials who mistake her hemp crops as marijuana.

According to the news source, “The two cannabis plants look and smell alike, but hemp has a far lower concentration of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive component, than marijuana.” The confusion has even left the trusty drug-sniffing puppers confused, leading “Police officers around the nation [that] have announced large-scale marijuana busts, only to find out later that the ‘drug’ haul was actually hemp.”

A main obstacle in differentiation is the fact that the tests law enforcement officials conduct don’t test the level of THC; more here.

“Ensuring law enforcement can differentiate between industrial hemp and its illicit cousin is critical,” Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader from Kentucky, said in September when he added language to a 2020 Senate appropriations bill directing the Drug Enforcement Administration to come up with technology that can distinguish between the two types of plants.

But where the dogs got confused, so do the thieves intent on cashing in either through unlawful sales of a farmer’s hard work or for pleasure themselves. Hemp farms now resemble security compounds, with hidden surveillance cameras amongst the stalks and sleeping farmers holding shotguns to protect the plants. More often than not, the farmers wake up to see empty holes or the hemp flower surgically snipped, of which could bring in $3-40 a pound depending on the CBD percentage.

“It is so stressful,” Rogers stated. “It really is the kind of thing only for people with strong willpower, strong stomachs, and the ability to stay positive.”Another thing that can go wrong? The hemp plants can actually overproduce THC, thereby making it illegal. When this happens, the hemp plants have “gone hot,” thus incurring a different type of loss. According to the news source, Bruce Ludovicy, who runs Hudson Valley Biomass Processors, a hemp-growing consortium, said one of his group’s farms was forced to destroy 2,000 pounds of this year’s harvest after a field tested hot. He said it was a $10,000 loss, which could be devastating for any farmer, but especially for those that have to spend thousands more on alarm systems.

Ever since Donald Trump “signed legislation legalizing its cultivation and turning oversight of the crop to the states,” hemp farms started cropping up in states across the country. Brightfield Group states that nearly 300,000 acres of industrial hemp were planted nationwide this year, nearly triple from 2018. One major reason for the huge growth could be cannabidiol.

“The change in hemp’s legal status coincided with an explosive demand for cannabidiol, or CBD, a hemp extract and a purported panacea for pain and anxiety that is put in everything from creams and tinctures to food and drink,” reported The New York Times.

However, if it’s not breaking and entering to steal for profit, it’s breaking and entering to plant. Ludovicy’s farm in Warwick, NY, had instances where intruders tended to actual marijuana plants that were planted amongst hemp plants. “They would come through in a full camouflage, complete with a spray wand and tanks,” said Ludovicy to The New York Times.

With the complications farmers now face, how will the future of hemp and CBD turn out? Subscribe to Uncle Joe’s Blog today to stay in-the-know.

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