Fostering a Well-Rounded and Sustainable Hemp Industry in the United States

There remains much to be learned about the integration of hemp into modern U.S Agriculture. Our approach will be multidisciplinary and focus on building the human and institutional capacity to conduct continued research on emerging hemp production systems. There are three main agricultural thrusts for this non-assistance cooperative agreement: 1) Agronomic production practices for different hemp uses, 2) Economic analysis of potential hemp markets and production practices, and 3) Product or by-product utilization in animal-based production systems. We will investigate the role of seed/seedling vigor and the impact of seed coatings and soil amendments on seedling establishment. Surveys will be conducted to identify major insect pests and their economic impacts on hemp production systems. The efficacy of recently labelled insecticides for hemp will be evaluated. We will identify BMPs and incorporate the costs and benefits of BMPs into enterprise budgets to be shared with growers. We will investigate traditional commodity pricing strategies and identify novel pricing strategies could be implemented for hemp marketing of grain, fiber, and essential oil components. Lastly, we propose to collect hemp biomass and by-product material from hemp growers and processors for evaluation of the nutritive value of the materials for beef cattle.