Pursuant to the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill, the U.S. Department of Agriculture was charged with issuing regulations and guidelines for use in implementing a program for the commercial production of the plant Cannabis sativa L., or industrial hemp, and any part or derivate of such plant with a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration of no more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis.
It was further mandated by the Maryland Department of Agriculture that farmers partner with institutions of higher education for hemp cultivation under a pilot program. As a result, UMES has been committed to the development of industrial hemp as a cash crop through research and outreach partnership efforts with stakeholders statewide. Thus, the university’s 2019 Industrial Hemp Pilot Research Program is underway, with 10 partners who have finalized or are in the process of finalizing formal agreements.
“We are currently in a unique situation,” said Dr. Sadanand Dhekney, associate professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology and head of the Pilot Program. “Even though industrial hemp was legalized in 2018, USDA regulations for commercial production were not finalized in time for the 2019 production season. As a result, farmers were required to partner with an institution of higher education to obtain a license for industrial hemp production. For the 2020 production season, it is anticipated that USDA regulations will be in place and farmers will no longer need to partner with universities for cultivating the crop.”
Because industrial hemp is a new crop that has the potential to provide sustainable returns to farmers, there is a critical need for the generation of sound, research-based information on the agronomy, breeding, nutrition and pest management, harvesting, and processing of it. For that reason, faculty in the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences are strategically poised to conduct research on hemp production and processing, food safety, and the development of hemp-based products and technologies. In addition, researchers at UMES are actively engaged in generating a body of knowledge that will be useful to its stakeholders for addressing any potential problems and for the successful cultivation of the crop in the Delmarva region. The School expects to actively disseminate the information through hemp plot demonstrations and field visits for farmers.
On Thursday, October 31, UMES will conduct a one-day industrial hemp conference. It will involve experts from the industry who will provide information about production and processing, marketing and laboratory analyses, and the legal and regulatory aspects governing the crop.
“We expect to educate our stakeholders through this conference, provide them with the most updated information in the field, and assist them in being nationally competitive for successful hemp production,” said Dhekney.
