Photo By Matt Barton University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
“Repost from Critical Extract”
- Secure sales contracts before planting(13.4% had pre-sale contracts).
- Buy and plant high quality (high CBD/low THC), feminized seeds (70.7% planted improved genetic seeds; 75.2% planted feminized seeds).
- Grow and cultivate cost-effectively (17.7% reported performing mechanical planting and weeding).
- Use fertilizers and pesticides (16.8% reported using some combination of fertilizers and herbicides).
- Test your crop early and often (weekly) to avoid high THC (9.3% reported non-compliant THC levels).
- Cut your hemp – but don’t combine it(farmers who used combines or similar harvesting machines experienced crop CBD% down to 2-4% making it unsellable).
- Dry your hemp: If you’re located in a dry climate, let your hemp dry in the field (2.5% field dried). If you’re located in a damp climate, hang dry your hemp in a barn (74.2% barn dried) or buck/shuck the hemp wet and take it to a contract dryer in your area, if there is one.
- Separate the biomass from the stalk – don’t combine it (71.2% hand bucked). Those who combined or mechanically ground their hemp (without separating the stalk) lowered the CBD% below the point where processors would purchase it.
- Sell your biomass (16.8% sold most of crop; 11.2% average CBD content)
