Field-Scale Production of Industrial Hemp

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L. var. sativa) has been propagated as a commodity crop in several countries for the last 20+ years.  Specifically, Canada and the EU have modern and active hemp industries producing grain/seed, fiber, and/or cannabinoids.  Conversely, the industrial hemp industry in the U.S. is essentially non-existent relative to the scales present in other countries.  Research with industrial hemp as a commodity crop in the U.S. began in 2014.  Since that time, interest and investments in the U.S. industry have increased annually 2014-2016 along with agronomic research efforts.  We rely heavily on the expertise of scientists and practitioners from Canada and the EU as the U.S. industry evolves.  With the sharing of knowledge from colleagues from across the globe, the University of Kentucky (UK) has moved forward with multiple studies with industrial hemp, likely representing the largest field-based research effort in the U.S.  This presentation will outline the 2016 agronomic research efforts at UK as well as provide information derived from 2015 research work.  Information presented will focus on agronomic factors contributing to optimizing field-scale production models for all of the harvestable components of industrial hemp.