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Hemp Farming Coming To Alabama But Still Months Away
The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries will work with the federal government, the governor’s office, law enforcement and others in developing a plan to authorize hemp farming and processing in the wake of the decision by Congress.
December 17, 2018
A display about products made from hemp that was shown at the Alabama State House in 2016 when lawmakers passed a bill authorizing research on growing hemp for industrial uses. (Mike Cason | mcason@al.com)
Alabamians should be able to grow and process hemp as an agricultural commodity because of the farm bill approved by Congress last week, but there are still governmental hurdles ahead before they can get started.
The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries will work with the federal government, the governor’s office, law enforcement and others in developing a plan to authorize hemp farming and processing in the wake of the decision by Congress.
Agriculture Commissioner John McMillan said it will take months to get the regulatory framework approved but said there’s strong interest and potential for hemp as a cash crop.
“Without a doubt this opens the door for I think great potential for our producers in Alabama to add another cash crop to their options,” McMillan said. The commissioner said hemp farming on a significant scale probably can’t happen in Alabama before the 2020 growing season.
On Dec. 12, Congress passed the 2018 Agriculture and Nutrition Act, usually called the farm bill. The law, which still awaited President Trump’s signature on Monday, changes the legal status of hemp from a controlled substance to an agricultural commodity.
Hemp is related to the marijuana plant. But hemp contains far smaller amounts of THC, the intoxicating substance in marijuana, and is valued for the use of its fiber. Hemp stalks and hemp seeds are used to make a wide array of products, including fabric, fiber board, carpeting, insulation, livestock feed and automobile components such as door panels and insulation.
McMillan said the reclassification of hemp was widely expected in the agriculture community, partly because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell supported the change because of the industry’s potential in his home state of Kentucky.
The commissioner expects the federal government to require states to submit a regulatory plan that passes muster with law enforcement.
“Even though the farm bill makes it a commodity, it’s still different from these other commodities because of the illegal potential,” McMillan said. “So, we anticipate for sure that the Board of Agriculture is going to require us to have the known locations where it’s being grown, testing procedures to be sure it’s legal, and then procedures on how it will be disposed of if the tests determine it’s not legal.”
Federal law had previously allowed states to authorize research on hemp farming and the Alabama Legislature passed a bill to do so in 2016. McMillan said no hemp is being grown in Alabama as part of such a research project because of the long process of getting regulations approved by the federal government. But he said that process is finished and should be applicable to creating a regulatory framework for hemp production under the new authorization in the farm bill.
McMillan said he has recommended to the staff of Gov. Kay Ivey that the governor put together a working group or task force to make sure Agriculture & Industries, law enforcement and other agencies and groups have a part in crafting a uniform state plan.
Hemp is also a source for cannabidiol, a substance some people take to as a treatment for physical ailments. Cannabidiol can also be derived from marijuana and the Alabama Legislature has carved out limited exceptions to the law against marijuana possession for the use of cannabidiol.
Last week, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall put out an updated public notice on the legal status of cannabidiol in the wake of the farm bill and the change in the designation of hemp by Congress.
McMillan said he expects a request to the Legislature for additional funding and resources to administer a hemp program.
McMillan is completing his second term as agriculture commissioner and will take office as state treasurer in January. McMillan said incoming Commissioner Rick Pate will be up to speed on the hemp program and said he does not expect the changeover to delay the process.
US (NM): Cannabis Provider Unveils 8.7 Million sq.ft. Facility
Ultra Health acquired 200 acres of farmland in Otero County, New Mexico to support the state’s growing medical cannabis program. At over 8.7 million square feet, the campus will be the largest cannabis cultivation facility in North America.
The new cultivation site also anticipates the legalization of cannabis for social use and large-scale hemp production in New Mexico. The facility will have the capacity to accommodate other New Mexico licensed producers and adjust to market and regulatory demands.
Ultra Health Tularosa will employ 100 local residents and house the nation’s most diverse cannabis cultivation operation. The new site will include 20 acres of indoor cultivation in 20 air-supported, wind-assisted style greenhouses, 80 acres of outdoor cannabis fields, 100 acres of outdoor hemp fields, and 120,000 square feet of production buildings.
"Two-hundred acres represents the largest cannabis grow in North America that I know of," said Hunter Wilson, Community Builder at Growers Network, a private community for cannabis professionals. "The next largest clocks in at 55 acres, not even close. From the looks of it, Ultra Health isn’t putting all their eggs in one basket. They're future-proofing their site for a diverse consumer base in New Mexico, and potentially the U.S."
The campus will blend modern agribusiness and green technologies including solar, wind and rainwater harvesting. In addition, the sustainable site will be supplemented with secured water rights of 1,000 acre-feet of water, or the equivalent of 325.9 million gallons of water per year. Addressing water requirements is a requisite to any long-term successful cultivation effort.
“Ultra Health Tularosa was conceived to solve a challenge and to seize an opportunity,” said Duke Rodriguez, CEO, and President of Ultra Health. “This new facility will ensure the commitment of continuing to produce and deliver the highest quality, most affordable and convenient cannabis in the State. The opportunity exists to have a ready solution to address the increasing need as we move forward to the social use of cannabis by adults and the commercial production of hemp.”
Residents and officials in Otero County highly anticipate and are supportive of the opening of Ultra Health Tularosa.
“Your company has thoughtfully considered the issues that we would be concerned about–security, water supply, the impact on neighboring properties,” The Board of County Commissions of Otero County wrote to Ultra Health in a signed letter. “Ultra Health appears to us to be a responsible, concerned corporate citizen. Your company will bring much-needed jobs and economic development to our county and we offer our support to your project.”
For more information:
Ultra Health
ultrahealth.com
2018
The Age Of Hemp: Global Advanced Industrial Applications
The Age Of Hemp: Global Advanced Industrial Applications
Giadha De Carcer is Founder/CEO of New Frontier Data, an independent, tech-driven analytics company specializing in global cannabis markets.
Getty
Hemp, the non-psychoactive variety of the cannabis sativa plant, is already being integrated into several mature markets such as food, textiles, construction, personal care and nutraceuticals. This relatively quiet cannabis relative is emerging as a potential commodity ripe to not only impact, but possibly revolutionize, tech-driven markets and economies around the world.
In 2014, I founded New Frontier Data, an analytics and business intelligence reporting group dedicated to the global cannabis industry, after more than 20 years in finance, industry analytics, intelligence reporting and emerging markets. As such, I have had the privilege of following hemp’s emergence and evolution. Half a decade later, this robust, environmentally friendly, low -cost-to-produce plant has become one of the most diversely applied and globally significant natural resources in the world. Here is a look at its applications across several mature industries:
Automotive
In 2013, BMW announced its newest electric car, the i3. Using low-weight hemp in its interior, the i3 weighs 800 pounds less than its market competitors. The Kestrel, created by Canadian Motive Industries, uses polymer resin-infused hemp stalks to replace fiberglass in the body of the vehicle. From this replacement, consumers can expect a dramatic reduction in weight, improved efficiency and the appeal of an ecologically sustainable vehicle.
Supercapacitors
The challenge to find lighter and longer-lasting energy storage devices (e.g., batteries) can be found in almost every sector. Hemp could prove to revolutionize battery life by aiding in the development of faster, smaller and cheaper supercapacitors. A supercapacitor is an energy storage device that can discharge powerful infusions of energy, needed only in small bursts. Such powerful discharges are used in braking systems of electric vehicles, the powering on of computers and new technologies such as rapid phone charging or cordless tools.
The current top-performing supercapacitors use graphene. However, in 2004, Dr. David Mitlin of Clarkson University and researchers at the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT), discovered that hemp-based supercapacitors outperformed graphene supercapacitors in energy storage by nearly 200%.
The downsides of graphene are its dwindling sources and costly process to mine and import from rural areas in China and India. Hemp, however, can be grown in almost any terrain or country, and produces hemp bast, the key material used to replace graphene, as a waste byproduct of hemp processing. According to Mitlin’s research, hemp processing is 1,000 times cheaper than graphene processing.
Soil Regeneration
Hemp has the ability to mitigate the toxin transfer from contaminated soil into food products. This process uses phytoremediation, an organic process where toxins are absorbed by plant roots and then stored in the cellulose for disposal. Hemp phytoremediation became more well-known after the Chernobyl disaster for its use in helping grow crops that are safe for consumption.
Challenges
Hemp’s greatest obstacle is its association with psychoactive cannabis, despite the important distinction that hemp contains only nominal amounts (no more than 0.3%) of the psychoactive ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Although the U.S. is the largest importer of hemp products according to the Hemp Business Journal (a New Frontier Data subsidiary), hemp itself has struggled to gain social acceptance in the country and elsewhere. For instance, current U.S. legislation only permits universities and states performing agricultural or academic research to cultivate hemp. However, the 2018 Farm Bill currently in Congress would grant hemp full legalization across the nation. Passage of this bill would be a key step in promoting public acceptance in the U.S. and elsewhere, allowing the country to participate in the rapidly growing global hemp market.
Africa And China: The Rise Of Global Hemp Markets
Hemp is legally cultivated in countries around the world, and China is leading the way. As detailed in a High Times article, China produces approximately 44,000 tons annually, almost 40% of the world’s total. According to that same article, Chile is South America’s largest producer, and France is Europe’s most proliferate producer.
China is also positioning itself to become the world’s leading semiconductor and microchip producer. Under an initiative called Made in China 2025, the country announced its intention to dominate technologies such as industrial robots and software, electromobility and more.
The way I see it, the marriage of China’s position as the world’s supplier of hemp -- and its burgeoning semiconductor industry -- could be the key to China’s hegemony over the microchip industry. Semiconductors are traditionally made using silicon. Graphene semiconductors, however, could one day lead to computers that are a thousand times faster, consume significantly less power and are smaller than silicon semiconductors used in computer transistors. In application, graphene’s dwindling supply and costly manufacturing issues would still exist. Putting this all together, Mitlin’s research has sparked interest in the potential for hemp to create the next-generation semiconductor.
Approximately 65% of sub-Saharan Africa’s agricultural land is degraded, according to data collected in 2015, resulting in food insecurity and a declining economy in a region where the agricultural industry employs more than half of the total labor force. Hemp’s soil nutrient replenishing properties could be the key to reviving crop production, providing a novel food source (hemp seeds) and boosting the agro-based economies of South Africa and other hemp-cultivating sub-Saharan countries.
The U.S. hemp-derived CBD market alone is projected to reach $450 million by 2020, and China's cannabis market could grow to 100 billion yuan by 2022 (approximately $14.5 billion). Hemp is already interwoven into the futures of the automotive, construction, energy, environmental mediation and technology industries. Once fully utilized and legal, this plant could impact the global economic positionings of North America, China and Africa.
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Giadha De Carcer is Founder/CEO of New Frontier Data, an independent, tech-driven analytics company specializing in global cannabis markets.