Billions Rotting on Hemp Farms In The Commercial Crop’s Initial Year

CBD Market Demand Is Growing Faster Than Hemp Crops Can Be Harvested…

It’s the age-old question. “What came first- the chicken or the egg?” Now, in the hugely popular and growing CBD craze, hemp crops are growing faster than farmers can harvest them. Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, is taking the world and the United States by storm. It is in the marketing spotlight and is being added to everything including cosmetics, beauty products, supplements, pain relieving creams, and lotions. Most states have even legalized its use and more are expected to follow in the near future.

Hemp has excited farmers because it could result in a profitable alternative crop to soybeans, but valuable plants are rotting because the industry is using an antiquated drying system that happens right in the fields. More hemp is being grown since congress legalized industrial hemp and CBD in 2018, to the tune of 142,691 acres, according to the Department of Agriculture – and this is only the crops that have been reported. Farmers are hustling to figure out how to profit from their new cash crop, while following all the rules set by the government. Hemp drying is the main focus and also the biggest challenge right now. The infrastructure to keep up with this boom in production simply isn’t there.

Here’s where the chicken and egg enter the picture. Yes, Congress approved hemp to be cultivated, but the Food and Drug Administration has not approved CBD for food and beverages. The requirement that hemp has to be dried quickly after harvest, so the crop is stabilized, and before CBD processing, makes it even more difficult, due to the lack of drying services. Due to these unfortunate circumstances, farmers are losing valuable crops. Delta Separations, a California-based extraction equipment manufacturer, estimated that “as much as $7.5 billion may rot in the fields.” Hemp dryers are the solution that can make a huge difference and eliminate rotting. “Our high efficiency, multi-phase H.E.M.P. dryers are specifically designed to handle the riggers of large volume, continuously and at low temperatures. They provide the effective, but gentle hemp drying system needed to keep CBD intact.”

“Hemp farmers work so hard all year, no sense tripping on the finish line.”