Crowdsourced data impact industrial hemp operations

a hand holding a hemp plant

Crowdsourced data impact industrial hemp operations

Agricultural Systems, Story , , , , , , , , , ,

In 2018, domestic hemp production became legal in the United States for the first time in nearly 70 years. Industrial hemp can be grown to produce fiber, grain and cannabinoids. Some cannabinoids (CBD and CBG, for example) determine profitability potential, while one cannabinoid (THC) determines compliance. Growers must grow hemp crops which test below 0.3% THC to be compliant with state and federal regulation or risk crop destruction and penalties.

Through associations with university researchers and private laboratories, the Midwestern Hemp Database was constructed in April 2020. The database is a collaboration between University of Illinois Extension, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Michigan State University Extension, Indiana‘s Purdue University Extension, Rock River Laboratory and Pride Analytics on Consulting.

By recruiting 180 licensed industrial hemp growers to submit data on agronomic practices and more than 1,400 samples for cannabinoid analysis, the database collaborators effectively crowdsourced unprecedented data that influenced changes to the USDA Final Rule for the Domestic Production of Hemp regarding THC Testing and Negligence, Harvest Windows, and Exemptions for Research. These data were also used to provide evidence for raising the negligence threshold for Total THC, reducing the potential for criminal penalties for hemp growers.

View the full statement on the NIDB.

Project supported by Smith-Lever (3b&c) funds.

Related Posts

a variety of seed packets spread out on a table

Seed-sharing libraries extend plant access

A seed library is a resource where seeds are shared with community members free of charge. The North Carolina State University Extension Master Gardeners [...]

Read More
closeup of corn kernels

Iowa researchers find method to speed up new plant breeding techniques

Some of the newer techniques to speed up plant breeding, have challenges such as leaving some varieties sterile. At Iowa State University, researchers made [...]

Read More
a flooded agricultural field

Cover crops help reclaim contaminated vegetable fields

When 84 Vermont vegetable farms were flooded by heavy rains, crops were destroyed on nearly 450 acres, at an estimated loss of $4.6 million. [...]

Read More
tractor driving through a field

First local food summit energizes Kansas communities

Many communities across the state of Kansas are working to improve their local food systems. However, these efforts often lack cooperation or coordination with [...]

Read More
wildfire smoke above an Oregon forest

Efforts to effectively monitor air quality increase health awareness in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge

Wildlife smoke has become an issue in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge after two large wildfire events (in 2017 and 2020) led to record-shattering hazardous [...]

Read More
apple tree

Smaller trees produce larger yield

North Carolina ranks seventh in the nation in apple production with nearly 4 million bushels of apples — more than 150 million pounds — [...]

Read More
closeup photograph of pile of strawberries

Breeding crops tailored for the future

Food crops are constantly under attack by plant diseases and pests that result in losses in crop quantity and quality. Declines in crop health [...]

Read More
two seniors work in a garden

North Dakota program helps older adults in rural communities live independently 

North Dakota is faced with unique challenges in caring for and about its older residents. A documented shift of the state’s population from rural [...]

Read More
two scientists take samples and measurements in a field

Developing climate-friendly farming practices to reduce nitrous oxide emissions

Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that is about 300 times better at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, so even small emissions of nitrous [...]

Read More
a woman wearing PPE sprays pesticides on a tree

Proper clothes laundering lowers pesticide risk

Without proper safety precautions, pesticides may harm people. Farmers and others may become exposed to pesticides from residue on work clothing. In a survey of [...]

Read More