The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Monday that its final rule on hemp is moving ahead as-is for implementation March 22.

This comes after the USDA announced in late January, after President Joe Biden was sworn into office, that the final rule was under review.  

The final rule implements generally favorable changes for the hemp industry from the USDA’s interim final rule, including an increase in the hemp sampling window, flexibility in sampling standards and additional options for hot hemp disposal. The rule, however, retains some aspects many in the industry hoped to see amended - namely the 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) limit in hemp. (Changing that, however, requires an act of Congress and is out of the USDA’s purview.)

The USDA did delay one especially contentious aspect of the final rule: the requirement that hemp testing labs will need to be registered by the DEA, which has been pushed until December 2022. 

“The NIHC [National Industrial Hemp Council] would be in favor of a delayed enforcement of specific provisions regarding sampling and testing,” Larry Farnsworth, the spokesperson for the NIHC, said in a statement. “...“We do need regulatory certainty and NIHC appreciates what USDA is doing.  The benefit of delayed enforcement of specific provisions is that it keeps the rule in place, allowing everyone to move forward, without forcing regulators and the industry to implement costly and uncertain methodologies that would no longer be needed with the new legislation.”

Farnsworth pointed out that the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) recently voted in support of changing the total THC limit in hemp to 1% at the federal level. 

He added that “legislation on Capitol Hill is likely to follow. This would complicate the USDA’s efforts to implement those specific provisions.”  

In late December, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan (HEMP) Act of 2020 to increase the THC limit in hemp to 1%.

Today is International Women’s Day—an opportunity to celebrate women have chosen to challenge the status quo, helping break down barriers for themselves and others. It’s also a moment where we look toward the future with hope for all the more we can achieve for women around the world by working together.

Each year on March 8, we honor this tradition by highlighting the women of Cannabis Conference, an impressive roster of women shattering glass ceilings, making space for themselves and other notable women in the burgeoning cannabis industry.  

This listing is just a start. As we continue to announce speakers for Cannabis Conference (Aug. 24-26, 2021, at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino), there will be plenty more women innovators, leaders, entrepreneurs and trailblazers to highlight—so keep an eye on CannabisConference.com for continued updates to our speaker roster.

Bennett

Theresa Bennett

Editor, Hemp Grower

Theresa Bennett is editor of Hemp Grower. She joined HG and Cannabis Business Times as associate editor in November 2019 after working for GIE Media’s Recycling Group of magazines. Prior to her time with GIE, Bennett was the K-12 education reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal. Bennett is also a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Modern Farmer and newspapers across the country.

Boyajian

Salpy Boyajian

Executive Vice President / Board Chairman, Flower One

Salpy Boyajian joined Flower One in October of 2018 following the acquisition of NLV Organics (NLVO), a renowned consumer brand and luxury cultivator she co-founded in 2014. Boyajian now serves as the company’s Executive Vice President and Board Chairman, having previously held the title of Chief Operating Officer. Before entering the cannabis space, she served as the Mental Health Director for several leading non-profits in Los Angeles, ultimately founding her own non-profit organization before relocating to Nevada.

Goldsberry

Debby Goldsberry
Executive Director, Magnolia Wellness, FLOR
Co-Founder, Berkeley Patients Group collective 

Debby Goldsberry is executive director at Magnolia Wellness, an award-winning dispensary in Oakland, Calif., and the managing director of the Berkeley Community Care Center dispensary at Amoeba Music. She co-founded the Berkeley Patients Group (BPG) medical cannabis collective in 1999, directing its growth for more than 11 years. In 2017, Goldsberry published her first book, “Idiot’s Guide: Starting and Running a Marijuana Business.”

Kowalski

Emily Kowalski
Vice President of Cultivation, LeafLine Labs

Emily Kowalski is the Vice President of Cultivation at LeafLine Labs, LLC, one of two medical cannabis companies serving the patients of Minnesota. She utilizes her 10-plus years of experience in propagation, greenhouse production, and outdoor nursery production to cultivate consistent, healthy cannabis in LeafLine’s state-of-the-art indoor facility. Kowalski never settles for status quo and digs deep into data to drive quality and efficiency within her operation.

Neiden Tomaselli

Cassie Neiden Tomaselli

Conference Programming Director, Cannabis Conference

Contributing Editor, Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Grower

Cassie Neiden Tomaselli is a media professional with 10+ years’ experience generating print, web, video and podcast content for both trade and consumer markets. She now serves as Conference Programming Director for Cannabis Conference, where she works with the event’s Advisory Board and editorial teams from Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Grower to craft high-quality education for industry events. Previously, Neiden Tomaselli served as Director of Marketing & Communications for Firelands Scientific, an Ohio-based medical cannabis company.

Ratliff

Alisia Ratliff, PMP
Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Victus Capital Ventures, LLC

Alisia Ratliff, the CEO of Victus Capital Ventures and licensed project management professional, is a technical conference speaker, esteemed author, and ambitious entrepreneur. Possessing over 14 years of leadership experience expanding over several industries—Ratliff effectively manages technical and executive teams cross-departmentally while simultaneously overseeing all business operations, including supply chain, manufacturing, laboratory operations and product formulation. Ratliff helps her clients avoid repeating failed business models and implement sustainable business strategies no matter the ever-changing regulatory environment.

Ruscitto

Andriana Ruscitto

Assistant Editor, Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary, Hemp Grower

Andriana Ruscitto was hired as an associate editor for Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Grower in January 2021. Before joining GIE, Ruscitto attended Kent State University, where she worked in the university communications and marketing department, writing stories for the Kent State Today.

Schiller

Melissa Schiller

Senior Digital Editor, Cannabis Business Times & Cannabis Dispensary

Melissa Schiller joined the Cannabis Business Times team as an Assistant Digital Editor in June 2017 and now serves as Senior Digital Editor. Previously, she worked as an Audience Development Associate for GIE Media’s Ornamental Group of publications, where she managed the circulation for Cannabis Business Times, Garden Center, Nursery Management, and Greenhouse Management. She has also worked as a contributing writer and editorial assistant for a community newspaper and as a freelance writer for Northeast Ohio Media Group and Modern Tire Dealer.

Shreeve

Anna Shreeve
President, Urban Paragon, Inc., Targeted Intent, Inc., and The Bakeréé

Anna Shreeve is President of Urban Paragon, Inc., Targeted Intent, Inc., and The Bakeréé. Shreeve entered the medical cannabis industry seven years ago with her son, and she and her team opened The Baker, a division of Cookie Fam Genetics, a collaboration with legendary breeder “Jigga.” Shreeve’s group holds two recreational producer/processor licenses in Washington, and a recreational retail/processor license in Oregon.

Simakis

Michelle Simakis

Editor, Cannabis Business Times

Michelle Simakis is editor of Cannabis Business Times. She joined GIE Media in 2012 and most recently served as editor of Garden Center magazine, the leading trade publication covering the independent garden retail market. Under her direction, Garden Center expanded its Top 100 Independent Garden Centers List by devoting an entire issue to telling the stories of the leaders and companies ranked on the list. She also helped to launch the Garden Center Executive Summit, the educational conference for key-decision makers in the industry, and recently developed a the only daily e-newsletter in the market.

Skodzinski

Noelle Skodzinski

Editorial Director, Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary, Hemp Grower, Cannabis Conference

Noelle Skodzinski has 25+ years of publishing experience. She co-founded Cannabis Business Times with previous owner Tim Hermes in 2014. She has been named among the Top 50 Most Influential Women in Cannabis. Previously, she held numerous editorial leadership roles, including serving as editorial director of the Publishing Group at North American Publishing Co., where she oversaw two national business magazines, all digital content products, as well as the annual Publishing Business Conference and related events. In 2018 and 2020, Skodzinski was named one of the “Top Women in Media” by Folio.  

Wiseman

Hope Wiseman
Owner, Mary & Main Dispensary

Born and raised in Prince George’s County, Md., Hope Wiseman has always been passionate about serving her community. After spending a year at SunTrust as an Equity Institutional Sales Analyst, Wiseman decided to continue striving for excellence by pursuing her dreams of entrepreneurship. In Fall 2017, Wiseman became the youngest Black woman dispensary owner in the United States with the opening of Mary & Main dispensary in Prince George’s County, Maryland. She has been featured in Black Enterprise, Huffington Post, Blavity, and Cannabis Dispensary. Wiseman is also a speaker and consultant to those looking to enter the industry.

Texas has thawed out from the snow and freezing cold wave that hit it in mid-February, but the damage caused by the weather remains.

This week, Cannabis Business Times Editor Michelle Simakis told the story of Eddie Velez, CEO of Oak Cliff Cultivars based in Brady, Texas, who lost his entire hemp crop that was just a month out from harvest. “We were in the flower stage by the time the storm hit. They were looking healthy, and they were doing great,” Velez told Hemp Grower. “And then that freeze just zapped them. I mean, it just knocked them all out.”

Despite the total loss, Velez remains optimistic about the future of the company. Read more

Meanwhile, Hemp Grower Managing Editor Patrick Williams spoke this week with Amber Littlejohn, the executive director for the Minority Cannabis Business Association, about the importance of strengthening small businesses and businesses owned by people of color and how it can be done. Read the Q&A here.

In other news…

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans to solicit hemp production data and other information from upwards of 20,000 licensed growers in an apparent effort to better understand the emerging marketplace. The public comment period is open on this request, which was filed with the Federal Register. Read more

• Marijuana Company of America has announced that its California-based subsidiary, hempSMART, has entered into a non-exclusive logistics and distribution agreement with Fulfillment.com, an order fulfillment company serving high-volume national and global ecommerce brands. The company will initially target the U.S., the U.K. and the Netherlands. Read more

• Idaho’s House Agricultural Affairs Committee has delayed voting on House Bill 126, which would have legalized hemp production, processing and transportation in the state. Read more

• The Illinois Department of Agriculture has released the state’s final hemp harvest numbers for the 2020 growing season, reporting 802 licensed hemp growers for the year, up 23% from 2019. Read more

• Cannabis Conference, taking place August 24-26, 2021, at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, has announced its education program. The program includes 45+ sessions within four education tracks that will provide actionable takeaways about the most pressing issues plant-touching businesses currently face in the cannabis industry. Read more

• Canopy Growth Corporation, a diversified cannabis, hemp and vaporization device company, has entered the U.S. CBD beverage category with the launch of Quatreau, a premium ready-to-drink CBD-infused sparkling water. Read more

Hemp-derived CBD was somewhat of a stranger at that time, but the non-psychoactive cannabinoid’s popularity catapulted a multi-billion-dollar market that not only includes tinctures, oils and vapes, but also CBD-infused drinks, topicals and edibles. The overall U.S. CBD market reached $4.2 billion in sales in 2019, according to a report by the Brightfield Group, a resource organization with artificial intelligence-driven consumer insights.

But as U.S. farmers made a rush to meet the hyped demand for CBD, prices plunged. Market saturation resulted in warehouses and barns full of unsold supply throughout the country. In Minnesota, 74.4% of hemp acres planted in 2019 were meant for CBD extraction, while grain-type hemp represented 25.2% and fiber represented 0.4%, according to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) annual report.

*Source: Minnesota Department of Agriculture

But with price drops in the 2019 CBD market, an alarming amount of biomass went unsold. Even in February 2021, some plant material from two seasons ago has yet to be processed. Responding to that market saturation, Minnesotans shifted their focus to grain hemp, which represented 48% of acres planted in 2020, while CBD dropped to 38% of acres planted, fiber grew to 9% and cannabigerol (CBG) represented 5%, according to that year’s annual report.

RELATED: Interest in Hemp Fiber Rising as Farmers Look to 2021

Jeremy Saueressig, the owner of SporoBio, a farm-to-table hemp company in Hastings, just southeast of Minneapolis, that specializes in farming, consulting, processing and product development, kicked off his first grow in 2019, partnering with a half-dozen farmers to plant more than 100 acres of CBD-type hemp, from which they ended up harvesting about 80 acres because some fields grew hot, he says.

“We probably overproduced,” Saueressig says. “We’re still monetizing the crop from ‘19 now. We’re still actually processing ‘19 crop. It was just unbelievable how much biomass we had from that. I mean, we’ve processed quite a bit of 2020 crop too, but there’s still 2019 around. People still have it, which is crazy.”

Overall, Minnesota’s 4,690 acres planted outdoors in 2020 was a 36.2% decrease from the 7,353 acres planted in 2019. Also, there were 444 licensed growers in 2020—71 fewer than in 2019.

Multiple factors played a role in those decreases, including, but not limited to, crops testing above the legal tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) limit of 0.3%, as well as the market saturation, says Tony Cortilet, the MDA industrial hemp program supervisor.

“A lot of [growers] might not have gotten licensed again in 2020 because they probably got hit pretty hard,” Cortilet says. “And that also probably caused some issues between buyers and sellers, with them going into 2019 with high expectations and promises of, ‘Hey, if you grow this much hemp, bring it to me and I’ll buy it for “X” amount.’ And then those prices couldn’t be honored once the fall came around because of the midsummer price slumps.”  

Hemp biomass prices were fetching more than $4 per percentage point of CBD content per pound in July 2019, according to three PanXchange benchmarks—covering Colorado, Kentucky and Oregon. But as the U.S. supply roughly quadrupled from 2018 to 2019, the trading value dipped. By November 2019, after farmers harvested their crops, biomass transacted in the range of $0.80 to $1.40 per percentage point of CBD content per pound, according to PanXchange.

RELATED: November 2019 Hemp Market Update: PanXchange Benchmark Pricing

In other words, if growers had 100 pounds of plant material with 10% CBD content, a processor contract at $1 per percentage point would be worth $1,000—much less than $4,000 at $4 per percentage point.

Sam Egger | sporobio.com

Launching his operation in 2019, Saueressig says the input costs at SporoBio were more than $12,000 an acre, depending heavily on sourcing genetics and obtaining the proper certificates of analysis. The average yield for CBD hemp biomass was 1,039 pounds per acre for Minnesota farmers in 2019, according to MDA. Above the curve, SporoBio’s machine-harvested yield can produce upward of 4,000 pounds per acre, Saueressig says. For hand-bucketed yields, SporoBio expects around 2,000 pounds per acre, he says.

Sam Egger | sporobio.com

On the lower end—2,000 pounds per acre for hand-bucketed yields—SporoBio would have had in the vicinity of 160,000 pounds of biomass from the roughly 80 acres it harvested in 2019.

If 20 acres grew hot—or tested above the 0.3% allowable THC limit—that was the equivalent to roughly $240,000 in lost input costs for SporoBio in 2019, as well as the equivalent of more than $400,000 in lost trading value, based on a benchmark of $1 per percentage point of CBD content. (Although, SporoBio does its own processing, including extraction, so biomass trading value isn’t as relevant as it would be if Saueressig was trying to sell his raw materials.)

“Overall, I thought it was a great, great learning year,” Saueressig says. “It sucked for the guys that went hot, and we kind of coordinated it where we formed a six-person co-op because we didn’t know who was going to fail or who would grow big, and that’s how we’re dividing up all the sales now, is just equally among the acres of the growers. So, nobody lost their shirt yet.”

In 2020, Saueressig says SporoBio just about halved its input costs at roughly $6,000 an acre. His goal in 2021 is to further reduce his input costs to $2,000 an acre, leaving him a much greater margin for profits. And, of course, preventing crops from growing hot helps too.

*Source: Minnesota Department of Agriculture

In 2020, the MDA collected 762 samples from hemp growers. Of those, 77 tested above the 0.3% THC threshold, which is a 10% failure rate. In 2019, the failure rate was 13%. That downward trend is promising, Cortilet says, but it’s also a result of more farmers shifting their business models to incorporate grain, fiber and CBG.

Photo courtesy of MDA 

In 2020, hemp varieties grown for grain tested at 0.06% THC, on average, in Minnesota, while CBG tested at 0.11% THC and fiber tested at 0.22% THC, according to the MDA annual report. Meanwhile, hemp grown for CBD tested at 0.32% THC on average—a 0.03% increase from 2019. In other words, farmers have a much better rate of remaining compliant with grain, fiber and CBG.

“It’s unfortunate if you’re in that [10%] failure rate,” says Cortilet, whose department is in charge of the state-administered tests.

“We need remediation at some level,” he says. “This is going to kill the industry, you know, forcing a person, who has no intent of growing marijuana, as defined, and they buy their seed thinking everything’s great. Then they put it in the ground, and something happens beyond their control. Why should they be penalized financially like that? We don’t do that for any other crop.”

Before SporoBio launched its hemp operation in 2019, Saueressig says he partnered with Grain Handler, a Minnesota-based manufacturer of equipment used in the post-harvest processing of multiple types of grain. The company also built SporoBio post-harvest equipment for drying hemp, which Saueressig says he foresaw as a bottleneck of the industry.

As of early March 2021, Saueressig was focused on upgrading his processing capabilities, which not only include drying, but also encompass grinding, extraction and distillation, he says. A year earlier, he hired a lead chemist—one of the top-paying jobs in the industry—to run that side of his operation.

“That was the best investment we made yet, because he can get us there a lot faster, you know, he just understands chemistry and that’s what extraction is, a hundred percent of it,” Saueressig says. “I don’t second guess that hire any day of the week.”

The CBD distillate market is leveling off in Minnesota, Saueressig says, while CBD isolate—a crystalline solid or powder comprised of near pure CBD—is what’s in demand, so that’s where SporoBio is shifting its focus.

Sam Egger | sporobio.com

While Saueressig appears to be all in with his CBD operation at SporoBio, investing roughly a couple million dollars in his processing capabilities, he says, the barrier of entry into the CBD hemp industry is not for everybody. For many farmers, gambling $10,000 of input costs for an acre of hemp that may or may not grow hot, is not in the bag.

In 2020, Minnesota farmers planted 56% percent of the projected 8,400 acres that were licensed, Cortilet says.

“They might say, ‘I’m going to do 1,000 acres,’” Cortilet says. “And then they realize how much Cherry Wine costs per seed, or clone, and then they go, ‘Oh, I can’t afford that. I’m going to cut that into a quarter, and that’s what I’m actually going to plant.’”

While there was that rush to plant CBD hemp in 2019, Minnesotans focused primarily on grain-type hemp during the first three years of the state’s pilot program, with 94.7% of crops dedicated to grain hemp in 2016, 99.3% in 2017 and 87.9% in 2018. Then came the CBD hype in 2019, when grain hemp dropped to 25.2% in the state.

*Source: Minnesota Department of Agriculture 

But with market saturation and the costs associated with CBD hemp, grain took back over in 2020 with 48% of farmers shifting their focus to that hemp type. The average total cost of production per acre for CBD hemp, for 10-plus acres grown, was $5,995 for Minnesotans in 2019, while the average total cost of production per acre for grain hemp was $502, according to MDA.

“We had a re-uptick in seed (grain-type hemp), which was promising,” Cortilet says. “I think you’re going to see that continue. So, this market saturation [for CBD hemp] will most likely correct itself. I’m assuming in every state across the U.S. more people will be producing seed and finding a market. It’s just, seed is so easy, right?”

In a state like Minnesota, where agriculture is row-crop centric, there’s a foundation of cleaning seed for sale, Cortilet says. In other words, there are plenty of facilities for a farmer to take his or her crop to get it cleaned, dried and have it stored. The main challenge right now is getting more facilities that are hemp-specific, Cortilet says.

“We have quite a bit of diversity up here compared to, like, Iowa, which is primarily corn and soybeans,” he says. “We have a lot of small greens We have a lot of sunflower plants that, you know, they’ll take hemp in. The problem is they have to have enough of it at that particular time to clean up their assemply line from one commodity to allow hemp to come in. They can’t mix them, which means they can’t just get a couple of trucks from farm ‘X’ over here, which was what was happening early on. There just wasn’t enough hemp seed for them to clean. So, it’s really that those [acres planted] are impacted by, ‘Where do I bring it to?’”

Once more facilities geared toward grain hemp are built, then more farmers would likely switch their operations toward that grow, especially if market saturation for CBD hemp continues with volatility, Cortilet says.

But volatility in agriculture is not confined to hemp. Various circumstances, such as weather events wiping out an entire harvest, can affect the struggles or successes associated with other crops. Proper storage is key to taking advantage of the market, Cortilet says. When it comes to storing tens of thousands of pounds, or more, of CBD hemp biomass, that’s not always convenient.

However, grain and fiber cultivation practices are more on the same wavelength of traditional farming, whether commercial or organic, where farmers are always storing something, Cortilet says.

“You’re built for that,” he says. “You’re going to preserve your crop until the right time to sell, and the right time always isn’t at harvest. I’m not sure if the cannabinoid market is there, but I think it’ll get there. I’m not an expert, but I can say this: a lot of the folks getting into that area of hemp production, I would not say they’re all what you would typically call a traditional farmer, and that’s kind of cool.