Legalization of hemp in the U.S. has provided a unique opportunity to build an entirely new agriculture sector.
Despite overwhelming interest in hemp, there is still substantial uncertainty regarding agronomic best practices, including basic information such as what cultivars should be grown for various products or markets. Without federal seed certification standards in place, substantial variation between and within cultivars has been observed in hemp. Unfortunately, current regulatory, production, and market risks associated with hemp have made establishment of this new industry challenging. This is particularly true for high cannabinoid hemp grown for CBD, CBG, CBN, CBV, etc. To address these issues, the Midwestern Hemp Research Collaborative (MHRC), a joint effort of land grant universities, non-profts, private laboratories and exclusive experienced growers was formed. The MHRC formed in 2020 to conduct collaborative hemp research and outreach, establishing the Midwestern Hemp Database (MHD) with over 200 growers contributing data.
Oro-verde Farms has had the privilege of being a part of the Midwest Hemp Database Study conducted by 4 major Universities: U. of Michigan, U. of Illinois, U. of Wisconsin-Madison and Purdue University-Lafayette. This study is commissioned and is ongoing. It’s sole purpose is to compile vital hemp information for the USDA to best guide all Farming operations in the Midwest when considering hemp as a new, alternative, commercial crop. These studies are invite-only, are all-inclusive and include research highlighting multiple components such as: cultivars, seed genetics, breeding, soil, nutrients, pests, mold/fungus, microbial, light spectrum, THC levels, cannabinoids, harvesting, drying & curing, germination, irrigation and more. Oro-verde Farms is proud to be a valued member of this research collaborative and look forward to the 2023 season’s efforts in genetics for further, inclusive studies.