Oregon State University has reeled in some more research funding that it will use to support its new Global Hemp Information Center.
The office of U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley has announced that the federal government is appropriating $2.5 million for OSU to use on the new program. The money was part of a much larger federal spending bill that also includes $35 million for irrigation projects in Central Oregon.
Hemp was legalized federally as part of a 2018 farm bill and it is viewed as having the potential to become one of the state’s top agricultural commodities. Cannabidiol (CBD), one of the components of hemp, has been found to be valuable in a wide variety of health products.
“We were pleased to see the appropriation get approved as it shows the federal government’s confidence in our work,” said Alan Sams, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at OSU.
More than 40 OSU faculty representing 19 academic disciplines are engaged in hemp research, teaching and extension services, and the university plans to coordinate all of that expertise into the national’s largest research center devoted to the plant.
Source gazettetimes.com
