Most farmers in the agricultural industry are looking at hemp’s sustainability factor and as a rotational-crop factor that can give a farmer long-term viability.
And some key areas where hemp can establish itself as a true commodity crop alongside corn, cotton and soybeans are the hemp grains, hemp seed and hemp fiber side. The key is to develop markets for these aspects of the hemp plant—both domestically as well as internationally.
The way to do that is through seed genetics. Today, probably three-quarters of all hemp grown in the U.S. is for its CBD content, which is derived from the flower. But what of the stalks, stems and seeds? Selective breeding got market leaders such as Charlotte’s Web to produce hemp biomass that is a consistent, high level of CBD with negligible levels of THC. The problem lies with seed genetics being not universally understood.
“The majority of genetics out there are not stable,” said Wendy Mosher, president and CEO of New West Genetics, a hemp seed genetics seller. “You can’t cross it twice and call it a new thing. It takes seven to 10 generations of breeding to breed something.”
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