For my individual crop report I decided to grow a potentially high value cash crop and something I personally think will have more merit and opportunity for growth in the future. I have chosen Industrial Hemp or Cannabis Sativa L. There are many connections I’ve made between the cannabis plant and sustainable development. One of the biggest issues that hemp will be a solution in stopping, and hopefully reversing, is the ever so controversial topic of Climate Change. Others which relate more to soil is the soil erosion problem. It can be used as a cover crop and green manure to help increase the soils fertility. Like legumes and other nitrogen fixing crops, Hemp can fix the nitrogen in the soil while utilizing phytoremediation properties that can take out some major soil pollutants like Cadmium and other harmful synthetic chemicals that can leach through the soil into our groundwater supply. This is an undervalued quality the plant has and makes sense to be used on small farms to save on nitrogen fertilizer costs, though its difficult to fully determine how much this could truly offset your nitrogen costs. Doing some trial and test studys could be worth it utilizing the soil samples to help you record and keep track of the numbers. An Interesting connection is the social aspect that soil science brings, and how chemicals leach through into our waters and affect life above the ground. The amount of organic matter present in the soil can be a big factor in deciding which and how much of a thing the soil can hold onto. The soil pH can also play a big role in this. Hemp can be a way for smaller farmers to grow a high quantity crop for better pay than soy or corn. To support the influx of cattle, more land is cleared, the new cattle then must be fed, which brings us to our second culprit, the soy industry, which is used for feed (Panwar et al 2017). Hemp can help solve this by eliminating what most of the soy is grown for, hemp seeds are some of the most protein rich seed of any on earth. This can be produced into a cake that can be used for animal feed which can help halt the environmentally destructive soy industry. Hemp can be used in many of the same ways and can take place of many products used in many industries. What’s interesting is the different end uses it can be grown for, depending on your soil type and conditions you could grow hemp for better fiber, seeds, or fruit for CBD It's also worth stating that the end-product you are growing for (floral parts/CBD, or fiber, or grain) will change fertility rates.
Hemp production is best suited on loose, well-aerated loamy soil with high CEC% and abundant organic matter or HM%, and with a pH of 6.0-7.5. It grows best in Well-drained soils, other types can be used but it seems to like moist soils but with an emphasis on drainage that's important. Poorly-drained clay or poorly structured soils often results in establishment failure after the seeds germination. Transplanting those of better selection may also help on poor soils. Sandy soils can grow good hemp with adequate irrigation and fertilization but these additional costs often makes production uneconomical. Thankfully here in the high country lack of adequate rain is uncommon and the outdoor crop I will grow my plot adjacent to the house, this will provide a good crop without use of irrigation. This will help prevent disease and fungus from taking over the crop by limiting the amount of water getting on the plant. This can also be another reason to grow Industrial Hemp at the Sustainable Development Farm. Aside from being in a well watered location, it's worth noting some of the criteria that made me choose this plot. By growing in locations near the house it will allow me to stay within the Tusquitee loam soil classification. Fine-loamy, isotic, mesic Humic Dystrudepts is a high quality soil that has importance in statewide farmlands. It features well drained soils which is a must have when growing Industrial Hemp. It is recommended to have 89 to 135 kg/ha nitrogen, 45 kg/ha phosphorus, 67 kg/ha potassium and 17 kg/ha sulfur in the soil for the plants to grow optimally (Purdue Industrial Hemp Project 2018). According to the soil samples results, specifically, sample 6009 has suggested to add 90-120 Lbs of N per acre which aligns with the recommended amounts per research. The client will use this in plot rotations to fix nitrogen for their future vegetable crops while also still capitalizing on harvesting the hemp to wholesale and create value added products like CBD, dog treats, protein supplements, and more. According to Southeast Farm Press Hemp can fix up to 100 to 200 lbs of nitrogen per acre. Currently, some growers are submitting soil tests with corn as the listed crop, and using those recommendations for their hemp crop. This has worked reasonably well, according to Richard Boyland of NCDA. Depending on what the hemp is grown for will alter the recommendations for fertilizing. Our client is mainly interested in producing for CBD which is what the recommendations I have outlined was based on. The client has informed me they are interested in producing protein supplements and seeds for their own use as well as for the livestock they plan to have. We will be working on an additional plot suited for seed production at a later time once we develop and get the first CBD crop going good. It is also noted that hemp generally benefits from a lower Nitrogen rate than corn. NCDA recommends somewhere around 150 lb. per acre of N, whereas hemp seems to do best with around 100 lb. per acre of N. This N should be split into two or more applications, depending upon your growing system (bare ground/cultivation vs. plastic, drip irrigation vs. no irrigation, etc.). Potassium and perhaps Phosphorous should also be split, with 30% or so of the total being delivered after flowering begins (Richard Boyland NCDA 2018). Depending on what the hemp is grown for will alter the fertilizer recommendations for the crop.
Works Cited
"Agriculture | Province of Manitoba." Government of Manitoba. Accessed November 16, 2018. https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/production/hemp-production.html.
"Hemp Production." Purdue Industrial Hemp Project. Accessed November 16, 2018. https://dev.purduehemp.org/hemp-production/.
Roberson, Roy. "Sunn Hemp a Nitrogen Source?" Southeast FarmPress. August 25, 2010. Accessed November 27, 2018. https://www.southeastfarmpress.com/management/sunn-hemp-nitrogen-source.
Richard Boyland 2018
Jordan Palmer
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