By Kurt Knebusch
Join experts from The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) and beyond in discovering Ohio’s possible new cash crop.
A workshop titled “Growing Hemp in Ohio: Separating Fact from Fiction,” featuring 10 sessions by 18 speakers, is set for Jan. 24 at the CFAES Wooster campus, about 60 miles south of Cleveland.
The event will look at the opportunities and challenges facing Ohio hemp growers. Subjects will include hemp plant basics, growing practices, business considerations, rules, and regulations.
Also offered is an optional program from 9:30 a.m. to noon the next day, Jan. 25, featuring six sessions by speakers from national and Ohio hemp-related businesses. Independence-based HempOhio is sponsoring the program.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently approved Ohio’s hemp plans, making it legal for the state’s farmers to grow the crop.
Useful for making products including health food, paper, clothing, biofuels, bioplastics, and cannabidiol (CBD) oil, hemp is closely related to marijuana but lacks its psychoactive component, the chemical THC.
THE METHODS AND BUSINESS OF GROWING HEMP
The workshop, which runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., will feature two tracks of sessions, one called “Industrial Hemp and Cultivation Practices” and the other “The Business of Growing Hemp.”
Sessions and speakers for the “Industrial Hemp and Cultivation Practices” track will include:
- “Using Plasticulture, Drip Irrigation, and Fertigation” by Brad Bergefurd, horticulture specialist, CFAES
- “Understanding Hemp,” Craig Schluttenhofer, research assistant and professor of natural products, Central State University
- “Insect Control,” Luis Canas, associate professor of entomology, CFAES
- “Soil Nutrition Fundamentals,” Steve Culman, assistant professor and state specialist in soil fertility, CFAES
- “OSU Research Update,” Harold Keener and Bill Bauerle, Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, CFAES; and James Morris, Ohio State University Extension, CFAES
Scheduled for “The Business of Growing Hemp” track are:
- “Ohio Rules and Regulations,” David Miran, Hemp Program, Ohio Department of Agriculture
- “Market Perspectives,” Jonathan Cachat, Zativa (Independence, Ohio)
- “Protecting Your Investment: Legal Issues,” Peggy Kirk Hall, associate professor and field specialist, agricultural and resource law, CFAES
- “Grower’s Perspective,” Steve Ayers, Acela CBD (Maysville, Kentucky)
- “Ohio Roundtable: Separating Fact from Fiction,” with Julie Doran, Ohio Hemp Farmer Cooperative, and the track’s previous speakers
The Jan. 25 program will feature:
- “Media and Fertigation for Hemp Cultivation,” Bill Argo, Blackmore Co. (Belleville, Michigan)
- “Machinery for Hemp Cultivation, Harvesting, and Drying,” Yebo Li, HempOhio
- “Extraction and Processing of CBD from Hemp,” Ian James, Advanced Extraction (Brighton, Colorado)
- “Organic Hemp: Seed to Sale,” Elaine Yu, HempRise (Jeffersonville, Indiana)
- “Lab Testing Requirements for Hemp Cultivation and Processing,” Carolyn Friedrich, North Coast Testing Laboratories (Streetsboro, Ohio)
- A tour of HempOhio’s nursery and processing facility led by the company’s Mel Kurtz
EARLY REGISTRATION DISCOUNT BY JAN. 10
General registration for the workshop, which includes continental breakfast and lunch on Jan. 24 and the optional program on Jan. 25, is $100 by Jan. 10 and $125 after that date. Registration for OSU Extension educators and currently enrolled college students is $50. Registration to attend only the Jan. 25 program is $25.
Source : osu.edu