Last December, the Farm Bill released hemp from decades of classification as a controlled substance. The legislation classified cannabis with less than 0.3% THC content as industrial hemp and gave farmers in all states the green light to farm the crop under state and tribal hemp programs. This was on the condition that they complied with federal regulations, especially THC level requirements.
Shortly after the Farm Bill was passed, the demand for hemp-derived CBD exploded and exponentially increased the demand for hemp by extension. To pass the Farm Bill’s THC level requirements, farmers would require hemp strains with minuscule levels of THC. This resulted in plenty of experimentation with hemp seeds to perfect a strain that produces a lot of cannabidiol (CBD) but has very little THC levels.
Recently, the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) approved four new industrial hemp seed varieties. This brings the total number of hemp varieties approved for cultivation in the State to 17.
The state held trials on the four varieties of hemp throughout the year across Colorado’s wide array of growing conditions in the Northeast region, Front Range, Arkansas Valley, Western Slope, and the San Luis Valley. They were done to find out the strains’ growth viability and whether they could test at or below the federally mandated 0.3% THC on a dry weight basis.
The results were positive enough for the state agriculture department to okay the new varieties to be grown by members of the Colorado Seed Growers Association (CSGA), for production of CDA Approved Certified Seed.
The Association of Official Seed Certifying Agency standards states that for a hemp variety to qualify as CDA Approved Certified Seed, it has to be produced and labeled by members of the CSGA. According to the CDA Approved Certified Seed, all individual seed packages ought to be tagged with specific Certified Seed tags available from the CSGA.
Generally, growers who use CDA Approved Certified Seed are considered very low risk for testing purposes.
Colorado grows a large amount of hemp, more than any other state in fact, at 31,670 registered acres, and the state agriculture department’s projections put the number at around 50,000 acres.
Most of the demand for hemp is tied to hemp-derived cannabidiol. Over the years, the chemical has racked up quite a reputation as a potent and versatile medicine, capable of dealing with a plethora of illnesses from anxiety to chronic pain.
Last year, the FDA approved a CBD based drug to treat two rare and hard to treat pediatric forms of epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, and Dravet syndrome.
Experts believe that the approval of these new seed varieties is likely to be received as good news by sector players like Neutra Corp. (OTC: NTRR) and Sugarmade Inc. (OTCQB: SGMD) who would like to see farmers getting access to hemp seeds that will not yield “hot” plants.
About HempWire
HempWire (HW) is a dedicated information provider focused on (1) aggregating hemp-related news, (2) issuing HempNewsBreaks designed to update investors on the latest developments in the hemp market, (3) enhancing corporate news releases, (4) providing full-service distribution and social media offerings to public and private client-partners and (5) designing and implementing all-inclusive corporate communication solutions. HW is strategically positioned within the rapidly expanding hemp sector with a team of journalists working to help a growing roster of public and private companies reach a wide audience of investors, consumers and members of the media. We leverage a vast network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets to deliver unparalleled visibility, recognition and content to the hemp industry. HempWire (HW) is where HEMP news, content and information converge.
To receive instant SMS alerts, text HEMPWIRE to 21000 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only)
For more information please visit https://www.hempwire.com
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the HempWire website applicable to all content provided by HW, wherever published or re-published: https://www.hempwire.com/Disclaimer
Do you have a questions or are you interested in working with HW? Ask our Editor
HempWire (HW)
Denver, Colorado
www.hempwire.com
303.498.7722 Office
Editor@HempWire.net
HempWire is part of the InvestorBrandNetwork.
