By: Carley Smith ’20
In Fall 2020 the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences added an innovative course to their catalog that made many students excited about a new industry. The Hemp Production and Utilization class received its official name in Summer 2020 after being taught as a special topics course in Spring 2020.
This course was created in a collaborative effort between David Baltensperger, Ph.D., Soil and Crop Science Department Head and Steve Hauge, Ph.D., Soil and Crop Sciences Professor.
Baltensperger coordinates hemp research and extension for Texas A&M Agrilife with Larry Redman, Ph.D., Soil and Crop Sciences Associate Department Head, to make Texas producers competitive in producing hemp. Baltensperger’s efforts on the extension side made him aware of developments in the industrial hemp industry and a need to prepare Texas A&M students for this innovative new crop.
“There will be a spike where lots of employers in Texas will be looking for students that have some hemp background,” Baltensperger said.
In recent years hemp production has become a hot topic in agriculture. It is an exciting topic that very few people know much about, and many are misinformed on what hemp production is.
Baltensperger and Hauge said that it is important for students that have an interest in hemp to learn more about it. You don’t need a soil science background to register for this class, and there are no prerequisites.
“We wanted this class to be available to any Aggie, any student, at any level,” Hague said.
Baltensperger and Hauge are very open to the fact that there is more research that needs to be done on hemp production. Their course is not based on textbooks because there are no textbooks available. The course covers everything from the history of hemp, how it is grown, the processing of hemp, market opportunities and the various uses.
“Texas A&M has been heavily involved in helping write some of the rules and regulations,” Hague said. “We have been a leader in this field in the state.”.
Texas A&M partners with corporations to fund research on hemp production and are open to having more. Graduate students have even begun research projects on industrial hemp production.
The impact of COVID-19
The course is currently offered face-to-face with a remote option. It was originally designed to be entirely in-person with lots of hands-on activities to make it interactive. Baltensperger and Hauge planned field trips to give students a first hand look at the production and processing of hemp. COVID-19 postponed those plans for now.
“I’m really excited for when our world gets back to something a little more normal the class is going to get a lot better, and a lot more interactive,” Hague said. “We’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got right now.”
In place of field trips and hands-on activities, the class partakes in discussion among the students and professors with other interactive assignments to gauge the full concept of the topics.
The course is unique because anyone is allowed to take it. Some students have a background in farming or are looking into taking that route after graduation. Others are just excited to learn more about a new industry without having an agriculture background. The course covers something for everyone.
Some students come into the course wanting to learn how to grow hemp so they can take it back to their family farm. The course helped them decide if it is the right crop for them to get involved with.
“As many people we’ve put into the industry, we’ve also helped some people stay away from it because it just wasn’t right for them,” Hague said.
Hemp is not a crop that is overly unique compared to other crops. It is just new, exciting and unique in the fact that very few people know much about it right now. Baltensperger said over time there might not be a need to have a special course just for hemp production, and it might get folded into soil sciences normal curriculum.
Rules & Regulations
According to the Texas Department of Agriculture on June 10, 2019, House Bill 1325 signed by Governor Greg Abbott authorized the production, manufacture, retail sale and inspection of industrial hemp crops and products in Texas. This includes consumable hemp products which contain cannabidiol known as CBD, as well as other edible parts of the hemp plant. The United States Department of Agriculture then released its interim rules on hemp on October 29, 2019.
The TDA submitted the Texas state hemp plan to the USDA on December 2, 2019 and received approval from the USDA on January 27, 2020. Applications for hemp growing licences and permits opened online on March 16, 2020.
Before farmers are eligible to apply for a license they are required to watch a hemp orientation video on the TDA website giving a brief overview on the rules and regulations of hemp production in Texas.
Under federal law hemp is defined as Cannabis Sativa L. and must contain less than 0.30% of Tetrahydrocannabinol also known as THC. This includes the seeds of the plant and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts and salts of isomers whether they are growing or not.
The TDA oversees the growing and harvesting of hemp while the Texas Department of State Health Services oversees the consumable hemp.
The cost of a license is $100 and requires the individual to register a specific facility at the time of applying. Only online applications are accepted and the individual must be above the age of 18 to apply. Licenses are good for one year from the issue date and do not automatically renew. They are non-transferable, but there is no limit to the number of licenses available. Applicants must pass a national criminal background check before their application is approved, and can not have any drug related felonies within the past ten years. Anyone involved with the hemp through handling or transport will also need a license.
Extensive sample testing is done on all hemp crops to insure the THC levels are within the regulation. This testing must be done by a third-party licensed lab registered with the TDA. If the sample test comes back with more than 0.3% THC levels the crop must be destroyed according to approved guidelines.
These are just the basics on hemp production industry that are learned in the class.
Research
Jodie McVane Reisner, a first year non-traditional graduate student is very passionate about the industry.
“This is a new crop for farmers,” Reisner said. “They are going to have to learn a lot about it, how to grow it, what to do, what not to do and how to adapt it into their Texas management system.”
Resiner originally signed up for the course with just a general interest in hemp production. She focuses her studies on how to suppress weeds, and is passionate about communicating it to farmers.
Resiner said her favorite part about the course is learning the agronomy of hemp and how it grows. There are various ways to grow and each gets you to a different end point: fiber, oil or seed. A unique aspect of hemp is how it can grow in many different climates.
One of the components of the course is putting a report together simulating the students starting their own hemp farm. They need to decide what they are going to grow it for, where they are going to plant it, how they are going to plant it, who they will sell it to and where the processing plant for their product is located. This helps provide insight as to what it would actually be like to start a hemp production farm, and also helps identify some of the current challenges for the industrial hemp industry.
Reisner has over 20 years of experience working as a conservationist. She used to work for USDA-NSCS as a conservation agronomist in the central region of the United States. She has a bachelors in science and a master’s in soil science and is now studying weed suppression using cover crops in industrial hemp.
“I look forward to researching cover crops and hemp, and how it can fit in crop rotations for farmers in Texas,” Reisner said. “How we can communicate and partner with other organizations to have hemp be a successful crop in Texas.”
Leonard Herndon is a first year plant breeding and genetics graduate student with an emphasis in genetic engineering. His original involvement in the industrial hemp industry came when a friend moved to California to begin working in the cannabis industry, and Herndon saw how profitable it was.
“Then I took a deeper look into it, and realized the entire industry was being run by the wild wild west,” Herndon said. “Nobody knew exactly what was happening, and there were no regulations.”
In the summer of 2019, Herndon did an internship in Colorado working on an industrial hemp farm for a breeder who was growing for CBD oil. His passion grew into wanting to do more research on industrial hemp production. Herndon originally thought he would have to attend graduate school somewhere else to be able to study hemp production.
“The course itself raises a lot of awareness about hemp,” Herndon said. “It also shows there is so much more research that needs to be done on hemp.”
Herndon assisted in creating material for the hemp production and utilization course by creating an integrated pest management plan for hemp. His undergraduate research focuses on removing the THC gene from hemp. Growing industrial hemp with only 0.3% THC is very difficult, and is what makes many consumers misinformed.
Herndon says it is important to have regulations on hemp production and knows research needs to be done to have proper regulations. Educators and students always need research to back up what is being taught.
“I wanted to be a guy who can help implement regulation,” Herndon said. “Setting certain standards so we know exactly what it is.”
For more information, register for SCSC 315 offered in the fall semesters or go to agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/hemp.
