Industrial hemp production in the U.S. for 2020 is a good news, bad news situation, according to a new report.
The good news:
- The number of planted acres is still strong at 62,000, albeit down from 2019's peak of 100,000 acres.
- Reporting shows 11,000 acres have been planted for grain production, a 70% increase from previous reports.
- 37,000 acres have been planted for CBD and other cannabinoids, a 30% increase.
[G]rowers were not so disheartened by last year’s crop and this year’s prices that they were giving up on hemp. And the numbers weren’t so low as to make the long term commercial viability of field grown hemp look questionable.
The bad news:
- Prices in all of the CBD hemp markets declined in September from the previous month's levels.
- Due to last year's surpluses, biomass storage is currently in short supply.
- Wildfires in Oregon and California have not only destroyed many hemp crops, but also raised concerns about possible damaging aftereffects to surviving plants in nearby areas. Chief among them is that smoke from the fires may have adversely affected the taste and smell of smokable hemp and the final quality of CBD products.
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