Friday, April 8, 2022
CapitalPress.com 3
Farmers report drastically reduced hemp surplus
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Hemp farmers have rap-
idly off-loaded a vast major-
ity of the crop surplus that’s
been weighing down the
industry’s fortunes, accord-
ing to a new survey.
Prices for raw hemp have
already begun rising due to
the lower inventory, though
regulatory uncertainty may
delay a broader industry
rebound, according to the
economic firm that compiled
the data.
“It’s finally bottomed
out. You’re finally seeing
increased biomass prices,”
said Beau Whitney, chief
economist at Whitney Eco-
nomics, which tracks the
hemp industry. “Because
there’s such a massive reduc-
tion in inventory, it makes
sense the price has stabilized.”
The nationwide unsold
hemp inventory plummeted
roughly 70%, from about 200
million pounds to 60 million
pounds, between 2020 and
2021, Whitney said.
The remaining biomass is
held by larger farmers who
can afford to carry it, while
smaller growers don’t have
much left, he said. “That tells
me there’s not a lot of slush in
the market right now.”
Hemp prices topped $32
per pound of biomass during
the 2019 boom, after it was
legalized at the federal level,
but plunged after that year’s
harvest, according to Whitney
Economics.
A pound of biomass aver-
aged about $1.20 in the
autumn of 2021. Since then,
the price has risen to $1.50
per pound and in some cases
hemp is fetching $2 per
pound, Whitney said.
“That’s starting to become
the norm,” he said.
The consumption of
delta-8 THC by the public,
a psychoactive compound
derived from hemp, has been
a double-edged sword for the
industry.
The substance is similar to
the delta-9 THC that’s found
Bill Bradshaw/EO Media Group
Hemp plants dry after harvest. A surplus of hemp drove
down prices and reduced acreage of the crop, but the
inventory has been drastically reduced in the past year.
in marijuana, a related can-
nabis crop that’s illegal under
federal law.
While hemp must contain
less than 0.3% delta-9 THC,
some processors extracted
and marketed the delta-8 can-
nabinoid, which has milder
psychoactive properties.
Excess supplies of hemp
were funneled into delta-8
production, using up a lot of
the crop surplus but also rais-
ing alarms about children
accessing psychoactive prod-
ucts, Whitney said.
It’s unlikely that delta-8
production will continue to
play a major role in the hemp
industry now that crop prices
are increasing again, he said.
“I think delta-8 was a bit of a
one-hit wonder that saved a
lot of farmers. It has its evils
but it saved a lot of farmers
and processors.”
The downside of the
delta-8 controversy is that it’s
made hemp easier to demon-
ize as a drug crop, prolong-
ing the regulatory uncertainty
that’s prevented the industry
from finding its legs, Whit-
ney said.
In reality, the hemp indus-
try stands to gain a lot more
from fiber and grain products
than from cannabinoids, or the
compounds extracted from its
flowers, he said. Cannabidiol,
or CBD, is a major cannabi-
noid touted for its healthful
properties, for example.
CBD and other cannabi-
noids accounted for about
82% of the hemp planted
nationwide in 2020, but that
proportion dropped to 60%
in 2021, Whitney said. By
2030, he expects cannabi-
noids to account only 2.5%
of total acreage.
Bioplastics,
textiles,
building materials, livestock
feed and other hemp appli-
cations will eventually dwarf
the cannabinoid market, he
said. “This is right at the
doorstep of hemp. They just
need some support from state
and federal regulators.”
A lack of clarity about
federal hemp policy has
state governments adopting a
patchwork of different laws,
which currently serves as a
barrier to business transac-
tions, he said.
“Nobody knows if it will
be legal to ship from Ore-
gon to Colorado or from Col-
orado to Kansas,” Whitney
said.
Those ambiguities will
hopefully be cleared up by
the 2023 Farm Bill, which
is likely to contain better-de-
fined federal policies for
hemp, he said.
Hemp farmers can also
do themselves a favor by
improving their business
practices: Specifically, by
waiting to grow the crop until
they have a market for it, he
said.
Fed report: Stopping natural gas pipelines yields tiny carbon cut
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
U.S. greenhouse gases from
the energy sector would drop
by less than 1% by 2050 if the
nation stops building inter-
state gas pipelines, according
to the U.S. Energy Information
Administration.
While carbon emissions from
natural gas would decrease 4.4%,
total emissions would go down
by only 0.7% as energy producers
burned more coal to offset reduced
natural gas supplies, according to
a new EIA analysis.
“The relatively small effect on
CO2 emissions ... is due to our
forecast of increased coal-fired
power generation, which would
be more carbon intensive than
the natural gas-fired generation it
displaces,” the EIA posted on its
website Monday.
The EIA, a federal agency,
reported in March that based on
current laws, and economic and
demographic trends U.S. natu-
If the U.S. stops building interstate natural gas pipelines, natural
gas prices will rise, but greenhouse gases from the energy sector
will decrease by less than 1% as energy producers burn more coal,
according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
ral gas production will grow by
almost 24% by 2050.
The agency, however, noted
that the Federal Energy Regula-
tory Commission announced in
March that it will consider cli-
mate change in approving future
interstate pipelines.
USDA planting report: Northwest
farmers add 60,000 acres of wheat
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Pacific Northwest farm-
ers added 190,000 acres of
winter wheat this year com-
pared to 2021 but reduced
spring wheat acreage by
130,000 acres, according to
USDA.
USDA’s March 31 pro-
spective plantings report
said winter wheat will
increase:
• 11.3% in Idaho, from
710,000 acres in 2021 to
790,000 acres.
• 5.7% in Washington,
from 1.75 million acres last
year to 1.85 million acres.
• 1.4% in Oregon, from
720,000 acres to 730,000
acres.
• 1.7% in the U.S., from
33.6 million acres to 34.2
million acres.
USDA expects spring
wheat will:
• Decline 7.8% in Idaho,
dropping from 510,000
acres last year to 470,000
acres.
• Decline 15.5% in Wash-
ington, from 580,000 acres
to 490,000 acres.
• Decline nearly 2% in
the U.S., from 11.4 million
acres to 11.2 million acres.
Total U.S. wheat plant-
ings will increase 1.4%,
from 46.7 million acres to
nearly 47.4 million acres.
Acreage is up, but not
dramatically, said Glen
Squires, CEO of the Wash-
ington Grain Commission.
He attributes the increase
in acreage to higher wheat
prices last fall, long before
prices shot up more recently
due to impacts on the world
market from the Rus-
sia-Ukraine conflict.
“Often, that’s what we
see — higher prices tend to
increase acreage,” Squires
said. “Who knows what pro-
duction’s going to be? We’re
still in a drought. We’re still
in need of moisture.”
Input costs are “balloon-
ing” and a “challenge,” he
said.
USDA’s grain stocks
report indicates a decrease
of nearly 22% nationwide
from last year, from 1.31
billion bushels to 1.02 bil-
lion bushels.
Stocks
dropped
52% in Ore-
gon, from
29.1 million
bushels to
13.8 million
bushels.
Stocks
Glen
in
Washing-
Squires
ton dropped
43%, from 99.5 million
bushels to 56.6 million
bushels.
Stocks in Idaho fell 31%,
from 53.3 million bushels to
36.7 million bushels.
“I think that’s just a sign
that there’s just not a lot
of wheat,” Squires said.
“We had a very short crop
last year, demand is down,
there’s been less wheat to
sell.”
Major markets like
Japan and the Philippines
are down slightly, but hold-
ing fairly well, Squires said.
Less white wheat is going
for use as animal feed, he
noted.
“Hopefully the increased
winter wheat acres will give
a little boost to production
and output,” Squires said.
Winter wheat tends to
have higher yields compared
to spring wheat. But produc-
tion depends on timely rains,
Squires said.
He pointed to early pre-
dictions that the region
won’t experience the same
extreme heat as last year.
“I hope that’s the case,”
he said.
BOISE PROJECT BOARD
OF CONTROL
Start of 2022 Irrigation Season for
the Boise Project Board of Control
The Boise Project Board of Control serves nearly
167,000 acres. Starting on April 18 th , 2022, the
Project will activate over 460 canals and laterals
in Ada and Canyon Counties. Irrigation delivery
service to our patrons will begin no earlier than April
22 nd , 2022, after the canals have risen to allowable
elevations and the water is ready to be delivered.
Southern Idaho is experiencing drought conditions for
the second year in a row. As a result, the snowpack
in the Boise River basin is substantially lower-than-
normal and reservoir elevations are also lower than
normal. Based on the current water availability
projections, the Boise Project Board of Control has
set the water allotment at this time at 1.20 acre-feet
of water per acre. This allotment amount is subject
to change due to unknown variables in the weather,
future precipitation, and snowmelt runoff.
For more detailed information, please visit our
website at:
www.boiseproject.net
This press release is to further serve as notice
to parents and children alike of the approaching
hazards of water
in the irrigation canals.
If you have any questions, please contact Bob Carter,
Project Manager, at (208) 344-1141.
Interstate natural gas pipe-
line capacity grew consider-
ably between 1990 and 2020,
but several large lines have been
canceled in recent years follow-
ing legal and public opposition,
according to the EIA.
If the U.S. adopts a perma-
nent moratorium on new pipe-
lines beginning in 2024, natu-
ral gas spot prices will be 11%
higher in 2050 than the baseline
forecast, the EIA estimated.
Natural gas is a key ingre-
dient in manufacturing nitro-
gen fertilizer. Fertilizer prices
spiked in late 2021 alongside ris-
ing natural gas prices, according
to the USDA Economic Research
Service.
The cost of ammonia more
than doubled between 2000 and
2006 as the price of natural gas
trended upward, according to the
USDA.
Under a moratorium, natural
gas production would decline
4.6% by 2050, and consumption
would fall 4.3% as more elec-
tricity was generated by renew-
able resources, nuclear plants
and coal, the EIA projected.
Greenhouse gases from ener-
gy-related fuel sources would
fall by 34 million metric tons,
the EIA estimated. The reduc-
tion would equal about one-third
of Washington’s carbon output.
Under current laws and
trends, natural gas production
in the U.S. will exceed domes-
tic demand by 25% by 2050, the
EIA projects. Much of the excess
production probably would be
exported as liquified natural gas,
the agency reported.
The U.S. became Europe’s
top natural gas supplier in 2021,
moving past Qatar and Rus-
sia, according to the EIA. The
U.S. supplied 26% of Europe’s
imported natural gas compared
to 24% from Qatar and 20% from
Russia.
A majority of Europe’s liqui-
fied natural gas imports in January
came from the U.S., the agency
said.