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Hemp:
Continued from Page 20
Hemp cultivation today
Although the hemp market has changed
for the present-day farmer, McCormmach
continued, hemp thrives in an incredible
number of applications.
“Today, hemp is used to make cloth-
ing, home textiles, nutritional supple-
ments, animal health care products, skin
care products, plastics, home construc-
tion materials and even automobile and
aircraft parts,” she said. “Several well-
known auto companies are using hemp
plastics in the fabrication of door pan-
els, trunks and dashboards. In addition
to being inarguably more eco-friendly,
hemp plastics are also cheaper and more
durable, naturally making them safer than
fiberglass counterparts.”
Aside from its practical uses in every-
day life, hemp most recently has been in
the spotlight for CBD and its potential
health benefits for mammals.
“Though it has been a long road, one
might argue it has been well worth the
journey. It’s like climbing the Mount
Everest of learning,” McCormmach said.
“But to learn it, is to love it.”
Now, she said, her focus is on the CBD
line she developed following its first year’s
harvest, with the main focus on equine.
“I love this side of the line, because the
leave their big hemp dreams in the dust.
But she said she considers these tempo-
rary setbacks for hemp. Hemp, she said, is
alive and well.
Courtney Moran, president of Oregon
Industrial Hemp Farmers Association,
shares McCormmach’s optimism. She
“THOUGH IT HAS BEEN A LONG
ROAD, ONE MIGHT ARGUE IT HAS
BEEN WELL WORTH THE JOURNEY.
IT’S LIKE CLIMBING THE MOUNT
EVEREST OF LEARNING.”
Rebecca McCormmach, Hemp Farmer
horses don’t talk or analyze what you gave
them,” she said. “You just see the results.
And the results are fascinating.”
Cultivation has presented many chal-
lenges, McCormmach said, and many
farmers opted to throw in the towel and
said, “There still is a viable CBD market,
it just looks different from a few years ago.
In 2019 with so many new farms coming
online across the country we saw overpro-
duction, which led to the market decline.
The global events that followed created
additional challenges. Many farmers did
not grow again in 2020 or 2021 because
of the drop in market price. The reserves
from previous years of production are get-
ting used up, and farmers have shared
with us that they are planning production
for 2022, many with smaller acreage than
in previous years.”
“The Cannabinoid Hemp industry is
alive,” Moran continued, “and those that
have remained in the industry are seek-
ing new opportunities with other minor
cannabinoids.”
She added, “The future is not in CBD
alone, but with the production of a broader
range of minor cannabinoids that pro-
vide therapeutic benefits. The most recent
interest is with CBDA and CBGA after the
results from the studies at Oregon State
University were made public.”
“If federal regulations provide clear
pathways for CBD itself,” Moran con-
cluded, “we may see a further resurgence
for CBD. We encourage the industry to
contact their members of Congress to con-
tinue to advocate for federal pathways for
hemp-derived CBD and to contact state
regulators to ensure pathways are opened
for sales of minor cannabinoids in state.”
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