Agriculture has experienced challenges over the last few years, with traditional crop returns falling far short of expectations. Many farmers and landowners are searching for opportunities to diversify their portfolios with profitable products that can help stabilize income/balance sheets on farms/lands. Hemp is an ideal crop that provides raw materials for conventional (fiber, food and fuel) as well as advanced industrial products; growing hemp quickly while yielding superior products could bring economic benefits with significant potential returns.
Hemp has long been used as an integral fiber and textile crop, yet is most commonly associated with its psychoactive cousin marijuana. Unfortunately, hemp’s illicit cultivation in the US has caused confusion and misconceptions regarding this versatile crop that serves multiple roles for environment, society, economy, agriculture and renewable energy uses. Regardless of its association with marijuana use however, hemp should be recognized for all of its uses as part of an agricultural or renewable energy crop system.
Hemp can be used for more than its fiber applications – from bio-fuels and food to dietary supplements and health care products, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Hemp requires less water consumption than cotton and does not deplete soil nutrients like cotton. Furthermore, hemp serves as a rotational crop by returning more than 60% of minerals it consumes back into the ground, which suppresses weed growth while improving soil structure and increasing nutrient availability for subsequent crops.
Hemp is resistant to many insects, such as flea beetle and rice root aphid, making it suitable for cultivation under different climatic conditions. To manage these and other stresses that might inhibit hemp production, integrated pest management strategies must be employed and chemical controls used only when absolutely necessary.
Hemp stands out among other staple crops like soybeans, corn and wheat by its reduced nitrogen and phosphorus requirements, making it more environmentally-friendly than its counterparts. Its deep roots help prevent soil erosion and nitrate loss while recycling over 70% of water usage while providing significant carbon sequestration benefits.
Hemp oil and protein are ideal for human and animal consumption. Hemp’s oil provides an easily digestible and well-balanced source of essential amino acids edestin and albumin; additionally it’s an excellent source of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), with an omega-3/omega-6 ratio that exceeds 3:1.
Hemp crops’ rapid postharvest regeneration and high vigor make them ideal rotational crops for other fields that take more time to establish. Studies of winter wheat crops following hemp cultivation show yield increases of 10-20% compared with previous crops due to reduced parasitic nematodes, pathogenic fungi, lower weed pressure, improved soil structure and availability of nutrients as well as lessened water loss from fields – something especially valuable in regions with limited freshwater resources.
