Since the pandemic hit in 2020, farmers are finding it nearly impossible to sustain a living on their crops. Higher commodity prices, retaliatory tariffs and ongoing ad hoc financial support offsetting natural disasters, the profitability of farming has been quite negative. Chapter 12 bankruptcies were rated the highest during 2020 for farmers.
While natural disasters and a global pandemic are hard to avoid, hemp agriculture could create a positive change that farmers are seeking to offset their past losses and perhaps delve into an entirely new change for their land. As mentioned in previous articles, hemp already grows in a temperamental climate and withstand extremes, with little added costs. It’s worth noting that in 2021 the U.S. imported over $67 million worth of hemp products, from seeds to fibers. Money that would have been much better used within the States was sent outwards for export.
Since the legal introduction for hemp farming in the U.S., the demand for growing CBD based medicines has increased the value of hemp. Some reports have shown revenue reporting at nearly $90,000 an acre as opposed to a $600 gain from an acre of alfalfa and you can switch to hemp using our seed at a min of $7,500 per acre. As the demand increases with the endless hemp prospects, the numbers will drastically change as well, as will the competition within the States.
An article originally posted on ABC news out of New York states: Gandelman, who runs Head & Heal CBD products, is among about 700 hemp farmers in the state. Many of them are motivated to move into marijuana not only because of their familiarity with the flower, but a crash in commodity prices driven by oversupply. Even growers who have succeeded in the retail market for CBD, like Gandelman, see marijuana as integral to their future.
Human nature drives us to live with familiarity. It’s hard to change a pattern that has worked. It’s hard to take new chances and anticipate the rewards of the potentially unknown. Through many surveys with Hemp farmers throughout the United States, it is their suggestion to start smaller and work your way up to multiacre farming. It was also found that while a small few did turn away from the adventure post their pilot program, the majority invested into hemp farming even farther.
An interview with Doug Fine (article added below), Author of Hemp Bound and Too High to Fail and an avid Hemp Farmer. His input and 26 years research are beneficial to a prospective hemp farmer. He adds that “hemp has 111 known cannabinoids, and the boom is based on only one component of the flower of the plant. Rather than thinking of it as a pharmaceutical with chemicals to be isolated, we should look at hemp entrepreneurialism from a whole-plant, top-shelf, vintage perspective. The craft side of cultivation will help us weather the vicissitudes of the many coming gold rushes.” Hearing from other sources who not also thrive in the industry but can see the potential of the product beyond medicinal use is imperative to future of the products. Doug also adds within the interview; “Mitigating climate change is obviously essential if we want our kids to survive. But to ask economically struggling farmers to put all their time, energy, and savings into this, it has to have the potential to have a consistent, long-term payoff. And hemp does. There are so many aspects of the plant that are promising, and so many ways to be entrepreneurial”.
The main takeaway is to become an asset to the industry before over saturation takes over – get ahead of the “budding” business before the boom. The growth rate of the hemp industry has only increased since the Farm Bill passed and shows no reason for rise to change.
Farmers, contact us today at 866-253-6733 to learn more about our miracle hemp seed that lowers risks & costs while increasing profits for hemp farmers.