Hemp Research Programs

Cannabis research was hampered for decades due to Scheduling rules. But hemp has been around for many years before being prohibited in the states. For instance, if hemp is mostly known today for oil, experts discovered 25,000 cases — from building materials and biodegradable plastics to cosmetics, clothing, and paper. We even say that President George Washington, in the 18th century, grew hemp on his farm and that the Declaration of Independence was drafted onto hemp paper.

Today, as the 2018 Farm Bill passed and made hemp legal, hemp research can be pursued successfully. To further study the uses of hemp, researchers have developed programs across the USA.

Let’s discover what’s hot in hemp research and which institutes lead the game in hemp research.

TOP RESEARCH PROGRAMS IN THE WORLD

Shut down for a few decades, the Oregon State University (OSU) was the first state to have initiated a hemp studies program. The OSU has launched the Global Hemp Innovation Center in June 2019, which is the most extensive research program in the state. The program aims at identifying core areas of development for the future market of hemp across the globe. With 50 faculties, 19 disciplines present in over four countries, the research program is one of its kind. Oregon’s hemp program location is also strategic as the state located on the 45th parallel is the best for hemp production. Today, Oregon is also the third state to license hemp acres after Montana and Colorado. The program at OSU is involved in researching over 19 aspects of hemp.

Located in California, the California Hemp Corporation, formed by Jeff McPhee and Kent Kushar, has partnered with UC Davis to study hemp further. Launched in 2019, the program’s objective is to centralize California as a top location for hemp research and production. Professor Charlie Brummer is in charge of the lead testing at the research center and believes hemp production will radically transform California into a new industry taking over the planet. Hemp research helps to establish the production of hemp over the world serving a global demand of customers. Associate professor Li Tian at UC Davis states, “About hemp, this is such a new industry in California and nationally, so it’s really exciting to apply our expertise to studying this crop.” Furthermore, the Plants to Products program at UC Davis is designed to understand the full potential of hemp and cannabis.

The team mentions, “We are focused on molecular and traditional approaches to genotyping, phenotyping, pre-breeding and breeding for bespoke chemical signatures that may be of value to the pharmaceutical and other industries,” the team states on their website. “We have the expertise to address the environmental impact of cannabis and hemp cultivation, particularly water, pest, pathogen, and greenhouse gas impacts, and can offer advice on minimizing these environmental footprints.

The State University of New York (SUNY) College of Agriculture and Technology is based in Cobleskill, has furthermore launched a program for hemp research. As the crop is important in NYC, the college is devoted to foster awareness of the benefits of hemp for the public, especially in the health sector.

Other prominent programs around the nation include The New Crops research program, led by Dr. Burton Johnson at North Dakota State University (NDSU) Research Extension Center (REC) at Langdon. Since 2015 the program highlights research on industrial hemp. The Institute of Cannabis Research, launched in 2016 in partnership with Pueblo county and the State of Colorado, focuses on medicine, science for the extensive uses of hemp. The Institute also publishes the famous ‘Journal of Cannabis Research’ and intensely focuses on understanding the plant’s benefits for society.

Programs for Hemp farmers

Farmers also benefit from research programs such as the Imperial Valley Hemp and CBD Program (IV Hemp), which studies the possibilities for producers to expand their sales and understand more about the industry as a whole. Seeds prices are also offered to the program’s attendants, which has also partnered with a local CBD oil extraction facility in the Imperial Valley. The program found that the CBD market is expected to grow from $618 million in 2018 to $22 billion by 2022. Hence, research helps farmers to face such a fast-growing global market.

With many new research programs launched throughout the country, there’s no denying hemp has entered a new step. The emerging industry has gathered talented researchers at top universities in the nation who passionately contribute to make hemp a successful global business.