Hemp workshops have been among the myriad of events that have been canceled across the countryside because of the coronavirus.
That’s a sad fact, but maybe it also will give hemp promoters a little extra time to push for more hemp fiber processing capacity.
It appears that growers are getting down the intricacies of growing hemp — farmers seem to have that innate ability — but there still are many questions about its processing and uses beyond the farms.
Plenty has been discussed and marketed where the cannabidiol, commonly known as CBD, is concerned. Growers and processors even are pinning down the need for better defining the differences and truthful marketing between uses of general hemp oil and the CBD oil.
The oils likely will continue playing major roles early in the reintroduction to hemp in the United States, according to experts in the field. But many also are hoping that the development of processing facilities for the hemp’s fiber are soon developed.
The fiber, many in the industry believe, is what will make hemp production really get under way. It’s the fiber, after all, that can be available for uses beyond the imagination of many folks.
Hemp fiber is so versatile that, in 1942, the federal government produced a video, “Hemp for Victory.” That video promoted the idea that farmers should grow as much hemp as possible because its fiber could be used in so many products.
Some see it as unfortunate that hemp’s cousin, marijuana, turned society away from the production of hemp since those World War II times.
Perhaps in coming years, or even months, work will be done to increase the capacity to again make hemp fiber an important and renewable part of our lives.
Leave a Reply