Progress 08/01/24 to 07/31/25

Outputs
Target Audience:We have reached a broad group of stakeholders who benefited from the preliminary results derived from this project during this reporting period. These include: Farmers participating in field days (local and out of state) andcounty Extension events who are interested in including fiber hemp in their rotation. n = 413 farmer audience members. Extension agents participating in field days (local and out of state) and agent training events. n = 92 extension agent audience members. Industry personnel associated with or interested in engaged with the fiber hemp industry such as seed companies, fertilizer/pesticide vendors, textile companies, apparel companies, etc. n = 228 industry personnel audience members. We engaged with a total of 733 stakeholders during this reporting period. Furthermore, graduate students and lead PI Suchoff presented preliminary results from this project in 5 scientific meetings. Attendees included researchers, USDA personnel, graduate students, and policy makers from across the country. Finally, we were interviewed on the local NPR station (WUNC) to discuss hemp as an alternative for our state's tobacco growers. This station garners tens of thousands of listeners across the state. Changes/Problems:As stated earlier, we have suspended all project activities. We notified participating farmers that we cannot move forward with this year's research as this project is no longer in the ASAP system. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have provided field day events, county Extension meetings, and Extension agent training events to share preliminary results from this project. Not only did we discuss specific results at these meetings, but we used them as a training opportunity to review good nutrient management practices, farm economics, and equipment demonstrations. We surveyed participants (n=58) at the 2024 fiber hemp field day to check for knowledge gained. Below are survey results for knowledge from topics pertaining to this project: Hemp planting density Hemp nitrogen requirements Hemp no-till weed management Average (Before) 2.106382979 2.361702128 2.510638298 Likert Meaning Low Low Low Average (After) 3.934782609 3.936170213 3.914893617 Likert Meaning High High High These results indicated that all participants left the field day with a significantly improved understanding of fiber hemp production requirements due to the information shared. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results were disseminated via in-person field days, county meetings (in-person and virtual), agent training events, and scientific meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We have had to suspend all project activities as this project was removed from the payment (ASAP) system. We did not receive a stop work order, nor any reasons for exclusion from the ASAP system; however, given the uncertainties around future funding and our current inability to submit invoices from prior project-related expenses, it is not fiscally responsible for us (nor are alternative funds available) to continue any work on this project.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We have completed two years of field trials to determine optimal nitrogen rate, plant populations, and weed management strategies. Though we have one more year of on-station trials required for the nitrogen and weed management studies, we are getting a better idea of fiber hemp nitrogen rate requirements (100 - 150 lb N/ac) and if no-till systems that utilize cover crops can be an effective means to manage weeds (yes, they can). We have completed the on-station fiber hemp plant population studies and the graduate student working on that (paid from University funds) is currently analyzing all data and writing her thesis. Initial results indicate that 900,000 plants/ac is the optimal plant population for maximum bast production. However, she found that if farmers are seeking to maximize total stem yield and hurd production, lower populations (300,000 plants/ac) are ideal. We initiated the first round of on-farm trials with farmer collaborators in the 2024 season. Growers evaluated different nitrogen fertilizer rates as they felt this was the most important factor for their production systems. Though we had significant environmental challenges including a 50-year drought followed by two hurricanes, we were able to collect good preliminary on-farm data. Furthermore, the farmers were encouraged by the resilience of the crop and ease of production and enthusiastically agreed to continue with on-farm trials.

Publications

Progress 08/01/23 to 07/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:As this is year one of our project, we have not yet hosted any Extension or outreach events pertaining to the project. These events will occur starting August 2024 and into the Fall and early Winter. However, we have initiated conversations with potential farmer collaborators and have installed an on-farm trial with Eddie Moore, a Lumbee farmer in Robeson County, as a preliminary on-farm trial. Changes/Problems:Major change 1: In our initial plan for the density trial, we had populations up to 2 million plants/ac. We found that we could not physically get enough seed to germinate at such high populations. As such, we reduced populations that range by 300,000 plants/ac (300,000, 600,000, 900,000, 1.2 M, and 1.5 M plants/ac). We do not believe this will affect the end results as we do not see any appreciable gains after ~ 750,000 plants/acre. We had a learning curve with using our no-till drill. No-till drill into cover crop mulch can be challenging and requires a good understanding of the equipment and the soil at the time of planting. However, we are having excellent success in 2024 with planting and feel confident that we can maintain and build onthis success while also sharing this knowledge with farmer stakeholders. We proposed only to do on-station work in year one. However, since we had preliminary data from the prior field season and interest from a farmer, we decided to move forward with one on-farm trial. We still plan to follow the project timeline of four on-farm trials in year two of the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?As mentioned prior, we will be planting our trials for 2024 until June.We will be hosting at least two fiber hemp field days during the 2024 field season (likely in August, date TBD) in which we will share our preliminary results and engage with other potential farmer collaborators. We will also share preliminary results with our NC Cooperative Extension agents during training events in the Fall and Winter 2024 as well as host numerous 2024 - 2025 Winter County Extension meetings. Both Ashlee and Sam (PhD and MS students) will present preliminary results at the 2024 American Society for Horticultural Science conference in September, the 2024 International ASA-CSSA-SSSA meeting in November, and potentially at the IND HEMP annual summit in Montana, October 2024.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We were able to get one year of field trials in during the 2023 field season while we waited for the grant paperwork to be completed. We hired Ashlee George as our Ph.D. student to work on the weed management (objective 1) and nitrogen rate trials (2). We also hired Samantha Carroll as an M.S. student focusing on plant densities (objective 3) - we obtianed additional external funding to cover Samantha's degree. We conducted field trials at the Cherry Research Station (Goldsboro, NC), Cunningham Research Station (Kinston, NC), and Horticultural Crops Research Station (Clinton, NC). The overall trials were a success and we are still parsing through the data. Preliminary results from the nitrogen rate trial found that height and stem yields appear to plateau at ~ 150 lb N/ac. We were excited to find that when the hairy vetch grew well and plots were sufficiently prepped, we could acheive fiber hemp yields comparable to our highest nitrogen rate from this cover crop alone. This means we may be able to eliminate all external nitrogen inputs simply by relying on the hairy vetch cover crop. Furthermore, we found that we could get excellent stands and weed management when no-till planting in the hairy vetch cover crop. We had challenges with the no-till trial due to equipment learning curves, however we still were able to show that stands could be successfully estableshed in a rolled cover crop. Our density trials showed a strong population effect on stem diameter: higher populations significantly reduced stem diameter. We believe that optimal densities likely need to be ~750,000 plant/ac based on final stem and bast fiber yields. We are in the process of planting our 2024 on-station trials. Though this is still technically year one of this grant project, we decided to collaborate with one farmer in Robeson County (Eddie Moore) due to his interest in the work. Eddie wanted to put in a nitrogen rate trial on his farmer, which was planted at the beginning of May. The project has on-farm trials being initiated in year two, however we felt that, because we were able to obtain good preliminary data and we had the interest from Eddie, we wanted to move forward with at least one farmer now.

Publications