Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Hemp is a versatile and productive crop; it is widely adapted, and has many potential uses including textiles, construction, food, animal feed, health, and personal care. The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp production across the US, paving the way for rapid growth in cultivation and industry. While there is tremendous excitement about hemp, there is also uncertainty and risk, with major gaps in research, extension, and education due to previous legal barriers, especially for organic producers. As the industry grows and develops rapidly in the coming years, there is a critical need to invest resources in high-impact research, extension, and education activities that will guide organic hemp production in a sustainable, profitable, and equitable direction. This project seeks to understand gaps in knowledge and resources limiting organic hemp production for both farmers and hemp industry professionals, assess market potential for organic hemp products, and prioritize research, extension, and education needs to develop an equitable, resilient, productive, and profitable organic hemp industry. Collaborators will accomplish these objectives by engaging with farmers, industry stakeholders, and eduators through a survey and focus groups. Through these activities, the project will directly address legislatively-defined OREI goals 1, 2, 4, 5, and 8 by: improving organic hemp production, breeding, and processing methods (Goal 1), evaluating potential economic benefits of organic hemp production (Goal 2), determining desirable traits for organic hemp products (Goal 4), identifying market and policy constraints on organic hemp production (Goal 5), and guiding development of improved hemp varieties for organic agriculture (Goal 8).
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The goal of this project is to identify research, extension, and education priorities that will support the development of the organic hemp industry to be resilient, sustainable, profitable, and equitable.Project Objectives:Understand the critical gaps in farmer knowledge and resources limiting the equitable participation in and resilience, productivity, and profitability of organic hemp production.Assess the market potential for organic hemp products and identify the major barriers limiting access to markets, and how these factors vary across farmer identity.Identify knowledge gaps of hemp professionals regarding organic production systems.Prioritize identified research, extension, and education needs and develop further collaboration and development of grant proposal(s) to address these needs.
Project Methods
Objective 1: Farmer Survey & Focus Groups.In January-April 2023, a survey will be distributed to both organic hemp producers and organic grain producers who do not currently produce hemp. Topics will include farmer demographics, current acreage, barriers to adoption, variety selection and seed sourcing, management challenges, end-use products, markets, future plans, perceived training needs, and other topics identified by key stakeholders. Survey questions will be determined by the project team in consultation with key stakeholders. The survey instrument will be designed and distributed using the Tailored Design Method (Dillman et al., 2009). The survey will be piloted with a group of farmers before distribution, the finalized questionnaire will be distributed via both paper mail and email, and each participant will receive multiple contacts including the survey, a reminder, and a second copy of the survey. Participants will be identified through the USDA Organic Integrity Database as well as through farmer organizations, listservs, and conferences.Focus groups will also be conducted with farmers at regional organic farming conferences, pending public health and safety limitations. Questions will focus on key topics identified through a preliminary analysis of the survey data. Focus groups will be planned and facilitated according to the best practices identified by Nyumba et al. (2018). Each focus group will include up to twelve participants and will last one to two hours. Focus groups will be led by a facilitator and an assistant; the facilitator will introduce the goals of the study, obtain consent from participants, ask open-ended questions, and draw out participants as needed. The assistant will take notes on non-verbal interactions, group dynamics, and general discussion content). Focus groups will be recorded for future transcription and analysis.Objective 2: Industry Focus Groups.In January-April 2023, one or more focus groups will be conducted with representatives of companies currently buying organic hemp fiber, grain, or cannabinoids, and companies with potential to become buyers in the future. Participants will be recruited by reaching out directly to companies known to be purchasing organic hemp, or who are perceived as potential future buyers. These individuals will be identified through the networks of project collaborators, stakeholders (see letters of support), and by direct outreach to companies. Focus groups will take place either virtually or in-person in conjunction with a relevant industry conference, pending public health and safety limitations. Topics will include their current use of organic hemp, challenges with quality and sourcing, future plans, perceived training needs, and perceptions of the organic hemp market broadly. Focus groups will be conducted according to the methods described in Objective 1.Objective 3: Education Focus Groups.In January-April 2023, one or more focus groups will be conducted with educators teaching courses related to hemp production and processing. Participants will be identified through researcher networks and publicly available course listings. Participants will represent courses taught in diverse modalities (online, in-person, degree- and certificate-granting) offered by a range of institutions including minority-serving institutions, public land grant universities, tribal colleges and universities, and community colleges. Topics will include current inclusion of organic principles and practices in their curriculum and the types of knowledge they feel would be most helpful to future professionals participating in hemp-related degree programs and informal education (e.g., workshops, educational materials, development of online certificate programs), and what, if any, barriers prevent the adoption of this content. Focus groups will take place virtually and will be conducted according to the methods described in Objective 1.Objective 4: Researcher Meetings.Researchers will meet virtually for a project initiation meeting in October 2022. Thereafter, the group will meet bimonthly to coordinate project activities and provide feedback on stakeholder engagement tools, analysis methods, and other project activities. A final, in-person meeting will take place in September 2023. Results of the stakeholder needs assessment will be synthesized and presented at the meeting, and a series of intensive brainstorming and planning sessions will take place with a target outcome of developing ideas and concrete plans for one or more grant proposals by the end of the meeting.