Progress 02/28/24 to 02/27/25
Outputs
Target Audience:This project is important to assure the long-term viability of farms in the Northeast. It will help farmers adopt regionally specific production strategies that maximize fiber hemp yield and quality. Improvement of cover crop function can help to build soil health, climate resiliency, and reduce their reliance on purchased inputs. The target audience during this reporting period was hemp farmers and those individuals that work with hemp farmers including crop consultants, government organizations, and hemp processors. Extensive outreach and education provided interactive events that helped farmers build knowledge on the infrastructure, equipment, and fiber quality specifications required in hemp manufacturing. Videos, photo guides, and a hemp fiber guide were created to help farmers become more familiar with this critical aspect of fiber production. Outreach events including workshops and a field day were attended by over 140 stakeholders. Thirty-nine farmers gained new information to help improve their farming operation and hemp related businesses. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During 2024, two technicians were trained in laboratory skills for hemp measurements, milling and biosafety. One postdoctoral researcher was trained in skills of fixation, mounting and scanning electron microscopy of hemp stalks. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our three-year examination of hemp fiber in partnership with the USDA CARE grant is entering its final growing season. During this time, we have seen our personal knowledge of hemp fiber production grow by leaps and bounds. We have also sought out numerous opportunities to share our work with the masses. Once a year, we invite the public to the farm to see our trials firsthand at our annual field day. Since initiating our hemp work in this CARE grant cycle, we have made hemp an integral part of this day, featuring its own afternoon breakout session where attendees can walk through the hemp, observe demonstrations, and listen to the voices of featured speakers in the industry. This year will be no different, and our 2025 field day is slated for July 24, 2025. In 2024, members of our team seized opportunities to share about our research at multiple stakeholder events, including the NOCO Hemp Expo in Estes park Colorado on April 11 with nearly 1,500 attendees, The NOFA Conference at UVM campus in Burlington, VT on 2/17 with 950-1,000 attendees, and The Farm To Plate Summit in Killington VT on 11/20 with over 300 attendees. We also hosted a webinar for the North American Linen Association on 10/24 with 24 participants, and presented on a virtual panel for the Rustbelt Fibershed (based in Cleveland, Ohio) on 1/16/2025 with about 30 attendees. We have also given annual presentations for a number of local youth groups including the AALV (African Americans living in Vermont) run by our 4H professionals. This event involves about 15 attendees annually. We also presented for other UVM student organizations and classes, such as the class offered in Sustainable Fashion which draws 25-30 attendees annually. Reports on our findings have been published to our website on an annual basis throughout the duration of this grant. In 2023 we published reports on hemp fiber seeding rates, harvest dates, and varieties. So far in 2024 we have published our variety trial report, with others in progress. Other deliverables that we have produced include a "Fiber Hemp Production Guide" published in 2024. A "Field Retting Photo-Instructive Guide" also published in 2024. In additionseveral videos have beend developed and posted online. The videos feature topics like, "The Basics of Manually Processing Hemp Fiber," "An Introduction to the Fiber Hemp Trials at the Borderview Research Farm," "Felting Hemp," "Hand Harvesting," and others. They can be found at the links below. The Basics of Manually Processing Hemp fiber (9min): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfr8NWELWbk Manually Processing Fiber hemp Highlight (1min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUD5vx_4W6A Intro to the Fiber Hemp Trials at Borderview Research Farm https://youtu.be/JCz9ywPVKX0 Heather's Vision for Fiber Hemp Research in Vermont 2024 Field Day https://youtu.be/-cpO_rieufw Hemp Felting and Bio Plastic Demo at the 2024 Field Day https://youtu.be/81DhDsjbGP0 Hand Harvesting Fiber Hemp Samples for Testing https://youtu.be/cpM1wwcxynM What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the final growing season our team will repeat retting, seeding rate, and harvest date study. A hemp fiber variety trial will also be continued. The quality analysis on the hemp samples will be completed by finalizing chemical and physical analytics of hemp samples. Final reports and publications will be produced.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Hemp is a versatile crop and suitable for rotation with cereal grains, corn, and other grasses. To help farmers succeed, agronomic research on hemp is needed, as much of the historical production knowledge for the region has been lost. In May of 2024, 3 were trials initiated at the Borderview Research Farm in Alburgh, Vermont 1) Identify hemp fiber production practices that complement each other and lead to maximum productivity of the crop. Trial one was to evaluate the performance of 16 hemp fiber varieties. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications. In this experiment, seeding rates were adjusted for germination rate with the intention of producing 450 live seeds m2. Plots were 5'x20' in size on the 20-May. From 30-Jul to 30-Sep, in accordance with full flowering, wet weight harvest yields were calculated by sampling the hemp biomass within a 0.25 m2 quadrat. Average heights and stem diameters were determined and plants were also selected at random from each plot and processed with a custom-built decorticator. Whole stem weights and bast fiber weights were recorded to determine ratios of bast to hurd fiber for each variety. Yuma produced the biggest plants in the trial both in terms of girth and stature with an average crop height of 292 cm and an average stem diameter of 11.7mm. Unsurprisingly, it also represented the highest yielding variety in the trial with a dry matter yield of 19.2 tons/acre. In terms of hurd production, Yuma also performed statistically similarly to Ursa Grande, the variety with the highest percentage of hurd fiber per stem, suggesting great profitability for hurd production. Large ratios of hurd fiber are not optimal for textile production, but are ideal for hurd-based applications like the manufacturing of green building materials and animal bedding. Ursa Alta's trial performance represents another ideal candidate for hurd production with its size and dry matter yield producing statistically similar results to those of Yuma. It does not have quite as high of a percentage of hurd to bast fiber, but at 68.5% hurd, it still represents a high ratio of hurd fiber. Hungarian variety Kompolti yielded the highest percentage of bast fiber with a crop average of 43.7% bast fiber. A statistically similar performer was French variety Fibror 79 at 42.8% bast fiber. No matter what the primary end-use is for an industrial hemp fiber crop, bast and hurd fibers are each a profitable byproduct of the other and turning the highest profit hinges on optimizing yields of both. Trial 2 evaluated the impact of seeding rate on fiber yield. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications. The variety used for testing was Futura 83 (KonopiUS Seeds). The six seeding rates trialed in this experiment were 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, and 150 lbs ac-1. Seeds were sown on 20-May into 10' x 45' plots. On 1-August in accordance with full flowering, wet weight harvest yields were calculated by sampling the hemp biomass within a 0.25 m2 quadrat. Heights and stem diameters were recorded from five randomly selected plants within each plot. Bast and hurd data were obtained by weighing a bundle of stalks, previously retted and dried, and then decorticated with a modified Fibertrac-118 decorticator from Formation Ag. Generally, one would expect the seeding rate to impact the size of the plants inversely: as the seeding rate increases the average size of the plants decrease due to competition for resources. However, for the second season in a row, our data did not capture a statistically significant difference in plant height or stem diameter across the various seeding rate treatments. This year's unlikely data results may be due in part to a problematic infestation of bindweed on the trial site that kept members of our team busy with eradication efforts over the course of two days. It is possible that although the bindweed itself was largely removed, the act of walking through the plots to root it out may have compromised the results. Also, for the second season in a row, there was no statistically significant difference observed in yields across the six treatments. 2) Identify hemp fiber harvest practices that will produce the quality ofbiomass required to meet market opportunities. A third trial evaluated the impact of harvest timing on fiber yield and quality. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications. The variety used for testing was Futura 83 (Konopius Seeds). Seeds were sown on 20-May into 5'x 20' plots. The target population for each plot was 1,821,087 live seeds ac-1. This report reflects results across five harvest timings at approximately ten day intervals from 60 to 100 days after sowing. On 20-May, the plots were seeded with a Great Plains NT60 cone seeder. and on 29-May, plant emergence populations were recorded by counting the number of plants in a foot-long section of the row, three times per plot. Upon each harvest date, wet weight harvest yields were calculated by sampling the hemp biomass within a 0.25 m2 quadrat from corresponding plots. Heights and stem diameters were recorded from five randomly selected plants within each plot. Bast and hurd data were obtained by weighing a bundle of stalks, previously retted and dried, and then decorticating them with a Fibertrac-118 decorticator from Formation Ag. After harvest and drying, additional samples were submitted to Cornell's DairyOne Forage Lab (Ithaca, NY) for wet chemistry analysis. The detergent fiber analysis system separates forages into two parts: cell contents, which include sugars, starches, proteins, non-protein nitrogen, fats and other highly digestible compounds; and the less digestible components found in the fiber fraction. The total fiber content of forage is contained in the neutral detergent fiber (NDF) which includes cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, while acid detergent Fiber (ADF) represents only cellulose and lignin. Samples did not undergo any form of retting prior to testing. The trial showed no statistically significant difference in harvest populations, which suggests that if the plots were impacted by self-thinning, it would have occurred prior to 60 days of growth. The highest biomass yield was observed during harvest date 4 at 91 days from sowing. This harvest timing also yielded the tallest and thickest plants in the trial. Plants tend to stop increasing in vertical height once they set flowers. The male flowers mature first with the female flowers coming one or two weeks later.Perhaps the most noteworthy data collected in this trial is that of bast to hurd ratio. The highest percentages of bast fiber were observed in harvest dates three and four. It was expected that the bast fiber ratio would be lower in HD1, given that the stalk is still quite immature at 60 days. The decline in bast fiber recorded in harvest date 5 also aligned with the widespread belief that bast fiber quality and quantity can be expected to diminish in accordance with the maturation of flowers and seeds. According to our variety trial report, variety Futura 83 began to express mature female flowers on day 85. Samples from the 2024 hemp fiber harvest date trial were also submitted to Cornell's Dairy One Forage Lab for wet chemistry analysis. Samples were analyzed for acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (aNDF), and lignin concentrations (Table 4). No significant difference in lignin content was observed across the 5 harvest timings, however, ADF and NDF concentrations increased with near linear consistency from harvest date 1 and 5. Cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin are all structural constituents of hemp stalk anatomy. Structural material becomes increasingly necessary for procreation as the plant reaches its reproductive stage and must be able to bear the weight of flowers and seeds.
Publications
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Progress 02/28/23 to 02/27/24
Outputs
Target Audience:This project is important to assure the long-term viability of farms in the Northeast. It will help farmers adopt regionally specific production strategies that maximize fiber hemp yield and quality. Improvement of cover crop function can help to build soil health, climate resiliency, and reduce their reliance on purchased inputs. The target audience during this reporting period was hemp farmers and those individuals that work with hemp farmers including crop consultants, government organizations, and hemp processors.Extensive outreach and education provided interactive events that helped farmers build knowledge on the infrastructure, equipment, and fiber quality specifications required in hemp manufacturing. Videos, photo guides, and a hemp fiber guide were created to help farmers become more familiar with this critical aspect of fiber production. Outreach events including a Green Design Workshop, a conference, and field days were attended by over 140 stakeholders. Thirty-nine farmers gained new information to help improve their farming operation and hemp related businesses. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One professional staff has traveled to Prince Edward Island to work with TapRoot Fiber lab to understand hemp processing equipment, steps, and procedures. As a result some of the hemp harvested from trials was sent to the lab and processed and assessed. PIKostell and Darby have been trained on how the take photographs and analyze hemp fiber for quality and degradation. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Dr. Darby's extension program reaches a diverse group of farmers throughout the region. The team maintains a blog, social media presence, YouTube Channel and website that are all significant resources of information for farmers. Several blog posted were generated and posted the the UVM outcropn blog to highlight and share relevant hemp topics with our stakeholders. There are 134 stakeholders that receive these blogposts. Wrapping up the Field Fiber Season. 13-Dec 2023.https://blog.uvm.edu/outcropn/2023/12/13/wrapping-up-the-fiber-field-season/ Hemp Fiber Outreach Recap. 6-Dec 2023.https://blog.uvm.edu/outcropn/2023/12/06/hemp-fiber-outreach-recap/ Beginning the Hemp Field Season. 4-May 2023.https://blog.uvm.edu/outcropn/2023/12/04/beginning-the-hemp-field-season/ July On-Farm Field Day. 7-Jul 2023.https://blog.uvm.edu/outcropn/2023/07/07/july-on-farm-field-day-opportunities/ Sunsetting of Vermont's Hemp Program. 19-Sep 2022.https://blog.uvm.edu/outcropn/2022/09/19/sunsetting-of-vermonts-hemp-program-and-the-transitioning-to-the-u-s-domestic-hemp-production-program/ A photo-instructive guide on hemp retting in the NortheastHemp Fiber Retting Photo Guide There were three research reports generated at the end of the season from each experiment conducted. Darby, H. and L. Sullivan. (2024)."2023 Industrial Hemp Fiber Variety Trial".https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/Northwest-Crops-and-Soils-Program/2023%20Research%20Rpts/2023_Hemp_Fiber_VT_Report.pdf Darby, H. and L. Sullivan. (2024). "2023 Industrial Hemp Fiber Harvest Date Trial" (2024). https://legacy.drup2.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/Northwest-Crops-and-Soils-Program/2023%20Research%20Rpts/2023_Hemp_Fiber_Harvest_Date.pdf Darby, H. and L. Sullivan. (2024).2023 Industrial Hemp Fiber Seeding Rate Trial" (2024).https://legacy.drup2.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/Northwest-Crops-and-Soils-Program/2023%20Research%20Rpts/2023_Hemp_Fiber_Seeding_Rate_Report_FInal.pdf TheAnnual Crop and Soil Field Daywas held at Borderview Farm on July 27, 2023. The annual field day started with a tour of the farm and many of its research plots. Growers received updates on ongoing and innovative crop and soil research trials, and UVM researches shared highlights from the hemp research at the farm. In the afternoon a hemp processing demonstration was held. This included processing and fiber separation methods and an equipment showcase, both where basic farm equipment can be used and where specialized equipment such as a decorticator is needed. A demonstration showed hemp fiber types and hemp fiber material properties and how they are used with other materials and equipment to make useable products. There were 181 attendees at the field day with 42 at the fiber demonstration. AHemp Fiber Green Design Programwas held at the Vermont Marble Museum in Proctor, VT. UVM Extension, Zion Growers, Hemp Hollow Processing, Vermont Green Building Network, and Smokey House Farm collaboratively provided a guided tour of Zion Growers new soon-to-be hemp processing operations, followed by a design brainstorming session to develop ideas for prototyping green building and design products using hemp bast and hurd fibers as well as other fiber from crops grown in Vermont. Hemp provides dual crops of grain and fiber, with multiple end uses, which are potentially carbon negative and renewable. Hemp also improves diversification to Vermont's agricultural economy and provides value-added production opportunities, including new products for the bio-based green building sector which mitigates climate change and provides a healthy living environment. In this hands-on session, we will discuss both barriers and opportunities to developing this emerging marketplace and what the next steps can be for helping Vermont farmers grow and process hemp. The tour showed what needed to be done to retrofit the large space formerly used for marble to the new uses for hemp. There were 24 participants. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Research experiments will be repeated in 2024 growing season. Hemp fiber will be processed at TapRoot Fiber Lab and additional analysis will be conducted at Battenkill Fiber Mill. Lab analysis on quality will also be completed. Outreach events will be held to share information with farmers.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
June exhibited cloudy weather with standard rainfall. July's rainfall saw a staggering departure from normal with 10.8 inches of precipitation, 6.74 inches more than the 30 year average. Much of Vermont experienced persistent rain in tandem with hazy conditions caused by Canadian wildfire smoke over the course of July and August. Despite the heavy rainfall, the well-saturated research farm did not experience the flooding that wrought havoc on many other farms in the state. Overall, from May to September there were 23.4 inches of rain and 2038 Growing Degree Days (GDDs) accumulated, which was 124 GDDs below normal. Objective 1. Identify hemp varieties that maximize fiber yield. If successful, growers will be able to select varieties that help them reduce inputs and maximize yields. Hypothesis: If growers select varieties best adapted to Vermont, then hemp fiber yield and quality will be maximized. Given the versatility of hemp in the market, one must be clear on their goals for end-use from the start. Whether it's the choice of variety or seeding rate, agronomic practices will have an influence on the resulting crop. In our trial, our initial goal was to produce a dense stand of plants with stem diameters comparable to that of a pencil or chopstick (6-7mm). This is the recommended girth of plants grown for textile-quality bast fiber. Theoretically, stem diameter can be manipulated by the density at which the seed is sown. More seed will result in a greater number of thinner plants that stretch upwards to compete for sunlight in the canopy without much lateral branching. Others might optimize their growing conditions for high biomass yield, using less seed for the production of bigger, more spacious plants. Others still might prioritize hurd production, or dual cropping. Plants with a higher ratio of hurd fiber will have a thicker woody core. This is not optimal for textile production but is well suited for other industrial applications. Yuma hit the average target stem diameter with the second highest dry matter yield in the trial. However, Yuma is not bred for textile grade fiber and did not yield a favorable ratio of bast fiber. Yuma is better suited for hurd production than for textile fiber. In our trial, Fiber 1 had the largest stem diameters with an average of 11.6mm, and the greatest dry matter yield of 12.1 tons ac-1. Numerically, Fiber 1's dry matter yields were nearly double those of many of the varieties but no statistical difference was detected between the fifteen varieties. This is likely the result of substantial variability across Fiber 1's four replications, which causes a loss of confidence in the consistency with which it can produce such high yields. In other words, one replication yielded very low, one yielded very high, and the other two spanned the gap in between. French varieties including Ferimon 12, Fibror 79, Futura 83, and Muka 76, continued to be consistent and reliable performers in our region. These varieties also produced some of the highest bast fiber yields in the trial. Fibror 79 has a unique genetic marker that colors the stem and foliage yellow, as seen on the cover page of this report. This is a characteristic that is unique to some fiber hemp varieties and is linked to a more tender and less hearty stalk than some. For these reasons, Fibror 79 experienced severe lodging due to rain compared to its more robust counterparts. The tallest of the fifteen varieties in the 2023 fiber variety trial was Fiber 1 by Kanda Hemp with an average height of 302cmor 9.9 ft. No other varieties produced average heights of statistical similarity, with the second tallest variety, Carmenecta, averaging 233cm. Fiber 1 also yielded the largest quantity of biomass, which was measured to be 12.1 tons per acre. Noting that Fiber 1 had a lower stand count than most at only 12.5 plants ft-2, it is evident that this high yield was the result of the towering stature of the plants and not the density of the stand. No matter what the primary end-use is for an industrial hemp fiber crop, bast and hurd fibers are each a profitable byproduct of the other and turning the highest profit hinges on maximizing yields of both. Important factors to account for during the growing season include genetics, soil fertility, germination rate, seeding rate, and harvest timing. Hemp Fiber Harvest Timing Trial Objective 2. To identify best harvest timing for optimizing fiber yield and quality. Hypothesis: If growers harvest timely fiber yield and quality will be maximized. Our goal with the hemp harvest date studywas to observe the impact of harvest timing on plant characteristics and yield. The trial showed no statistically significant difference in plant heights or yield across the three harvest timings. However, harvest date did appear to have an impact on stem diameter, with the thickest stems, averaging 8.2 mm, coming from HD4 on 28-Aug. Perhaps the most noteworthy data collected in this trial is that of bast to hurd ratio. The first harvest timing, which occurred 74 days from planting, yielded the highest percentage of bast fiber at 38.6% of the stalk. Neither of the following harvest dates yielded a statistically similar result. This data is aligned with the widespread belief that bast fiber quality and quantity can be expected to diminish with the onset of flowers and seeds. Given that the highest bast fiber percentage was observed in HD1 and the thickest stems were observed in HD4, it is likely that the hemp stalks are getting woodier as the plants transition from the vegetative stage to flowering. During HD1 we also saw the highest populations of plants at 1,011,714 plants ac-1, with HD2 yielding a statistically similar result of 833,652 plants ac-1. It is possible that the reduced population of plants in HD4 was the result of "self-thinning" or a die-off of smaller plants under the canopy by the time of harvest. Hemp Fiber Retting Duration Trial Objective 3. To evaluate the effect of different field retting durations on the properties of hemp fiber in Vermont's climate. Hypothesis: If growers become effective in identifying proper retting duration fiber quality will be optimal for the available markets. The concentrations of both NDF and ADF components increases until the 3rd week of retting at which point the concentrations begin to decline. The NDF consists of hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin whereas the ADF consists of cellulose and lignin. At harvest the NDF and ADF concentrations were lowest as the material rets in the field there is a loss of easily degradable plant materials such as various sugars and pectins. The level of soluble carbohydrates was highest at harvest and declined by 76% from harvest until week 2. As the carbohydrates are lost during the "rotting" process the concentrations of less degradable material, the fiber, increase in concentration. The concentration of NDF and ADF reach a maximum at week 3 and this would indicate that much of the easily degradable material has been lost. At this point the NDF and ADF concentrations begin to decline which is likely a result of the degradation of the hemicellulose and cellulose after week 3. This preliminary indicates that hemp fiber was likely retted to an optimum point for textile production after 3 weeks of retting in the field. Additional work needs to be done to characterize the fiber and suitability for a variety of end-use products.
Publications
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