An Inaugural Hemp Harvest

What it's Like in the Fields So Far

By Abby Meaux Conques

I recently connected with David Tate, outside contractor for Virgin Hemp Farms in Louisiana, to ask him about the happenings so far in the first Louisiana hemp harvest season.

Tate is a Louisiana native and University of Louisiana at Lafayette alum who has called California home since 2005.

“I lost both of my parents in 2005 to cancer. I asked my doctor what precautions I could take to optimize my health, and frankly he said to move out of the state. Honestly, that’s what I did,” explained Tate.

Tate moved to Mendocino County and found a job working at a grow site. Over the years, he learned the ins and outs of varying cannabis grows; from supplies to irrigation, indoor to outdoor. He noted strategies and equipment that worked from his experience. For years he entertained the thought of starting a business in the cannabis realm in California, but quickly saw that the red tape and bureaucracy outweighed the desire to do so.

Now, Tate is able to have a hand in hemp by consulting for his longtime friends that head Virgin Hemp Farms in Louisiana, while simultaneously fulfilling a goal of attending UC Berkeley for financial planning.

FARM CARE

“We’re helping farmers oversee over 65 acres of hemp right now,” he said. Tate explained how delicate this first harvest season is due to the fact that experts won’t know how hemp will react to the environment and the soil of Louisiana. “It’s definitely a learning year,” he said.

There are many factors that affect the hemp yield, many of which they are beginning to see and try to remedy as the harvesting rolls on. Tate explained, “For example, Cannabidiol (CBD) plants can only contain up to .3% THC. If these CBD plants produce too rapidly, they can have too much THC and the crop will be lost.”

For future grows, Cannabigerol (CBG) strains could be utilized more due to the time and energy it takes for a CBG strain of plant to convert to THC. CBG has other attractive characteristics as well. “It’s frosty and full of trichomes and terpenes; if you keep it in the field long enough, it can convert to cannabinol (CBN), which is very desirable, specifically in the medical field,” Tate said. Although there are very few studies on CBN, the studies which have been completed thus far show an array of potential benefits ranging from having antibacterial properties, acting as a neuroprotectant, serving as an appetite stimulant, aiding the effects of glaucoma, and having the capabilities of an antiinflammatory.

LOUISIANA PESTS

The main obstacle concerning hemp farming right now are Louisiana pests & pathogens.

“In California, there may be two or three pathogens that you have to worry about: root-borne or soil-borne illnesses...and it normally happens closer to the flowering period,” said Tate.

“The largest problems being faced in Louisiana right now is that 20 to 30% of these farms are experiencing crop loss from southern blight and phytophthora which are plant damaging. What these farmers need are fungicides,” Tate explained. He said if current trends continue, a 50% crop loss isn’t out of the question. “At that rate, it will be extremely tough to get farmers to want to grow hemp in the future; will it be worth it with that much of a loss?”

ROWS OF HEMP GROW FOR LOUISIANA'S INAUGURAL HEMP SEASON

The conundrum that these Louisiana hemp farmers are facing is that they can’t ward off these pathogens with the same chemicals that are approved for a soybean, corn, or sugarcane farmer. Louisiana hemp farming is in such infancy, and there are restrictive rules statewide for the hemp industry. Hemp farmers are only able to use organic methods in an attempt to rid their crops of southern blight and phytophthora.

“Root rot could be occurring because of the amount of rain the state is getting. The problem with standing water on farms is that root fungus colonizes the plants’ roots and kills them; this affects the plant's vascular system,” Tate explained.

“Spidermites are what California worries about. Here, so far, Louisiana is facing the cucumber beetle...it looks like a green ladybug...they can swarm and infect fields overnight,” he explained. Food commodity farmers have their defense in certain chemicals that hemp farmers are restricted from, and ironically, their product is deemed safe to eat.

“I have to say, even in these challenges, I’m extremely thankful harmful to humans or the environment. and equally impressed with Dr. Raghuwinder Singh and his team at the LSU Ag Center...they’ve helped us a lot,” he said. Tate explained that at first sign of the pests and pathogens, they reached out to Dr. Singh, head pathogen expert at LSU Ag. “He met with us quickly and would get really excited to see what is that they can’t ward off these pathogens with the same we’d find,” he explained. Virgin Hemp Farms donated sick plants to Singh so he could carry out controlled experiments to gather more data to aid future grows.

The team came up with an organic solution to combat the cucumber beetle since what’s commonly used in pest and pathogen prevention isn’t cleared for use by hemp farmers. Azadirachtin is not as effective as other options, but is being used to help farmers get the most out of their harvest. It’s a secondary metabolite present in neem seeds; a cousin, if you will, of African tree neem oil. It’s commonly used in insect prevention and is considered to be non-toxic to mammals. It’s also not expected to have adverse effects on nontarget organisms or on the environment.

To help with fungus, they are using bacillus subtilis and bacillus amyloliquefaciens, bacterial strains that outcompete bad bacteria and root rot and are also not considered to be harmful to humans or the environment.

A PLANE SPRAYS AZARDIRACHITIN, A CONCENTRATE OF THE ACTIVE INGREDIENT OF NEEM OIL, TO FIGHT THE CUCUMBER BEETLE NORTH OF LECOMPTE, LOUISIANA

A PLANE SPRAYS AZARDIRACHITIN, A CONCENTRATE OF THE ACTIVE INGREDIENT OF NEEM OIL, TO FIGHT THE CUCUMBER BEETLE NORTH OF LECOMPTE, LOUISIANA

Tate also mentioned farmers are being helped by Virgin Hemp Farms’ fertigation systems put in place, designed by one of the owners, Blaine Jennings. “Blaine designed a really amazing irrigation and fertilization system. As far as I’m concerned, he is an absolute pioneer in hemp in Louisiana,” he said.

FUTURE TRENDS

Tate is already getting recommendations together for future harvests and clients. “I'd recommend autoflower seeds to future growers. We couldn’t do that with this initial harvest, but in the future, it would help the plants to not be in the fields as long, therefore less susceptible to environmental problems. You could also get 2 harvests out of the same fields with autoflower seeds.”

He also said he’d recommend certain farmers try greenhouse grows. “It’s attractive because it’s a controlled environment...controlled humidity...controlled water...sterile soil, but some of these farmers are old school and are comfortable with outdoor grows, which is understandable,” he mentioned.

HEMP SIMPLY HAS A LOT OF POTENTIAL

OTHER FACTORS

Another factor in a successful harvest learned in the inaugural Louisiana round is how the length of day affects the plants. The seedlings used in this first harvest are from other states. If a farmer uses seedlings from Colorado, and there’s normally 15 hours of daylight in Colorado, those seedlings could be shocked by the new environment where Louisiana’s proximity to the equator makes daylight and nighttime more equal in proportion,allowing for less daylight.

The remedy to this would be seedlings bred genetically in Louisiana. Virgin Hemp Farms is looking to the future where plants are bred, seedlings are cultivated,strains are grown, and oil is extracted, all here in Louisiana.They are envisioning a future where quality products are made locally“from soil to oil.”

All things considered, Tate is happy to see progress in his home state. “I’m happy to see the state of Louisiana broaden its perspective on certain things,” he said. “I hope the powers that be will keep farmers’ interests in mind by allowing them to use on their sick plants what other farmers are permitted to use on theirs. I hope they are eager to understand the problems and be progressive about the aid,” he said. He ended our conversation with the perfect summation, “Hemp simply has a lot of potential.”