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PEOPLE OF CENTR AL OREGON CANNABIS THE BEST 4/20 EVER BAKING WITH GANJA …AND LOTS MORE !
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ISSUE 7 - Spring 2022
Highlighting an emerging and ever-changing industry
L o o k ! I t’s Th e L e a f l e t ! It’s been our pleasure and pride over the past 6+ years to put Central Oregon’s only cannabis publication out into the world—and this time is no different. It’s a joy to bring a little dose of canna-love to Source readers, all packaged up for the cannabis lover to read at their leisure. Inside this issue, find an introduction to some of the movers and shakers in local cannabis. Find a list of hot products, a primer on baking with buds, info on the hemp farming market, and so much more. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em, and then sit back with this latest edition of The Leaflet. Editor – Nicole Vulcan Reporters – Jack Harvel, Chris Williams Copy Editor – Richard Sitts Production Manager– Jessie Czopek Ad Designer – Erica Durtschi Advertising Team – Ashley Sarvis, Ban Tat, Renee LeBlanc Intern- Trinity Bradle Publisher - Aaron Switzer
Editorial editor@bendsource.com Sales advertise@bendsource.com
CENTRAL OREGON LEAFLET by Source Weekly
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PEOPLE OF CENTRAL OREGON CANNABIS Local industry peeps share a little about themselves, the industry and their fave tunes for 4:20 By Stacie Dread / Photos by Erica Durtschi
GA RY DA K T Y L OWNER/OPERATOR AT WILDFLOWER HEMP CO. Loyal and dedicated, this friend-to-all is truly a n d d e e p l y i n l o v e w i t h t h e f r u i t s o f h i s l a b o r.
What is the hardest part of your job? The hardest part of my job is keeping up with the legal changes to the industry in parallel to the constant evolution of the market itself.
Favorite cultivar: CBD-Pink Panther, THC-Gelato #25
What do you wish cannabis consumers knew? I wish cannabis consumers knew how much effort it takes to trim a pound of flower. What keeps you driving forward, what motivates you? What keeps driving me forward is straight-up passion. I love the industry from all aspects... the people, dank flowers, loud aromas... it really does make me smile and I have no plans in changing my career. What is your favorite 4:20 music? My favorite 4:20 music is all forms of reggae and hip hop. Gary’s Choice Question: Are you working on any new projects? Yes, I have been recently focusing my time on indoor cultivation and solventless hash extraction. 4
ISSUE 7 - Spring 2022
P EO P L E O F C A N N A B I S
LIZETTE COPPINGER Co-Founder/Partner At Cannabend & Gardner/HR/ Facility Manager at Northwest Soiltech This all-around powerhouse is a Bend staple and keeps our community at the hear t of business.
What is the hardest part of your job? Human Resources and not being able to buy all the products we want for the retail shop due to limited budgets. Favorite Cultivar: Donny Burger
What is your favorite 4:20 music? Slightly Stoopid, Sophistafunk, Fortunate Youth, Pepper and of course, Mac Miller.
What do you wish Cannabis consumers knew? Terps trump numbers. Also, not all Cannabis is grown the same. How you grow it matters. What keeps you driving forward, what motivates you? The next delicious strain and being able to provide it to the public. Helping expand people’s minds about what quality cannabis is. Lizette’s choice question: In what ways can our industry improve? Cannabis businesses coming together via collaborations and community work and events. This should be an industry of love. Also, help normalize the use of cannabis so we are not always excluded from public events.
CENTRAL OREGON LEAFLET by Source Weekly
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ISSUE 7 - Spring 2022
P EO P L E O F C A N N A B I S
J AC K R O B S O N BOSS GUY AT HIGH DESERT PURE Always challenging the industry to offer more; a higher c a l l i n g i s w h a t m o t i v a t e s t h i s t e r p e n e w h i s p e r e r.
What do you wish cannabis consumers knew? I wish consumers had the opportunity to learn more about the science of cannabis… different cannabinoids, terpenes, and how they can help. With decades of research suppression, a knowledge deficit is to be expected, but I feel that we’ve turned the corner and we will be much better off for it as a society. What is the hardest part of your job? Being responsible for a whole team of people, our extended family if you will. It is both extremely fulfilling and yet also challenging. The last thing you’d want to do is let down the team, which keeps me on my toes for sure. Favorite Cultivar: Whatever my friends are growing!
What is your favorite 4:20 music? Generally reggae, or more specifically, Jawaiian or sunshine reggae.
What keeps you driving forward; what motivates you? Helping people. The emails and social media posts we receive from our customers telling us how much we’ve changed and helped their lives is touching and extremely motivating. I’m not sure I can think of a higher calling than improving someone’s quality of life. Jack’s choice question: How is the industry likely to change over the next few years? We’re already seeing big $$ companies come in and buy farms, dispensaries, manufacturers and labs. I’m extremely curious to see how this all pans out, and I’m hopeful that a lot of the mom-and-pop startups like us will be able to give the big money guys a solid run for their money.
CENTRAL OREGON LEAFLET by Source Weekly
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PEOPLE OF CANNABIS
ORLANDO BAZA Office Manager at Juniper Analytics Providing consistent quality control, this industr y heavyweight has been your backstage cannabis bouncer this whole time.
What is the hardest part of your job? Working in an innovative and challenging industry. I would have to say the challenging part of this position would be fully understanding constantly changing rules and regulations at the state and federal level. What do you wish cannabis consumers knew? I would like to remind cannabis consumers high potency is not the only measure of quality cannabis. Terpenes and other cannabinoids play a big part in your experience. Favorite Cultivar: Slurricrasher
What is your favorite 4:20 music? Cypress Hill, Snoop Dogg, Sublime, Willie Nelson and some Bob Marley.
What keeps you driving forward, what motivates you? Knowing the fact that my hard work and perseverance will help me achieve daily goals. Continually learning new things and driving the team to success are huge steps that keep me motivated in the industry. Orlando’s choice question: What are your hobbies? Enjoying the great outdoors. Hiking, kayaking, riding our great MTB trails and fishing our lakes and rivers.
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P EO P L E O F C A N N A B I S
MELISSA JOHNSON HR MANAGER AT SUBSTANCE MARKET B o w t o r e t a i l r o y a l t y, f o r c o n t i n u a l l y r a i s i n g the bar on the shopping experience and empowering cannabis cogs.
What is the hardest part of your job? Finding and developing talented staff who enjoy cannabis and serving people, too. We want our staff to reflect the vibrant community in which we operate, and so we seek diverse individuals who represent themselves professionally and compassionately. What do you wish cannabis consumers knew? Tinctures are the secret weapon for high-dose edibles that are also easy to titrate. Another consideration: When you find a product that works well for your needs, buy as much as you can because once it’s gone, it’s gone. Favorite Cultivar: Jack Herer
What is your favorite 4:20 music? “Malibu” by Anderson Paak will forever be etched into my soul as the perfect album for a 4:20 session after a rocking busy day. Pair this album with a bowl of GMO Cookies and you are good to go.
What keeps you driving forward, what motivates you? It is thrilling to be at the forefront of a movement that is creating meaningful careers. I am excited for our continued expansion, for legalization across the country and for the meaningful work available to a generation of job seekers. Melissa’s Choice Question: What advice would you give to women and minorities who seek a career in cannabis? Cannabis companies strive to reflect the populations they serve. Listening, detail-orientation and building relationships of trust are the keys to a retailer’s success.
CENTRAL OREGON LEAFLET by Source Weekly
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C B D R E G U L AT I O N S Courtesy Pixabay
What the FDA? How the CBD industry navigates through conflicting federal guidelines By Jack Harvel The federal government legalized agricultural hemp in 2018 after its prohibition nearly 50 years earlier. Cannabis is still considered a Schedule 1 drug by the Drug Enforcement Agency along with heroin and LSD, which is defined as not having any accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. The conflicting legal status of hemp creates a problem for producers, who need to navigate the byzantine rules placed on them. “We’re constantly researching and trying to make sure that we’re up to date with all of the regulations that there are from state to state, not just in the state of Oregon; we follow the Department of Agriculture’s rules and regulations we’ll work really close with them,” said Violet Robles, co-founder of Rooted Hemp Co., a Bendbased CBD and hemp company. 10
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Some bills have passed through the house attempting to reform how hemp is designated. In May 2021 Senators Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley and Rand Paul proposed a bill that would make the Food and Drug Administration regulate hemp and CBD products like it would other dietary ingredients, foods and beverages. “CBD products are legally being used and produced across the nation. Yet because the FDA has failed to update its regulations, consumers and producers remain in a regulatory gray zone,” Wyden said in a press release. “It’s been more than two years since I worked with colleagues to have Congress legalize hemp and hemp-derived products. It’s long past time for the FDA to get with the program, for the sake of American consumers and farmers.” The FDA hasn’t issued formal reg-
ulations for the CBD industry, and says it’s keeping an open mind while awaiting more evidence before making a solid judgement. “FDA recognizes the potential opportunities that cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds may offer and acknowledges the significant interest in these possibilities,” the agency states on its website. “However, FDA is aware that some companies are marketing products containing cannabis and cannabis-derived compounds in ways that violate the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and that may put the health and safety of consumers at risk.” The FDA says THC and CBD products can’t be sold as dietary substances, but plenty of CBD companies advertise and sell cannabis-derived food products. “They do come in and they slap people’s hands, and they send cease and desist orders if someone makes any health claims,” said Jack Robson, owner of High Desert Pure, a local cannabis company. “There’s all these FDA requirements that you have to put on the label of each of
C B D R EG U L AT I O N S those in order to be compliant. You have to specifically say, ‘Warning, the FDA has not reviewed and approved this.’” In November 2019 the FDA issued a warning letter to a local hemp company, Apex Superfoods, over advertising animal feed pellets as CBD products that the FDA claimed were adulterated. Apex’s owner, JT Taylor, says his way of processing hemp is different from how many others in the industry do it. He cold presses hemp seed and bud to create an oil and doesn’t isolate CBD like some other companies. “Isolation itself is adulteration, and anything used with chemicals and processing agents is an adulterant. It is exactly what the FDA has licensed in the pharmaceutical company and the food world,” he said. “So is it CBD oil or is it hemp oil? How do you get the cannabinoids out of the hemp without adulterating it? It’s a natural compound found in hemp.” Taylor avoided any enforcement actions from the FDA, which range from seizure of property to criminal prosecution,
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by changing labeling and removing claims of CBD’s benefits in social media posts. After corresponding with FDA agents, Taylor sought to become GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) certified, but the barriers aren’t scalable for someone without a massive amount of capital.
a growing amount of research supporting some health benefits to taking CBD. The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine reported that cannabis or cannabinoids can significantly reduce chronic pain symptoms and reduce chemotherapy-induced nausea, reduce mul-
“CBD products are legally being used and produced across the nation. Yet because the FDA has failed to update its regulations, consumers and producers remain in a regulatory gray zone.” - Sen. Ron Wyden “It’s extensive. You’ve got to do case studies. It’s hundreds of thousands of dollars to get anything passed through them. And if you don’t have that threshold of income, then you’re not going to be able to compete with the big boys,” Taylor said. It’s also annoying to producers that they’re barred from making claims of therapeutic benefit when it’s both the main appeal of their product and there’s
tiple sclerosis-related spasticity. A study out of Oregon State University found hemp compounds can block COVID-19 from causing an infection. Most recently, a study out of Kansas State University found hemp decreased stress in cows. “Most people simply at that point just go remove those claims even though the claims are valid, and this even extends to customer testimonials,” Robson said.
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H OT P R O D U C T S
HOT PRODUCTS Local dispensaries share some of their favorite goods
Fyre Product: Drops Live Resign new 100mg pack – strain specific Price: $16 for 20 pack (photo shows 10-pack) Where from: Drops
Smoke Lore Product: Mule Kickers Price: $5 for 50mg gummy Where from: Mule Extracts
Green Leaf D r. J o l l y ’s Product: Magic Number 100mg Sasparilla Price: $16.80 with tax / $14 medical Where from: Magic Number
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ISSUE 7 - Spring 2022
Product: Rocket Fuel Price: $31.95 1.5 cf bag Brand: Rogue Soil
H OT P R O D U C T S
The Herb Center Product: In house Lava Cake - Indica Price: $7 gram Where from: Tumalo Living Organics
To k y o S t a r f i s h Product: Tokyo Flower Grown with live organic soil Price: $8 - $14 per gram Where from: Tokyo Starfish
Oregrown Product: High Desert Sour Sage Flower Sativa 33.19% Price: $38 for an eighth Where from: Oregrown
CENTRAL OREGON LEAFLET by Source Weekly
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ISSUE 7 - Spring 2022
DAY I N T H E L I F E 4 2 0 Credit Dylan Guernsey
Roots, Rock, Four-Twenty The day in the life of a low-key 4/20 By Chris Williams Ancient lore has it that in the 1970s a group of high schoolers would meet daily at 4:20 to smoke weed. One of these kids would eventually go on to become a Grateful Dead roadie, which would propel the ritual into a mainstream event. We all know some iteration of this story, amongst other hard-to-verify tales. Today, 4/20 is nationally recognized. Large groups gather at festivals to celebrate weed. Corporate sponsors pump money into cannabis events. There are weed competitions, celebrity endorsements and infamous memes. Pot is pop culture. So what to do on 4/20 if you’re looking to lay a bit more low? My ideal 4/20 consists of a celebration of relaxation—hanging out and throwing a Frisbee in the sun. Kicking it and sharing stories with buddies. If this sounds of interest to you, follow along for how I spent my ideal 4/20.
9:30am Edible for breakfast, anyone? Don’t mind if I do. The morning munchies hit early, which means scrambled eggs and a huge smoothie are in order. Since it’s a day to celebrate relaxation I’m turning on a movie first thing. For every generation there’s a stoner flick and my pivotal stoner movie is “Pineapple Express.” Is that me or Rogan laughing? Either way, it’s the perfect way to start blasting off. Noon I save my dishes for tomorrow and fix up the bike to get in riding order. My chrome cruiser is straight glowing and the stoke is high. 12:30pm Hit the road and I’m cruising. Yellow tinted shades give a warm glow to the day. Sun in the face. Breeze just right. The cosmic cruise commences.
1pm A refreshing cool down after the ride is in order so I meet up with the buddies who agreed to help document today at The Podski. Sawyer, a product designer, acts as the creative director for the photoshoot. Dylan, an architect, is our photographer. Sawyer hasn’t partaken in smoking the bud in years, but it feels as if he’s down to be convinced for the sake of the holdiay. We trade all the classic weed stories: “One time I was so high that...” “The edible wasn’t hitting, so you know, I ate a little more...” “I probably won’t eat that again but damn it was good at the time.” After a while we find our sleeves rolled up and beers empty. It’s time to start the day. We grab eye drops and sunscreen from Market of Choice. Then to our next stop, Tokyo Starfish, to snag the essentials. 2:15pm The heat is at the peak of the day as we roll into Miller’s Landing Park. I’m starting to think we aren’t going to travel far today. The photoshoot is on. cont. on pg. 17 CENTRAL OREGON LEAFLET by Source Weekly
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DAY I N T H E L I F E 4 2 0 Credit Dylan Guernsey
Williams enjoying the day holding up his 4/20 essentials pack.
Sawyer fixes positions and Dylan snaps away as I do my best to pose. Snapping photos isn’t on my list of ideal 4/20 activities but trying to get the crew to play model for the day is entertaining. 3pm 4/20 without a Frisbee feels wrong. The shirts are off and sunscreen applied. Sawyer shows some skill catching it between the legs. I miss a catch completely and got dinged in the face. Dylan nabs the disc and gets lost in creativity trying to line up the perfect Frisbee photo. If Frisbee is the only thing on the agenda come 4/20, it’s not a bad way to spend the day. 3:30pm With arms thrown out, the group eyes a dock by the river. Scanning the park, there’s a scene of kids eating popsicles, sunbathers, bros playing Spikeball and a sea of walkers and bikers. Of course, plenty of dogs. From my side of the sunglasses everything is pure bliss. 4pm At this point all the cliches have been hit with no complaints. Wake and bake, check. Stoner flick, check. Frisbee, check. And of course, reggae’s been playing all day. Sitting on the dock, staring into the water, there’s a feeling that the only thing missing from the scene is a fishing line hanging in the water and folks putting on a string band jam blowing smoke into the air. An osprey building a nest overhead puts us in awe for a moment. Nature appreciation time, check.
4:20pm … 5pm One of the last agenda items is diving into trippy conversation. Luckily, a man approaches with a chair and his dog. He’s not shy and jumps right into talking about our virtual universe, while he FaceTimes his friend. Cosmic connections are brought up. The conversation lulls along with no direction for a time. Once the fourth dimension is brought up my mind is spinning and I’m out. Was that conversation gibberish or genius? 6pm Finally the munchies have arrived and can’t be ignored. Treating ourselves, we walk to Jackson’s Corner for some high-end chow and order everything on the menu. Not actually, but the temptation is there. Plates are polished, munchies defeated. The End I’m tapped out now. Back home, it’s time to flip on an episode of Action Bronson’s “F***k, That’s Delicious” and pass out. Going into the day I didn’t know what my ideal 4/20 would consist of. Felt like something that can’t be on a schedule. Turns out for me it’s a day of being content and relaxing right where you are, and a little more THC than I thought I could still consume. A live music show might’ve been the icing on the cake, but honestly, I could celebrate the day like that year after year with full satisfaction. Here’s to finding the chill on your 4/20! CENTRAL OREGON LEAFLET by Source Weekly
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COOKING WITH CANNABIS
Courtesy Unsplash
Baking to Get Baked A local radio show offers a wealth of cannabis knowledge —including a segment on baking with ganja By Nicole Vulcan
TREATS + STONERS = A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN. A listener is checking in from the Kazahkstani embassy in Washington, D.C., where he’s out front smoking a joint, while the hosts of KPOV’s High Desert Co-op radio show and I start in on ingesting the ganja cookies I came here to eat. The listeners to this cannabis-focused radio show come from far and wide, but they also come from right here in Bend, where they’re treated to real talk about legalization, terpenes… and of course, the beauty of baking with cannabis. As part of their regular programming, hosts Tris Tristone and Stacie Dread have a segment titled “Stacie Bakes,” where they try out various baked goods infused with cannabis. I joined them one recent Monday evening in their remote broadcast “bunker” on Bend’s west side for some tips on how to bake with cannabis. 18
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While there is no shortage of gummies, candies, chocolates and other edibles in the cases of local dispensaries, those who grow their own or who simply enjoy making treats for friends may still want to make their own goods from time to time. “Stacie and I have hung out a lot over the years, and she has become quite the baker during corona,” Tristone said. “It was like, I’m already doing all of this baking, why not get a little segment on the Monday night show and we’ll do a little weed baking thing,” Dread said. “So we’ve been doing this Stacie Bakes segment now for maybe, like, a year. Every month we’ll pick a week, and we’ll pick an edible, and we’ll talk about it and hopefully our listeners get something out of it. If not, we are sure entertaining ourselves!” Among their tips for baking with marijuana: The most foolproof way is to use a tincture, rather than a butter or oil. Plus, it tastes better.
COOKING WITH CANNABIS Courtesy Unsplash
“If you made it yourself with butter or flower, you’re going to get that strong, weedy, chlorophylly flavor and there’s really no way to avoid that when you make it that way,” Tristone said. With a tincture, bakers can portion out how much tincture they need based on the number of cookies in the batch. “It’s really easy, simple math,” Tristone said. “Total cannabinoids divided by portions equals what you’re going to get.” Home growers, meanwhile, may need a little more direction than that. So how do you know how much ganja to put in the oil or butter you’re making, and then how much to use in the recipe? “If you’re making your own butter, experimenting is one way,” Dread advised. The other way, suggests the cannabis site Leafly, is to aim for proportions of one cup of marijuana to one cup of oil or butter. Put your ganja into the oven for 30-40 minutes at about 245 degrees to decarboxylate it—or in other words, to allow the psychoactive compounds in the plant to activate. Then roughly grind the cannabis and put it in a slow cooker for about three hours. Once the butter or oil is done and cooled, use it like regular butter or oil. “Look at the recipe and portion out how much tincture you need based on the number of cookies,” Dread said. And if you’re a fan of letting others do the work of creating your edibles, these two radio hosts also shared their favorite Oregon product, available around the state. “I was fortunate enough to go check out Elbe’s Edibles,” Tristone said. Elbe’s makes cake pops—which the company calls “balls.” The High Desert Co-Op can be heard on KPOV 88.9 FM every Monday from 8 to 10 pm, or check out its archive at https://kpov.org/high-desert-co-op.
QUICK TIPS FOR BAKING WITH BUDS:
• Portion formula: Total cannabinoids divided by portions
• Experiment with small amounts of baked goods to test potency
• “Decarb” your marijuana in the oven before making butter or oil
• Try a measured tincture for easy dosing
• Aim for a one-to-one ratio of buds to oil/butter
Courtesy Unsplash
CENTRAL OREGON LEAFLET by Source Weekly
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The MORE Act is a Great Idea …but it’s not going to pass, again By Josh Jardine On April 1, numerous news outlets reported that “Congress Legalized Cannabis.” Being a cannabis writer, my inbox was immediately inundated with emails from politicians and advocates sharing how “important” this development was, and all the “great things which were possible” with its passage. Both things are true. Congress did indeed pass the 2022 Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act by a vote of 220-204, albeit with a scant three Republicans voting with Democrats. And the MORE Act would do some very remarkable things, including but not limited to: • Removing cannabis from the dreaded Controlled Substance Act. • Retroactively remove cannabis arrests, charges and convictions from an individual’s record at no cost to them. • Establishing the Office of Cannabis Justice, which would work to implement the fantastic social equity aspects of the Act. • Establish a 5% tax, increasing to 8% after three years, on the sale of cannabis. That money would go to the Opportunity Trust Fund. • Protect immigrants from deportation due to cannabis use. • Provide the cannabis industry access to banking, reform the loathsome 280e tax code, and generally bring cannabis on par with other regulated and taxed commodities.
Here’s the buzzkill, though: This is not going to happen, even though it’s a stellar idea, and would benefit literally tens of millions of people. This is the second time the Act has passed the House, which last did so in December 2020, but was not acted upon by the Senate, leaving the bill to die. The Senate remains a legislative body with more conservative white men than the House, and a quick read of that room shows said men aren’t down. Now 2022 is a midterm election year, and politicians aren’t going to risk their seats. Sentient right-wing sock puppet Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told reporters last week that as far as supporting the Act, “In terms of legalizing marijuana, no, because it brings a lot of problems with it.” The support for the Act is also being diluted by another upcoming bill, The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, sponsored by three Democratic Senators: Cory Booker (D-N.J), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y) and Oregon’s own Ron Wyden (D-OR). While no doubt well meaning, the CAOA sort of…sucks. Like the MORE Act, it advocates for restorative justice and addresses the horrendously negative impact the War on Drugs has, and continues to have, upon Black and BIPOC communities. That includes cannabis arrest expungements, and establishing programs to “make loans to assist small businesses in the cannabis industry owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.” As with alcohol, it also moves to, “recognize state law as controlling the possession, production, or distribution of cannabis.”
But the biggest issue for many is the federal tax rate proposed for cannabis sales. In Oregon, the state presently collects 17% tax on Adult Use (aka non-medical) cannabis sales, and cities with cannabis programs collecting another 3%, for a total of 20%. With cannabis being a Schedule 1 drug, no federal taxes are imposed. Under CAOA, the proposed Federal Cannabis Tax rates have a five-year schedule that won’t do the regulated industry any favors. In year one, producers will pay 5% on the first $20 million in sales, and 10% after that. Year two sees that jump to 7.5% and 15% after the first $20 million, year three 10% and 20%, and year four and five, 12.5% and 25%. (After year five “... the Secretary sets a rate based on quantity sold or milligram of THC in the case of a product other than flower.”) As with the excise taxes imposed upon producers of alcohol and tobacco, consumers can expect to see these taxes passed along, potentially resulting in 32% or more on cannabis. (An often glossed over taxrelated portion of the MORE Act can result in up to five years in prison for failure to adhere to tax and permit-related rules.) Cannabis legalization is coming, and with it, federal cannabis taxes. The industry has demonstrated it’s too much of an economic powerhouse to remain where it is, but meaningful reform is not happening this year. But do celebrate that in 2022, we have not one but two bills addressing cannabis reform. CENTRAL OREGON LEAFLET by Source Weekly
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HAPPY 420!!
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Highs and Lows of Hemp The hemp market stabilized, and farmers are shifting away from CBD and toward grains and fiber By Jack Harvel The hemp industry in 2022 is in a strange spot. The market overproduced in 2019 and has since been trying to find a sweet spot for the crop while millions of pounds of excess biomass are still stored across the country. In 2020 there were over 200 million pounds of excess hemp, but it looks like the market took a course correction, albeit with some alarming business practices still prevalent. “My survey showed that excess inventory declined to 60 million pounds. That’s a reduction of 70% year over year,” said Beau Whitney, an economist who studies hemp. “In previous years, 65% of the cultivators planted without having a buyer. In this last year 42% planted without a buyer. To me, that’s crazy, not having a buyer for your crop before you plant it. I don’t know of any other agricultural commodity that has behavior like that.” The reduction in excess biomass stabilized prices, but it’s still far lower than its peak in 2019 when CBD-focused hemp sold as high as $43 a pound compared to about $1-2 a pound now. “That’s really good news for farmers if they can manage at that pricing level, be-
extreme versatility of the grain and fiber could provide alternatives from everything to animal feed to concrete. “Hemp is not big cannabis’s little sisrtesy of Fenrisulfir u ter. Hemp is the big sister to lito C tle adult use, little medical cause a lot of them are cannabis,” he said. “If you not making a profit—in just take 10 product catfact, based upon my egories that hemp can survey, combined support, just in the U.S. with the entire inalone, it’s larger than dustry, 58% of hemp the entire global market operators, procesfor adult use and medsors, distributors, ical cannabis. So, this whatever, 58% were whole narrative of being a not making a profit,” drug, it’s wrong. The whole Whitney said. narrative of it being smaller With market uncertainty, than adult use medical, that’s wrong.” a lot of hemp farmers are growing U.S. Department of Agriculture data hemp more focused on fiber and grain, showed that hemp produced for CBD rather than CBD, which has traditionally shrunk from over 80% of all U.S.-grown been the more profitable route for farmhemp to 64% in the past year nationally. In ers. Hemp fiber can be made into paper, October Central Oregon Hemp Association textiles, construction materials and more. president Matt Cyrus said there was some Hemp grain can be used in foods for both transition toward fiber and grain among lohumans and animals. cal farmers. The issue, though, is that there “There’s these huge opportunities in isn’t enough yet infrastructure built around hemp plastics and hemp wood,” Whitney processing fiber and grain. said. “If you reach the potential for grain, “There may be a situation now where we’re talking tens of millions of acres people get turned on by the idea of cultiplanted for fiber by 2030. Now there’s vating fiber and grain, and there may be 235,000 acres licensed this last year, 10 a temporary imbalance if the processing million acres could be licensed by 2030— infrastructure cannot keep pace with the predominantly fiber and grain.” planting, and the conversion of acres over The fiber and grain markets are where from CBD and cannabinoids over to fiber the real opportunities for growth are in and grain,” Whitney said. the industry, according to Whitney. The CENTRAL OREGON LEAFLET by Source Weekly
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ISSUE 7 - Spring 2022