Adriana M. Chavez
LAS CRUCES – In 2019, the faculty of the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at New Mexico State University received a grant from state officials, which began research on hemp farming, which was legal to grow that year. Since then, research efforts have focused on understanding hemp agronomics under a control system established by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture.
In southern New Mexico, NMSA has partnered with farmers such as Las Cruz-based Rich Global Hemp to help improve the quality of the soil.
Jeffrey Anderson, a representative of the Doa Anna County Cooperative Expansion Service, said: When the hemp cultivation was legal in 2019, they went in but did not realize what it was. ” Hemp has malnutrition that they are not aware of, and those who have enough farmers are able to identify and correct it.
Anderson recently said there is a renewed interest in hemp-growing companies in the area, but warns that certain parts of New Mexico are more suitable for certain types of hemp and hemp products.
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“When you move north, hemp is easier to grow outdoors,” says Anderson. There are now enough grains in hemp oil because there are not enough ingredients to deal with it.
Anderson wants to return to the successful NMSU Hemp Conference, and plans to hold a conference in person in 2022.
While there is a great deal of interest in Hem farming opportunities in New Mexico, more research needs to be done on how to develop policies and policies across the country, including the Navajo Nation, said Kevin Lombar. Superintendent of NMSU Agricultural Science Center in Farmington, New Mexico and associate professor of horticulture at NMSU Department of Plant and Environmental Science.
In northern New Mexico, the Farmington Center for Agricultural Science is the only one in the NMSU Agricultural Experimental Station system to the west of the Continental Division, and in 1862 the Land Gift Science Center directly operates on the territory of the sovereign first nations: the Navajo Nation. Special research at the center includes potatoes, corn, alfalfa, small grains, fruit crops and hops.
Until recently, Hemp grew up in Farmington. Lombar reports that the ACC is taking a break from its plot. Two years ago, NMSA signed a memorandum of understanding with Navajo Agricultural Production Industry to explore the potential of Hem farming in northwestern New Mexico.
Since then, Lombar and a team of researchers and members of the Navajo Agricultural Industry have focused their research on three hemp farms: cherry, grapefruit and oysters to determine whether they can grow within or below the state’s THC harvest standards of 0.3 percent.
“The most active interest in New Mexico hemp production is currently CBD production and many other health, food, fiber and industrial uses,” Lombar said.
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CBD is a compound used in the FDA-approved Epidiolex anti-epileptic drug.
“The first year was a successful year in terms of better understanding of hemp agronomics in the context of a newly established control system,” Lombar said.
Lombar added that more research and education is needed to determine if hemp is the right crop for them.
“Hemp variability is a major risk for farmers to consider,” Lombar said. “There are new federal regulations that came into force in March. You have to educate yourself in everything you do at Hemp.
Lombar added, “Research is not about curiosity. Research efforts must be intensified to provide farmers with the most up-to-date information on how hemp is best suited to a crop-based crop system. There are other aspects of Hem that need to be considered, including understanding the cultural, social, and social norms, odors, and control systems that protect not only Hem producers.
NMSU Cooperative Extension Service has hosted a series of workshops to help stakeholders learn more about the growing crop in the state. Researchers Kathy Beer and Rebecca Kramer are scheduled to discuss hemp research at the Lindencker Plant Science Center in Los Lunas on August 18 and La Mesa, New Mexico, on August 25.
This year’s changes include three different hemp experiments, including hemp varieties for CBD production, grains and fiber, in Liedecker, Los Lunas and Alkalde.
“We are monitoring experiments on diseases and pests,” says Kramer. The experiments were started to help farmers as well as extension agents to better understand how different hemp varieties and varieties work in different parts of the region.
Adriana M. Chavez writes marketing and communications for New Mexico State University and can be reached at 575-646-1957 or by email at adchavez@nmsu.edu.
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