Photo credit: Igor Sevanovic
UW-Madison agricultural experts in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) and the Division of Extension have launched hemp projects this past spring as part of a $35,000 grant offered last year for industrial hemp work between CALS and the Division of Extension.
Liz Y. Binversie, agriculture educator at UW-Extension, explains that there are three pillars in the grant proposal: research, extension and teaching. Binversie is part of a collaborative, statewide team that’s been working on hemp networking programs and meetings that draw people from all over the state.
The former UW Cooperative Extension, which covered agriculture, food preservation, gardening, 4H Youth Clubs and other topics, has recently undergone a restructure and is now the UW-Division of Extension. Binversie has been helping on a statewide level with the hemp website, the hemp page and statewide resources. She gets calls from all over the state about the hemp program.
“We have a whole team of state specialists, researchers and county educators doing the research arm of that grant. Most of the funding is going into the research piece because we don’t have hemp research; it’s been illegal to grow for the past 60-plus years,” Binversie explains. The extension proposal of the grant includes state specialists offering information to anyone interested in the state’s hemp industry. On Thursday, Dec. 5, an end-of-season meeting in DePere, Wis., had 400 people registered.
“These meetings have been very well attended, and people have been interested in hemp,“ Binversie says. “I’m very upfront—I don’t have the research or a lot of data to share yet at the Extension, but what we can share are experiences from other growers. Something I’ve heard from growers is that they had learned the most from talking with other growers.”
Binversie says it was illegal through state law for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to share contact information for hemp licensees, making it difficult for growers, processors and buyers to connect. “There’s no centralized way to share that contact information, so at Extension, we’ve added networking pages on the website where people can fill out contact information. It’s posted as a public listing, so people can find each other.”
Gov. Tony Evers signed a on bill in November that makes Wisconsin’s hemp pilot program permanent, and Binversie notes that bill includes include a voluntary option for growers and processors to allow their contact information to be disclosed publicly.
The Extension receives and shares information from DATCP about regulatory updates for the 2020 program. An interesting thing Binversie has learned from DATCP is that most growers applying for the hemp program are people that have never grown a crop in their lives. “These aren’t your traditional farmers who have farming experience. I’ve gotten calls from real estate folks and investors. The business world now trying their hand in farming.”
Some challenges Binversie has heard from growers include tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels testing, as well as threats from nature that stymie farmers regardless of the type of crop—weather, weeds, insects and mold. “Finding markets has been an incredible challenge. People are growing the crop and then don’t have a market for it, so they’ve put a huge investment of time and money into their crop and then don’t have anything financially to speak of for that effort,” she adds. “You can’t go to a co-op (to sell hemp) like you can with corn or soybeans.” Farmers in Wisconsin’s fledgling hemp industry are also competing with states like Colorado that has well-established, trusted hemp suppliers.
The Extension collaborates with organizations such as Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, DATCP and businesses such as Legacy Hemp to host meetings and produce educational videos about hemp topics. For more information about upcoming Extension events and to see informational videos, visit fyi.extension.wisc.edu and youtube.com/wisconsinhemp.
Watch future Cannabis Connection columns to learn what the UW-Madison hemp research project state specialists are working on.
