Producers can learn more about industrial hemp during a seminar in Greenville Jan. 15.

January 09, 2020

Producers can learn more about industrial hemp during a seminar in Greenville Jan. 15. The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program is $20 per person and will be held from 2:30-5:45 p.m. at the Fletcher Warren Civic Center, 5501 Business Highway 69 S.

Organizers request an RSVP to the AgriLife Extension office in Hunt County at 903-455-9885, ext. 61 or hunt@ag.tamu.edu by noon Jan. 12.

Speakers include:

- Calvin Trostle, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension agronomist, Lubbock.

- Blake Bennett, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension economist, Dallas.

- David Drake, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension integrated pest management specialist, Commerce.

- Sara Allen, AgriLife Extension agent, Hunt County.

- Kendall Wright, farmer, North-Central Texas and Southern Oklahoma.

Speakers will give background information about industrial hemp and cover a range of topics including opportunities in fiber, grain and CBD production; major planting and seed quality issues; preliminary agronomic considerations for production; anticipated Texas Department of Agriculture rules; economic considerations and risks; and common questions about hemp production.

Trostle said AgriLife Extension anticipates attendees at hemp meetings in the Dallas/Ft. Worth and North Texas regions will be more interested in smaller acreage/hobby farm production.

“Texas hemp production will become legal at some point this year,” he said. “When depends on how quickly the Texas Department of Agriculture can review and issue licenses once the U.S. Department of Agriculture approves Texas’ rules. But anyone who may be interested in growing hemp needs to be prepared. You would be ill-advised to wait until you receive your license to begin preparation.”

The seminar will end with a question-and-answer session.

For more information, contact Allen at slallen@ag.tamu.edu or Drake at drdrake@ag.tamu.edu. AgriLife Extension information about industrial hemp can be found at https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu//hemp/.

“AgriLife Extension is here to help educate our clientele about hemp and provide them the resources and knowledge to make informed decisions,” Trostle said.