Agriculture Production and Extension Research Consortium

Agriculture Production and Extension

This consortium includes faculty members from the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences, University of Kentucky and European and Asian institutional research partners. The group’s overall objective is to conduct research to improve our understanding of how agronomic and cultural practices affect hemp production. Potential hemp research includes topics such as:

• Open field vs greenhouse methods
• Planting dates, seeding depths, spacing, etc.
• Organic and conventional seed treatments, weed control, soil fertility
• Crop substitution and rotations
• Integrated pest management
• Harvest and post-harvest processes and technologies as related to end-products
• Multiple locations and cooperating institutions (public and private) worldwide
• Multiple disciplines with coordinated goals
• Hemp | OSU Extension Service

Current Research Projects

Nationwide Essential Oil Hemp: OSU Faculty-Richard Roseburg and 17 land grant universities across the US

Determine the optimal adaptation of hemp essential oil variety types and genetics across U.S. farm resource regions. OSU with partner universities will develop a nation-wide uniform essential oil hemp (EOH) variety testing network to determine how diverse environmental conditions interact with hemp genetics. Phenology development will be monitored, and plant parts sampled to develop methods for meeting regulatory cannabinoid compliance. Data will be used to determine optimal environments to produce EOH and minimize the unintended economic consequences of growing hemp.

Western Water Use Irrigation Project: OSU Faculty-Dari Biswanath, Scott Lukas, UC Davis Faculty

Determine hemp crop water use across diverse production regions. Determine the optimal EOH water replacement strategies at two sites in California and three in Oregon representing production environments in five states. Hemp evapotranspiration will be determined in varying environments. This research will develop the data needed to determine how to grow hemp in ways that complement high-value irrigated crops grown in the western U.S.

Statewide Hemp Trials: OSU Faculty-Scott Lukas, Lloyd Nackley

Taking in field growth measures of ten full-season hemp varieties. Faculty are managing the trial according to regional grower standards under center pivot irrigation.

High Density Hemp Trials: OSU Faculty-Richard Roseberg, Ekaterina Jeliazkova, Valtcho Jeliazkov

Measure how hemp’s growth, essential oil production, and other factors are affected by density planting. Two varieties are seeded and then thinned to make four densities in a randomized complete block design.

Measurement of Plant Stand, Male and Female Biomass, Yield, Tissue Partitioning, Nutrient Uptake and Nutrient Partitioning in Grain Hemp: OSU Faculty-Donald Wysocki

Representative plots from a field of grain hemp near Dixie, Washington were harvested for yield, biomass, male/female ratio and nutrient uptake. The information will provide the basis to make reliable nutrient recommendations for the first tie on data measured in the Pacific Northwest.

Seed Storage Study of Hemp: OSU Faculty-Sabry Elias, Scott Lukas

The objectives of the study are to evaluate the effect of different environmental conditions on seed quality of hemp varieties stored for various periods of time; establish suitable monitoring tests to assess the magnitude of deterioration over time (if any); and determine the optimal storage conditions for hemp. The study is a part of fulfillment of M.S. requirements of a graduate student in the seed science and technology program.