Industrial Hemp Harvest and Storage

Download 1364K pdf file ("HempHarvestStorage.pdf")

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is an emerging food and fibre crop in Alberta. It is a non-drug variety of Cannabis sativa with low delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of less than 0.3 per cent. In 2014, 108,000 acres of industrial hemp were grown in Canada, and 25,560 of those acres were grown in Alberta.

Grower, processor and research experiences on the Prairies have provided an understanding of best management practices for harvesting and storage of industrial hemp. These experiences will help guide harvest and storage practices to ensure the strict quality requirements for food and fibre production. The best practices are available to download as a PDF (1967Kb) above.

The project team (Agriculture & Forestry and Alberta Innovates-Tech Futures) would like to thank Todd Bystrom, Woodland Crest Farms for providing his time, knowledge sharing and equipment to develop the videos. Also to Byron James, Alberta Innovates –Tech Futures for his knowledge sharing and insight.

Hemp Production - Pre- Harvest and Harvest \| 4:25 minutes - explores a crop in central Alberta in late July, a month and a half ahead of harvest and then progresses to harvesting.
Hemp Production - Harvesting Fibre \| 0:56 minutes - looks at cutting industrial hemp for fibre at AITF test plots in Vegreville.
Hemp Production - Harvest Considerations \| 3:21 - Harvest Considerations examines combine settings, handling hemp grain and practical harvest tips.

For more information about the content of this document, contact Patti Breland.
This information published to the web on November 10, 2015.
Last Reviewed/Revised on December 10, 2015.