I know lots of large acreage hemp farmers and I don’t know anyone pulling $100k per acre. Maybe $20k per acre. And if corn farmers are spending $500 per acre on inputs, they are fucking up. Maybe total cost to plant and everything. But most corn, soybean, and other subsidized grain farmers are in debt, and dependent on loans and/or crop insurance.
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They are in debt because they spent the money the government gave them to grow corn & soy on their inputs and equipment.
Of course if you are talking strictly in terms of fertilizer and mineral inputs, that’s another story.
I know several farmers including our farm who yielded 1500-2500 lbs/acre using good genetics and got 15%+ CBD plants. $100k is gross though, not net. I’m not bragging, I’m all about closed loop regenerative agriculture.
I agree that there’s a middle ground between the outrageous spending of a 2000s era humboldt cannabis grower and the penny pinching approach of a poor farmer in the midwest or something. When it comes to soil sustainability, Honestly I don’t even consider hemp growing at scale a sustainable farming practice in general. To me it’s a leverage vehicle to move forward in creating a cultural paradigm of a sustainable future. When it comes to sustainable agriculture, agro-forestry integrated into ecologically low-impact community developments is where it’s at.
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No strict mono-culture over hundreds of acres is long term sustainable. 1000-2000 lbs per acre is a realistic yield expectation for high CBD genetics, but most hemp farmers are paying a big cost for extraction and don’t keep most of that revenue themselves.
Subsidized grain farmers don’t see a penny of the taxpayer funded ag subsidies, that all goes right to the crop insurance programs that keeps them locked into having to follow Monsanto or Syngenta’s crop management programs.
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I’m antisipating prices to be 10 per pound bio mass and steady at 200-300 for high end partially trimmed smokable. I am getting these numbers from a collective of people I know who have successful hemp farms who killed it last year. I’m still thinking 100 a acre is high for ammendments I’m thinking 10k wen we plant 10 k wen the flower and 4k veg nutes and 5k flower nutes all organic I’ve been successfully growing thc on a budget for years like this I can’t c it being any differant. I appreciate all the feed back and information from every one keep it coming. @RedDog what strains did u go with?
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OregonCBD 
We make all our own nutes KNF style using plants from our own farm.
DM me if you care for some info about future contracts.
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What kind of contracta do u offer? I do knf at one of my places only 52 big pots and a couple green houses but has to be hand watered cloggs up drip lines how do u plan on using knf to feed acres of hemp?
Have you checked in with OSU extensions? They wont supply the goods but could help with diagnosis and perhaps the most efficient strategy for your remediation/enhancement needs. These folks are fairly underutilized in general and dedicated to helping the community.
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I fucking love my state thanks for the tip great resource!
I just got my soil tests back and need help figuring out what sort of amendment regime I need. I can get 50 lb bags of organic amendments from a local supplier who gets most of their stuff from concentrates in OR. I’m in WA state, which this summer will be our first year allowed to grow for CBD. Anyone know of any resources ( Im gonna check out our university Ag program) or consultants that help break down what I need and in what amounts. We’re starting out with 2 acres just to get the hang of things. Grown cannabis outdoors for awhile but this is a step up.
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Im amendimg the same as thc
This is smart, cottage industry producers may have major competition come harvest time. I wouldnt put all 150 of my eggs in the same basket.
the prices of cbd crude/disty/isolate are dropping, processors will be looking for ways to cut costs, imported hemp could be a huge threat.
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To that i still tjink we groq higher quailoty produxt here so import will be there but they still will wamt the top of the line stuff over lead water chemi chinease congo hemp
WSU will have lots of resources and maybe a site near you that you could visit. They are spread across the state. They could most likely point to a list of folks for hire.
Other state extensions and the US govt will have resources as well…we want our farmers to be successful.
Start googling…there should be excel calculators and similar tools that help to understand application rate, irrigation schedules, etc.
There are many variables that need to be understood in unison to create the best amendment route, so be weary of a silver bullet. Understand the whole system rather than piecemeal application and you will be ahead.
There are many who will be glad to sell you any number of specialty amendments. Spend some time outside of cannibis and you will save time and money.
Are there folks farming nearby you could talk to to garner more context? There are often quite open with their knowledge and may lead you to the local guru…
Thanks kalakala, I was thinking of contacting WSU. They have a place in Puyallup which is in my neck of the woods. I’m open to any organic amendment program that is gonna build my soil fertility over the coming years. The land has never been grown on, we’ve always just cut it for forage. So, it’s sort of a clean slate, but is going to need a lot of work to make it into good farmland. I’ve even debated on tilling it or not. I could easily roll out plastic mulch and plant directly in the ground. I just know from my first glance at the soil test that I was out of the “range” for certain things. Your right tho, I got a lot of reading ahead of me.
What’s your plan for drying 150 acres on a shoestring budget?
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Taking it drying facility wind tunnells u willbloose cbd percent im being told that was my other plan @colombiabeneficial
At 3-4$ a lb your shoestring longer than mine! 3$/lb x 2500 lb/ac x 150 ac…
I have a deal with a facility so ot works good for me ive dried in hoop houses before with a bunch of dhums and fans it wasnt that bad
Happy to help with soil test results, if you still need it.