So I was having a discussion the other day with a friend aboit how many hemp processing labs are in America. he says 5 times the amount of traditional cannabis labs. after some quick research I estimated there to be around 2500 cannabis processing facilities. I know there is quite a few hemp processors but 12,500? seems kind of high. I would love to hear everyone’s estimates/two cents. or if you have data that would be rad as I cannot find any.
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For a frame of reference, Wisconsin processed 692 license applications for hemp processing in 2019. 12,500 seems very reasonable in light of that. DATCP Home Hemp Application Period Closes; Numbers Rise Dramatically
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thanks for including a source! that is much higher than i expected for Wisconsin. I’m curious how many of those are actually operational
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NC keeps a public registry, Im number 473. The thing is though, 80% of the registered processor s I’ve talked with are not extracting or refining.
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yeah this is the problem I keep running into. licenses issued does not equal operational labs and most states have no reference for the amount of licenses granted/operational processors. and even then, I know of a few hemp processors in Florida but according to the Florida government only two entities are allowed to process and they’re universities, for research purposes.
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That’s higher than I expected. Along with the 1405 cultivation applications in WI in 2019, which if I recall correctly allows farmers to process their own material on site without an additional processor license. Then again, the majority of applicants for 2019 were first time applicants, a lot of which will never wind up doing anything even if they do get their license.
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most of the processor licenses aren’t active they just have them and need investors, in Michigan you have to have one to sell cbd. its either huge facility’s or thc guys trying to scale up lol, I am one of the only licensed processors in my area southern Michigan actually processing material in real life. im am small scale. The big hemp farms here are shipping bails to Colorado
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Yeah, Michigan requires a processing license for a farmer to cut and dry their crop. There’s a couple hundred processing licenses in Michigan, and probably less than 25 operating labs.
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We process in central MI just getting started.
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At the ihemp expo this past weekend MDARD did several presentations. They told us that as a licensed grower you are allowed to harvest and dry and trim your biomass etc. You are not allowed to make it a finished product ready for retail sale. That is the job of the processor. They also had something to say about how a grower can transport their own product in certain circumstances.
TN has a list but its old and most of the people registered for processing are not doing it. Now that TN does not require a permit it would be hard to say how many are actually up and running and making products. Myself included I know of 5.
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Im one of the THC guys scaling up. I sold my dispensary and put my effort to this new license. Lol I guess…
I know lots of licensed hemp processors and growers. One place planted 500 acres and had to replant 80 of them. I know ppl who are doing hydrocarbon, ethanol, co2, mechanical (drysift) extraction pretty much everything we can throw at CBD.
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That’s all new as of January 10th. If you renewed your license on time you didn’t have that info at time of renewal, therefore there are still far more processing licenses in Michigan than actual companies “processing”. It’s good to hear MDARD has finally come around on their definition of processing.
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Even if youre not actually extracting etc its still probably smart for a farmer whos going big to get the processor license. More leeway and bargaining power. Youre not stuck with whatever deal anybody gives you.
Also you can subcontract the processing and add somebodys extraction facility to your license or have them set up at your licensed facility. Theres always 2 ways to burn a joint…
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You can also make hemp thai sticks then spray them with T disty to get a roughly 1:1 might be a neat option for the michigan microbusiness license.
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Nice, I was bummed to miss the expo I just couldn’t get away I’ve ben working nonstop 50-100lbs a day is much easier said than done by 1 man. definitely doable tho. A big expense is its looking like 500lbs of dry ice deliverd is going to be about 650 and the clock starts ticking lol. I’m looking for the best prices rn.also working on how to maximize the recovery of my rotos I’m thinking of getting a bigger faster pump, bigger than the 2c vaccubrand pump that comes w all the 10 and 20l kits
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I could defiently see that many processing registrations being filed, but I’d bet the number of active processors to be 50% of the registered. Especially in states like VT where the registration is $25
Same concept as registered acres vs acres cultivated
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