Some of Iowa's first legal hemp crops set on fire because THC exceeds federal limits

Some of Iowa's first legal hemp crops set on fire because THC exceeds federal limits USA TODAY

https://amp-usatoday-com.cdn.ampproject.org/

DES MOINES, Iowa – Jay Kata's first hemp crop went up in smoke.


The plants grown by him and his farming partners in southeast Iowa were mowed down, windrowed – then set ablaze.

What remained was tilled under after the field became "too hot": The level of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive compound in cannabis plants like hemp) exceeded state and federal limits.

"It was pretty heartbreaking," said Kata, who was among nearly 90 Iowans this year who set out to produce the state's first government-authorized crop of hemp, a close relative of marijuana.

.....About 13% of Iowa farmers' hemp fields had to be fully or partially destroyed because the THC levels in the plants exceeded 0.3%, the maximum allowed under state and federal laws.

Kata said he believes the THC levels in his 2 acres of plants spiked because they became stressed, fighting against weeds for sunlight and nutrients. Testing showed THC levels were nearly three times the allowed limit, he said.

Pruisner encourages hemp farmers to have their crops privately tested to prevent THC levels from rising beyond the maximum allowed. The state tests fields before farmers harvest them to ensure they're within the required limit.

The state performed 119 initial tests on hemp fields and 103 passed; 16 fields failed and were fully or partially destroyed.

Seed varieties, growing conditions and soil types, among other factors, can result in wide differences in when hemp should be harvested to remain under the required THC level, Pruisner said.

Similar story:
https://hempgazette.com/news/iowa-he...uction-hg1317/



I've heard crops in certain areas just sitting with the glut of product, unable to move it.

Whatever the market will bear, right?

Interested in hearing what others think.

Two summers ago in Colorado they busted a whole truckload of hemp moving to the CBD processing plant. LEO thought it was Cannabis and tested some samples and only a few samples of the whole truckload showed slightly hot. I figure a truckload of Cannabis would have been enough to keep a small town high for the rest of their lives. There was no common sense shown by LEO there.

aridbud said:

Kata said he believes the THC levels in his 2 acres of plants spiked because they became stressed, fighting against weeds for sunlight and nutrients. Testing showed THC levels were nearly three times the allowed limit, he said.


I've heard crops in certain areas just sitting with the glut of product, unable to move it.

Whatever the market will bear, right?

Interested in hearing what others think.

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2 ac is a lot of work, and 1% THC isn't squat.

flylowgethigh said:

2 ac is a lot of work, and 1% THC isn't squat.

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That's federal CBD statutes.

What do you think about having it "too hot" from stress that it can't be used for anything?

I read about heat (no top water), weeds (lazy), and failure. Better luck next time, and the carbon won't hurt none.

I have a spot I would like to try to grow hemp. I would need to find a nice very terpy strain to make it interesting, and they want 1000 plants min on 1 ac. That is a lotta work, 40+ ft2 per plant to maintain.

Good luck with all the regulations. When growing acres of hemp, weeds come with the territory.

.

BOMBAYCAT said:

Two summers ago in Colorado they busted a whole truckload of hemp moving to the CBD processing plant. LEO thought it was Cannabis and tested some samples and only a few samples of the whole truckload showed slightly hot. I figure a truckload of Cannabis would have been enough to keep a small town high for the rest of their lives. There was no common sense shown by LEO there.

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at the risk of sounding like a pedant, i would like to point out that hemp = cannabis.

in fact, it is cannabis sativa afaik.

good point about l.e.o. common sense (lackthereof)... seems to be a general lack of logic surrounding our cannabis rules in the u.s.

I've always thought hemp was cannabis ruderalis, but after reading some shit online just now it appears that may technically be wrong. I don't think cannabis should be illegal in any form, and definitely not regulated to the degree it is now. Sad to see someone's work go up in smoke on a technicality.

That's bad

Kata said he believes the THC levels in his 2 acres of plants spiked because they became stressed Lmao! It sounds like he was sold marijuana seeds and didn't know. Some stress can increase resin production right? I've never heard of stress increasing THC %.

AgentPothead said:

Kata said he believes the THC levels in his 2 acres of plants spiked because they became stressed Lmao! It sounds like he was sold marijuana seeds and didn't know. Some stress can increase resin production right? I've never heard of stress increasing THC %.

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https://terpenesandtesting.com/cannabis-under-stress-produces-more-thc/

Actually, it can happen.

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) polarizes cultivators. Medicinal cannabis growers usually seek to maximize THC content. Hemp farmers must minimize THC as a matter of law. Strategies to control THC are therefore paramount in cannabis cultivation. One variable is stress. Stressful environmental conditions may cause Cannabis sativa L. plants to boost production of THC and other cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol (CBD).

One recent study applied controlled drought to flowering cannabis plants. [1] The researchers withheld fertigation for 11 days starting at week 7 of the flowering period. This increased tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) by 12% and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) by 13% compared to the well-irrigated control. THC and CBD yields per unit growing area were 50% and 67% higher, respectively. [1] For hemp farmers, this means that even short periods of drought or insufficient fertilization may push THC beyond the 0.3% legal threshold.

Another example is ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation, which can easily destroy plants in sufficient quantities. But in small amounts during flowering, UV-B light boosts THC accumulation in cannabis, an act of self-protection reminiscent of sunscreen. [2,3]

Mansouri et al [4] applied abscisic acid (ABA), a sesquiterpene that acts as a plant hormone, to flowering cannabis plants. ABA inhibits growth and is produced by plants in response to environmental stressors, including (but not limited to) drought, UV radiation, cold, and salinity. [5] After exogenous application to cannabis, the researchers noted increased THC and ?-tocopherol but decreased chlorophyll, carotenoids, and phytosterols. [4]

It thus appears that stress promotes THC production. But hemp farmers are not necessarily at the mercy of the elements. As noted in a 2020 investigation, cultivators who secure seed genetics with two CBDA synthase alleles (rather than the more common combination of a CBDA synthase allele and a THCA synthase allele) may eliminate THC spikes. [4] This strategy targets the plant at the genetic level to avoid any possibility of THC production. It is unclear how (or if) stress boosts CBD and other legal cannabinoids in plants lacking the THCA synthase allele.

THC and other cannabinoids are plant defense mechanisms, and cannabis responds to environmental stress with decisive chemical action. But it’s a fine balance. Too much stress or stress at the wrong time may damage or kill plants. Plant genetics also modulate these responses.

Completely predictable

Maybe stress isn't the way to look at it. Why not say that lushness decreases cannabinoid content? Big thick leaves and such? Maybe a leaf only gets so many trichomes, only so much THC, regardless of size. It's not like the trichomes ever get giant like leaves can. So the farmers did get screwed but maybe they chose high CBD plants and screwed themselves playing with fire.

G.O. Joe said:

Maybe stress isn't the way to look at it. Why not say that lushness decreases cannabinoid content? Big thick leaves and such? Maybe a leaf only gets so many trichomes, only so much THC, regardless of size. It's not like the trichomes ever get giant like leaves can. So the farmers did get screwed but maybe they chose high CBD plants and screwed themselves playing with fire.

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Not knowing HOW to grow....primary reason.

On a different note, we can't burn fields anymore. Not since long ago. If a crop needs burning here, it's welcomed at the incinerator site where it's used for power generation. Our next power stations are designed for burning waste as their primary fuel. With gas on tap for a quick hit. Dried and chipped hemp is a wonderful fuel. It's an ecological mistake to be burning off fields.

aridbud said:

Not knowing HOW to grow....primary reason.

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So if someone's plants are hot it's not the seed suppliers fault, I see. All the plants were over, or? The farmer is right about stress but wrong about farming? How do you know this - all his neighbors planted the same thing and passed? If they did there could be a very good reason for this - statistics. If say 3% of the seeds are hot, the hot plants will go undetected in some fields but not others.

Its a crazy game and the testing is not as simple as they make it out to be. It is percent of thc by total weight and when you are talking the difference between .3% and 1%, the material in the sample means everything. You could take a sample off any plant and it would test above .3 if you picked a piece that was mostly trichomes. If you took a sample from the same plant and the sample contained more leaf or stem it would pass. Its a bullshit game and a state in its first year just doesn’t understand. Have your field tested early. If it fails, retest it 10 times to prove the discrepancies in percentages. The best part is the silly .3 number means nothing if you can get it to a processor where it will be turned to concentrate that will test “hot” regardless. At this point we have done hundreds of tests and there is not that kind of precise consistency even in running the same clones through 20 indoor cycles, much less a field full of seed plants. The difference in .3 and 1% is all about when the sample is taken, exactly what is taken and how it is dried.

f-e said:

On a different note, we can't burn fields anymore. Not since long ago. If a crop needs burning here, it's welcomed at the incinerator site where it's used for power generation. Our next power stations are designed for burning waste as their primary fuel. With gas on tap for a quick hit. Dried and chipped hemp is a wonderful fuel. It's an ecological mistake to be burning off fields.

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I burn my pasture sometimes, and it comes back greener than ever. The carbon added to the soil maybe? CO2 is good for our plants.

The official testing there is more detailed than in other states and calls for essentially manicured flower. The money that has to be paid to get someone out to test is not insignificant and it's hard to believe that they have enough licensed testers to do all the tests at the time the farmers want to harvest. Even so, if 20% CBD seed can't meet specs, don't blame the testing, or the farmers for having non-greenhouse weather, soil, and pests.