AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION: GROWING SUSTAINABILITY
Climate change is now requiring societies and economies to explore more sustainable alternatives to current resources, materials, industries, and policies. With such a divisive subject as climate change, could there a smoking gun solution for sustainability? Many say no, the issue of climate change is too complex and exacerbated by too many variables to have any one solution lead the way. What though, if any, measured improvements or additions could be made to the US agriculture system to provide a possible sustainable, renewable alternative? A viable addition, used for thousands of years, is moving to the forefront again in the 21st century and it can be the game changer in sustainability.
That addition is industrial hemp and by integrating it into the US agriculture system, the US could become the country to lead the way in tackling climate change.
That addition is industrial hemp and by integrating it into the US agriculture system, the US could become the country to lead the way in tackling climate change.
Did you know...
Industrial hemp as a crop requires no pesticides and about half the water of an equal size cotton crop, producing double the fibrous product, while improving soil quality and sequestering more carbon. In addition, hemp has the benefit of also producing seeds from this same crop which can be used in medicine, animal feed, human food, and bio-diesel (1).
Industrial hemp as a crop requires no pesticides and about half the water of an equal size cotton crop, producing double the fibrous product, while improving soil quality and sequestering more carbon. In addition, hemp has the benefit of also producing seeds from this same crop which can be used in medicine, animal feed, human food, and bio-diesel (1).
How Hemp Helps Against Carbon
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations identifies that soil carbon sequestration can mitigate climate change through improved agricultural practices. With improved practices, agricultural carbon emissions of GHG could be reduced and other carbon emissions could be held in the soil or biomass of crops. It is estimated that soils worldwide sequester 10% of anthropogenic carbon emissions every 25 years. With an integration of industrial hemp into the US agricultural system, the US could mitigate more carbon than the current intake and positively impact climate change (2).
Industrial hemp has the ability to be a game changer in improving our opportunity as a nation to sequester more carbon based on its large and deep root biomass. On the initial side of cultivation, industrial hemp requires less carbon for growth and releases less carbon emissions agriculturally than many heavily used crops, like wheat and corn. During growth, industrial hemp’s root biomass which measures 2.5 to 3.5 Mg/ha, is significantly larger than wheat and corn also. This root biomass can also grow to depths of up to 6 feet deep, depending on soil makeup. In comparison, only alfalfa comes close in root biomass depth, with averages between 4-6 feet. With hemp’s ability to improve soil quality, this improves the amount of carbon the soil can sequester. Also, hemp’s ability to restore degraded and contaminated soils provides the opportunity for those restored soils to natural carbon release at a much slower rate (2).
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations identifies that soil carbon sequestration can mitigate climate change through improved agricultural practices. With improved practices, agricultural carbon emissions of GHG could be reduced and other carbon emissions could be held in the soil or biomass of crops. It is estimated that soils worldwide sequester 10% of anthropogenic carbon emissions every 25 years. With an integration of industrial hemp into the US agricultural system, the US could mitigate more carbon than the current intake and positively impact climate change (2).
Industrial hemp has the ability to be a game changer in improving our opportunity as a nation to sequester more carbon based on its large and deep root biomass. On the initial side of cultivation, industrial hemp requires less carbon for growth and releases less carbon emissions agriculturally than many heavily used crops, like wheat and corn. During growth, industrial hemp’s root biomass which measures 2.5 to 3.5 Mg/ha, is significantly larger than wheat and corn also. This root biomass can also grow to depths of up to 6 feet deep, depending on soil makeup. In comparison, only alfalfa comes close in root biomass depth, with averages between 4-6 feet. With hemp’s ability to improve soil quality, this improves the amount of carbon the soil can sequester. Also, hemp’s ability to restore degraded and contaminated soils provides the opportunity for those restored soils to natural carbon release at a much slower rate (2).
Did you know...
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture in conjunction with the University of Kentucky, Kentucky State University, and Eastern Kentucky University conducted a pilot program in 2014 to grow a research plot of industrial hemp (shown below). This is the first crop of hemp grown in Kentucky in 70 years and included 13 different strains that were planted and harvested for research of both fiber and seed usage (3).
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture in conjunction with the University of Kentucky, Kentucky State University, and Eastern Kentucky University conducted a pilot program in 2014 to grow a research plot of industrial hemp (shown below). This is the first crop of hemp grown in Kentucky in 70 years and included 13 different strains that were planted and harvested for research of both fiber and seed usage (3).
"The utilization of hemp to produce everything from clothing to paper is real, and if there is a capacity to center a new domestic industry in Kentucky that will create jobs in these difficult economic times, that sounds like a good thing to me."
Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell
Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell
How Hemp Improves Soil
Soil is a living ecosystem and is integral in sustaining the lives of humans, animals, and plant species. Its health and biodiversity are important in keeping soil functioning properly. Its agricultural functions include cycling nutrients, water regulation, and as a physical structure for growth. As crops are grown over and over on the same farmland, nutrients are lost. As nutrients are lost, the soil becomes less and less ideal for agriculture, and more fertilizing agents become necessary to assist where the soil lacks. Industrial hemp is considered a low impact crop in regards to effects of soil quality. By requiring a lot less additive nutrients for growth than a crop like cotton, hemp’s possible negative impacts are mitigated by its positive contributions. A major contribution of hemp is as a cover crop. Hemp can be rotated with many types of agriculture, providing cover of land which promotes organic content, eradicates invasive weed species, provide pesticidal qualities to surrounding crops, and has shown to produce 10% higher yields of following crops in rotation (2).
Soil is a living ecosystem and is integral in sustaining the lives of humans, animals, and plant species. Its health and biodiversity are important in keeping soil functioning properly. Its agricultural functions include cycling nutrients, water regulation, and as a physical structure for growth. As crops are grown over and over on the same farmland, nutrients are lost. As nutrients are lost, the soil becomes less and less ideal for agriculture, and more fertilizing agents become necessary to assist where the soil lacks. Industrial hemp is considered a low impact crop in regards to effects of soil quality. By requiring a lot less additive nutrients for growth than a crop like cotton, hemp’s possible negative impacts are mitigated by its positive contributions. A major contribution of hemp is as a cover crop. Hemp can be rotated with many types of agriculture, providing cover of land which promotes organic content, eradicates invasive weed species, provide pesticidal qualities to surrounding crops, and has shown to produce 10% higher yields of following crops in rotation (2).
Did You Know...
Hemp in today’s world is a major player agriculturally for as many as 30+ countries including Australia and Canada. Canada, our North American neighbor, could provide important and comparable data to a US integration of the crop. The Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA) estimates that by 2013 more than 66,000 acres of industrial hemp were being grown annually throughout Canada. Australia is also actively pursuing industrial hemp growth, utilizing monetary incentives for those farmers and land owners who grow crops with higher carbon sequestration abilities. By backing emissions reduction and carbon sequestration, the Australian government provided a budget of over $2 billion in 2014-2015 claims (4 & 5).
Hemp in today’s world is a major player agriculturally for as many as 30+ countries including Australia and Canada. Canada, our North American neighbor, could provide important and comparable data to a US integration of the crop. The Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA) estimates that by 2013 more than 66,000 acres of industrial hemp were being grown annually throughout Canada. Australia is also actively pursuing industrial hemp growth, utilizing monetary incentives for those farmers and land owners who grow crops with higher carbon sequestration abilities. By backing emissions reduction and carbon sequestration, the Australian government provided a budget of over $2 billion in 2014-2015 claims (4 & 5).
Hemp Integration Now
The opportunities that come with integration of industrial hemp for the US are endless, opening up an entirely new industry for US agriculture. By maximizing our farmlands sustainability, we ensure yield of crop while improving soil carbon sequestration and improved soil conditions. Unhealthy, nutrient starved soils cannot produce nor sequester carbon. Industrial hemp assists in yield in several ways including improved soil and carbon sequestration, in a sustainable way. If the US is taking climate change seriously, industrial hemp must be included in the options of consideration toward a more sustainable country. With several examples of integration, the US has an advantage of seeing what has worked and what has not worked. By working with researchers in Canada, the US can partner on developing solid North American cultivars for specialized production per location.
The consequences of doing nothing agriculturally will be dire for the US. We have ventured into unknown territory with GHG’s and carbon dioxide emissions and in May of 2015, atmospheric carbon dioxide measures an astounding 401.52 ppm (Scripps, NOAA – May 10, 2015). The safe limit for carbon dioxide emissions was set in 1998 to be 350 ppm (6) which is why the situation qualifies as dire.
The opportunities that come with integration of industrial hemp for the US are endless, opening up an entirely new industry for US agriculture. By maximizing our farmlands sustainability, we ensure yield of crop while improving soil carbon sequestration and improved soil conditions. Unhealthy, nutrient starved soils cannot produce nor sequester carbon. Industrial hemp assists in yield in several ways including improved soil and carbon sequestration, in a sustainable way. If the US is taking climate change seriously, industrial hemp must be included in the options of consideration toward a more sustainable country. With several examples of integration, the US has an advantage of seeing what has worked and what has not worked. By working with researchers in Canada, the US can partner on developing solid North American cultivars for specialized production per location.
The consequences of doing nothing agriculturally will be dire for the US. We have ventured into unknown territory with GHG’s and carbon dioxide emissions and in May of 2015, atmospheric carbon dioxide measures an astounding 401.52 ppm (Scripps, NOAA – May 10, 2015). The safe limit for carbon dioxide emissions was set in 1998 to be 350 ppm (6) which is why the situation qualifies as dire.