Industrial Hemp in Oregon

[socioecologist]

With our HB 4089 passed by the Oregon legislature and now sitting on the governor's desk, Oregon is entering a new era. Oregon State University, the local land grand institution, now has the necessary authorization and dedicated funding to engage in cannabis research. This has been a pet project of mine since 2013 when I was still employed at the university and it is really cool to see it finally come to fruition.

Time will tell just what will come out of this, but we are working to shape the research focus and seed certification components towards farmers' needs to the best of our ability.

We made some outrageously awesome discoveries this week that I will be able to write more about in late spring / early summer. Their emergence has set our CBG development program timeline back a bit, but the outcome is well worth it. The gist is that we'll be able to offer consistent 100:1 CBD to THC versions of our current "early" varieties in seed form to farmers for 2019, as well as the world's first 100:1 CBG to THC (and CBD) "early" lines. Nothing short of revolutionary and endless possibilities. It's hard to not be excited about going to work every day when the boundaries you've always wanted to break are dropping before your eyes. Good thing too, since we're still working 14 hour days, 7 days a week to make this project happen.

At least I can still find a bit of time in the mornings to ride my bike on the trainer. The view isn't too bad for being stuck inside.

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[Kankakee]

Did the US government approve cross border sales of seed or CBD products yet ?

 

[socioecologist]

Did the US government approve cross border sales of seed or CBD products yet ?

Products have been legal since the 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act, so long as they are allowed in the jurisdiction they are shipped to. Seed, however, is still not legally exportable to other countries. We are pressuring the USDA to adopt rules that would codify export requirements, but they are more reticent than the DEA to deal with hemp. Interstate commerce of seed is 100% legal and we ship all the time without trouble.

 

[Kankakee]

So interstate sales of cannabis seed is legal ? My lawyer and Illinois USDA told me otherwise and this included cross border sales of CBD product ....

 

[socioecologist]

So interstate sales of cannabis seed is legal ? My lawyer and Illinois USDA told me otherwise and this included cross border sales of CBD product ....

Sorry, that's BS. Get a different attorney. A lot of people are ignorant to the fact that federal law trumps (sorry) federal agency interpretation. You should be speaking to Rod Kight, an attorney in North Carolina. He understands US hemp law and policy better than most and has an excellent blog devoted to the subject.

 

[Kankakee]

O.K thanks.

So he told you you can ship CBD products across state lines ? As many questions regarding what is hemp and what is not hemp getting hammered out in Illinois legislature as we speak. Because guys that spent $500,000 just for licensing fee's for canna cultivation are pressing this issue in our state. Not speaking towards manufacturing facility, in-house oil extracts being monitored by state, state police coordination when transporting as our state has built the premier federal oversight regarding these issues so the federal government does not take issue after pumping millions into this adventure ...

 

[socioecologist]

Love the participation, but we just took up half a page confirming laws that I have spent considerable time addressing previously in the thread.

 

[gorilla ganja]

Well I guess that answers my question of whether you can sell/ship to Canada.
Are you working to get some of your cutivars approved for Canada??

Loving your work on the cutting edge of Hemp.

Peace GG

 

[socioecologist]

We are not currently pursuing international acceptance or certification, mostly due to archaic seed rules. For a variety to be registered, it must be sexually reproducible and, at least in the US, certifying agencies must be able to re-use seed from season to season (2 in Colorado) to demonstrate <0.3% THC compliance. First, that's obviously not possible with feminized seed. Second, our varieties are F1 hybrids; even if a certifying agency were able to produce seed from our females, the F2s look absolutely nothing like the F1 parents. CBD to THC ratios and total cannabinoid content are similar, but that's about it.

We need a seed certification system that takes into account how farmers grow hemp TODAY, rather than how they grew it in the 1940s. We will obviously be pushing hard for the incorporation of feminized, complex hybrid seed into Oregon's certification system; however, we will also ensure that (at least in-state) farmers still have the right to use uncertified seed as well if that makes more sense for their situation. It's a brave new world with much tripping before running on the regulatory side.

 

[socioecologist]

Wanted to share this particular test result. Really stoked about it. The plant was referenced a page or so back; it is "The White" crossed to one of our 100:1 CBG to THC R&D plants from last summer. The CBG line was so inbred that its pollen, when reversed, is mostly sterile--only two seeds were produced in the initial cross. Both turned into beautiful specimens in my garage--my place of production for personal consumption and high THC outcrossing work. I trust the results from Pixis more than anyone else in the state, which makes a 19% total cannabinoid concentration in roughly trimmed flower that much more special for me.

 

[Bradley_Danks]

That's interesting you only got two seeds... how much inbreeding did you have to do before you got sterile pollen?

 

[Only Ornamental]

We are not currently pursuing international acceptance or certification, mostly due to archaic seed rules. For a variety to be registered, it must be sexually reproducible and, at least in the US, certifying agencies must be able to re-use seed from season to season (2 in Colorado) to demonstrate <0.3% THC compliance. First, that's obviously not possible with feminized seed. Second, our varieties are F1 hybrids; even if a certifying agency were able to produce seed from our females, the F2s look absolutely nothing like the F1 parents. CBD to THC ratios and total cannabinoid content are similar, but that's about it...

You live in the land where everything is possible and you can't register an F1? In Europe, you can register F1's (and with hemp it's often the F2 which is actually sold to farmers, not the registered F1 seed line). Suppose that the parent lines need to be rather stable...

 

[socioecologist]

You live in the land where everything is possible and you can't register an F1? In Europe, you can register F1's (and with hemp it's often the F2 which is actually sold to farmers, not the registered F1 seed line). Suppose that the parent lines need to be rather stable...

Our parental lines don't naturally reproduce without one being sprayed with STS...that is a major issue with the USDA. Another is that they are not currently accepting cannabis seed and claim it is still a controlled substance. It's a strange situation where the agency in charge of overseeing industrial hemp refuses to acknowledge congress' laws and have instead bowed to previous DEA proclamations that it is all illegal. We're making slow progress on that front...

 

[PDX Dopesmoker]

That sterile pollen result is kinda interesting, it makes the possibility of breeding some really dank but entirely unseedable infertile feminized seeds seem realistic. A seed that that could grow sinsemilla under a storm of pollen could be really valuable and useful.

 

[socioecologist]

That sterile pollen result is kinda interesting, it makes the possibility of breeding some really dank but entirely unseedable infertile feminized seeds seem realistic. A seed that that could grow sinsemilla under a storm of pollen could be really valuable and useful.

Sterility sets in quick when selfing, sometimes by F2 (though not in this case). Viable pollen from STS is generally the first casualty, followed by unreceptive or difficult to pollinate flowers. It is rare--but not exceedingly so--for the latter to occur. We view pollen sterility as a cry for outcrossing by the plant.

Making more progress on our CBG breeding program. We now have the tools / plants to offer consistent 300:1+ CBG to THC ratio varieties. This material can be concentrated and still be below the federal 0.3% THC threshold. Not bad, right? Results below are from a low-tech QWET (quick wash ethanol) of whole plant material and overnight evaporation on a heated stir plate. The lab (Pixis) is the most precise in Oregon right now. That said, please note that they bungled the total CBG calculation by using a decarboxylation conversion yield of 88.7% (commonly used for THCa-->THC and CBDa-->CBD) when it should be a 53% mass reduction with CBGa-->CBG. (use the latter to see how this plant is actually over 300:1).

 

[socioecologist]

Is this thing on?

Ha ha! Sorry, couldn't help it. Not much response to 300:1+ CBGa to THCa plants. We're telling a few people in the real world about these developing seed lines too and we're getting the same sort of reaction...crickets. Too new?

 

[leadsled]

Is this thing on?

Ha ha! Sorry, couldn't help it. Not much response to 300:1+ CBGa to THCa plants. We're telling a few people in the real world about these developing seed lines too and we're getting the same sort of reaction...crickets. Too new?

That is amazing. Thanks for sharing. Really love to run some of your beans.

 

[Ringodoggie]

This has been an amazing thread Socio. Yeah, you're early on CBG. I think the masses are still focused on CBD.

It's awesome that your seeds produce the plants they are supposed to. So far, every zillion to 1 CBD strain I've grown has come out about 50/50 LOL.

You have been doing an amazing job. Your moment will come.

After all, when you think about it in a certain way, you are reversing what breeders have been trying to accomplish since they brought the first Indica from Amsterdam to Cali to cross it and come up with the highest THC strain possible.

Now, you're trying to get the LEAST THC. LOL just teasing.

Talk about full circle. LOL

Again, awesome thread. I have learned so much. Thanks

 

[oldchuck]

Is this thing on?

Ha ha! Sorry, couldn't help it. Not much response to 300:1+ CBGa to THCa plants. We're telling a few people in the real world about these developing seed lines too and we're getting the same sort of reaction...crickets. Too new?

Hey man, put on your pedagogical hat here. You are profoundly far ahead of the rest of us. You talk, me listen.

 

[Chunkypigs]

Is this thing on?

Ha ha! Sorry, couldn't help it. Not much response to 300:1+ CBGa to THCa plants. We're telling a few people in the real world about these developing seed lines too and we're getting the same sort of reaction...crickets. Too new?

probably get a bigger reaction from politicians.

it's insane that you have to focus on trying to eliminate healthy elements from plants because of outdated laws.

if it helps you get me any closer to being able to sample these high CBG flowers then...

what's the BHO like from your CBG flowers? big dab get you altered or affected?