Do you know where your Hemp comes from?

Small Craft Hemp Farms vs. Large Scale Hemp - we explore the differences. 

There are thousands of CBD and hemp based product on the market, but how do you know which one to choose? Knowing where your hemp comes from is a good starting place!

How hemp is grown, dried, processed and extracted makes a big difference in the final product such as cbd oil, gummies, topicals and more. Many people might not realize that several companies are sourcing their CBD from overseas or from large-scale farms in the U.S., which can have very different farming practices that could compromise the quality and safety of the final CBD product. 

Mass Hemp Production vs. Small Craft Farms

When it comes to hemp and cannabis, small craft farming practices will yield a higher quality plant and thus, a higher quality extract.

Large Scale Farming Practices: Since organic fertilizing is cost prohibitive when farming large scale, big farms typically use synthetic fertilizers (or zero fertilizers) and may use pesticides, herbicides, miticides, etc throughout the growing season to preserve their investment. 

Craft Farm Farming Practices: Organically enriched soil will make all the difference in the development of beneficial plant compounds including cannabinoid and terpene content. Small craft farms are much more likely to include a robust fertility program. Our Organic Green Roots farm uses only organic nutrients including fermented fruit juices and monatomic minerals to encourage optimum plant development. We are a strict zero spray farm and we release thousands of ladybugs mid season as a way to curb any potential flower loving pests. 

Large Scale Harvest: Large scale farms use several types of machines to harvest hemp. A machine harvest typically moves over the rows of plants and grinds the whole plant up and spits it out into hauling trucks. This means all the branches, potential mold, dirt, pests and debris get mixed together into the harvested biomass.

Craft farm Harvest: On our farm we do a 100% hand harvest. We move plant to plant and inspect every flower before it's picked. Only large, top flowers are chosen for harvest due to their higher exposure to the sun. This increased exposure yields a higher medicinal potency than then under stock flowers. Each flower is placed in a small produce bin and moved into a cold drying room within 15 minutes of being picked.

Large Scale Drying: Large scale farms will often leave their harvested biomass on the ground to dry (like alfalfa) or their plant material gets dried at high temperatures. This moves the hemp through a hot drier and can pull the moisture out very quickly (which can degrade or completely eliminate the therapeutic terpenes (essential oils) of the plant. 

Craft Farm Drying: Our small farm places each flower on screens in a climate controlled building to naturally air dry. Our hemp will slowing air dry for 5-10 days depending on flower size and stem weight. 

Extraction:

There are several methods to extract the beneficial compounds from hemp.  In large scale extraction, solvents are commonly used. Some include butane, propane, pentane, and more. Each stage of the extraction process refines the hemp oil further and further, essential stripping or filtering out more and more of the whole plant compounds. The last stage of extraction is CBD isolate - where all of the plant has been separated from the CBD. A good extractor will make sure none of the chemical solvents end up in the final extract, but this is not always the case. Alcohol and CO2 are higher quality means of extraction and safer too. All of our extract is obtained through alcohol extraction. 

Many popular CBD based products use large-scale hemp farms for their extract, mainly because it's much cheaper.  When selecting hemp products, there are many reasons to seek out and support small craft farms that engage natural farming practices for their hemp and CBD products. Honest farming practices used by these smaller-scale farmers are much more likely to produce high-quality, more effective CBD products.

To get the most from your CBD experience, look for local small-scale farm. A good place to start is to contact your state's Department of Agriculture and ask for a list of hemp farms in your area.  We always recommend supporting your local farm, but if you don't have one nearby, consider Organic Green Roots!

At Organic Green Roots, we take a mindful approach to how we grow, harvest, and process hemp. Our soil has been certified organic for about 30 years!  We tend to the farm daily throughout the growing season.  When fully cured, hemp flowers are divided into 10 pound batches and sealed in nitrogen to naturally preserve the freshness of the flower. 

Still have questions? Reach out. We're happy to answer all your hemp questions and needs.