Cannabidiol, or CBD as it’s more often known, is a fantastic chemical found in hemp plants. It belongs to the cannabinoid family of chemicals. Over a hundred of them have been discovered so far. Hemp, also known as Cannabis sativa, is a plant that has been planted, farmed, and harvested for thousands of years but has recently been highly controlled.
All of that changed with the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which made industrial hemp production lawful at the federal level. This implies that in all 50 states, it is legal to grow and manufacture hemp-based products.
This was a huge victory for NuLeaf Naturals CBD supporters, as CBD is the most widely used non-psychoactive cannabinoid. It has also resulted in CBD products becoming widely available across the country, both online and in specialty stores.
The industry is under a lot of pressure to discover effective and safe ways to create CBD products as a result of the rising demand. As a result, the sector is undergoing a technological revolution. We’ll look at some of the major ways technology is affecting the CBD business in this post.
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This is how we used to do it.
Everything used to start with a manual foraging or growing procedure.
Then, to extract the therapeutic and medicinal components contained within any plant, it was customary to soak it in alcohol. This procedure would take weeks, and you would end up with a tincture.
The tincture might then be cooked down to make it more strong, or it could be diluted further with less potent alcohol or water.
As you might expect, the drawback of this method is that it takes a long time, and the concentration of beneficial components in the final result can never be assured.
Hemp farming using cutting-edge technology
Many hemp growers used to start their harvests from seed. That was, however, when the end goal was stalk and fiber. There has been a movement to flower-forward CBD hemp in recent years. Things had to alter as a result.
To assure the production of certain plant strains that fulfill government criteria of 0.3 percent THC content, some growers are opting for clones and seedlings rather than seeds. However, because many modern-day American hemp farmers have moved away from seed-based crops like wheat, corn, and soy, this created a labor dilemma.
Hemp Processing Using High-Tech Equipment
In the United States, there is now an excess of hemp and a scarcity of processing facilities. As an example, consider the state of Oregon. The ratio of growers to processors is 3.7 to 1. Oregon, the second-largest producer of hemp in the United States, is a good illustration of how the supply chain has a few hitches.
Fortunately, some firms are working hard to guarantee that things improve so that you may continue to get your favorite CBD tinctures and other CBD products in a consistent and high-quality supply.
What Can We Look Forward To in the Future?
According to estimates, consumer sales of CBD products in the United States are anticipated to reach almost $4 billion by 2022. By 2030, this figure is anticipated to reach $13.4 billion globally.
Hemp growing for CBD is an industry that shows no signs of slowing down, and technology will undoubtedly play a key part in its future. With so much money at stake, you can bet that large tech firms will be focusing their efforts on the CBD sector, including cultivation.
Conclusion
In the future, we should expect to see more technology-driven CBD farming, including drones and artificial intelligence. These, along with other advancements, will provide the modern hemp farmer with the best opportunity of cultivating plants with even higher CBD yields.
Finally, as customers, we will gain because we will be able to purchase high-quality items that never compromise on quality, all without disrupting the supply chain.
