This year’s U.S. hemp harvest is expected to shrink by 46% compared to 2021, according to commodity exchange PanXchange.
According to the Colorado-based exchange, the sharp decrease stems from lower demand for CBD, with close to 75% of CBD extract being used for delta-8 and delta-9 THC products.
The release of the PanXchange report was first reported by Hemp Today.
About 36,925 acres of hemp were harvested in 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
This year, however, only 20,000 acres is expected to be harvested, including:
- 6,400 to 6,800 acres of hemp flower.
- 8.200 to 9,100 acres of hemp fiber.
- 4,800 to 5,000 acres of hemp grain.
Jody McGinness, executive director of the Hemp Industries Association, told Denver alt-weekly Westword that smaller harvests will help cultivators better manage previous oversupply.
“There was a very large boom-and-bust cycle that took place in the first couple of years of hemp, and that essentially meant that after 2019 and 2020, many, many farmers had leftover stocks of hemp – in some cases, all of their harvests – that they were never able to sell,” McGinness said.
