One word to describe your cultivation style: Craft
Indoor, outdoor, greenhouse or a combination: Combination of indoor and hybrid outdoor/greenhouse
Note: This interview was originally published Jan. 15, 2021.
Can you share a bit of your background and how you and your company got to the present day?
I am from Colorado, where cannabis has played a large part [in] people’s everyday lives for longer than most areas. I was fortunate enough to have friends that taught me the art of growing, and they also had access to the best genetics in the world at that time, which was the early 2000s. One of my best friends, Matt Bickel, who founded CULTA, needed a trusted cultivator to help, and asked me in 2017. I moved from Colorado to Maryland in 2018, right before CULTA’s first harvest. Recently, we completed our 50th indoor harvest, and our second Clean Green certified outdoor harvest, which was also the first legal outdoor grow on the East Coast.
What tool or software in your cultivation space can you not live without?
Our fertigation system is the brain of our operation. It controls feedings to each room with amazing precision, keeps our environment at the optimum setpoints, and allows our cultivators to be more hands on with the plants instead of watering all day.
Photo by Jill Jasuta
CULTA recently completed its 50th harvest, and its second Clean Green certified outdoor harvest.
What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your business in the last six months?
A power washer with a rotating scrubber. Cleaning the tables in our rooms became much more efficient with these!
What cultivation technique are you most interested in right now, and what are you actively studying (the most)?
Learning how to optimize cultivation under LED lighting. LEDs are taking over as the dominant light source in the industry, and learning how to adjust everything to get the most out of our plants has been a lot of fun.
How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a “favorite failure” of yours?
I have always been a believer that you learn 10 times more from failure than you do success. My favorite near-failure was in Colorado, forgetting to plug a pump back in to feed a full room that was seven weeks into flower after cleaning the tank. As I was leaving, I smelled the unmistakable stench of dying root balls in rockwool and caught it in just the right time. Being thorough in every move in the grow, no matter how big or small, was my lesson.
What advice would you give to a smart, driven grower about to enter the legal, regulated industry? What advice should they ignore?
Be very careful about what information you study. The internet is full of lots of great knowledge, but full of even more terrible information. This job is basically paid education, so be open to learning the entire time you are in a grow. I always suggest listening to as much of “The Real Dirt” podcast as possible. The host, Chip Baker, is a longtime friend and a hero of mine in the industry and has the best real-world knowledge of the plant, culture, industry, you name it.
Photo by Jill Jasuta
CULTA's leadership motivates its team by sharing test scores and yields from the grow rooms they oversaw to create friendly competition around who can grow the most potent or highest yielding cultivars or rooms.
How do you deal with burnout?
It has been difficult in 2020, but when we can, we like to travel to find street art, go to museums and eat amazing food.
How do you motivate your employees/team?
My cultivators love to hear test scores and yields from the rooms that they oversaw. It becomes a little friendly competition on who can grow the most potent or highest yielding strains or rooms.
What keeps you awake at night?
New systems that are installed, whether it be HVAC, irrigation/fertigation [or] lighting. There is always a big learning curve with new equipment, and it takes a lot of dialing in before you have a good night’s rest.
What helps you sleep at night?
Knowing that we did everything we could possibly do to grow the best medicine for Maryland that day, and that we are going to come back and try to improve on the day before.
Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for style, length and clarity.
Lealnard | Adobe Stock
How the New Biden Administration is Affecting Hemp Regulations: Week in Review
Plus, Purdue University has introduced a new hemp course.
This week marked the first full week of Joe Biden’s presidency, and effects from the transition have already started to reverberate throughout the hemp industry. As is typical in new administrations, the White House issued a memo asking federal agencies to withdraw any rules that have not yet been published, and the FDA withdrew its “Cannabidiol Enforcement Policy” it submitted in July. Meanwhile, the USDA says it is “reviewing” its final rule on hemp, but it has not been withdrawn (though it could be subject to another public comment period). Read more
Though the final rule is under review, members of the industry are still reflecting on its contents as they stand. Executives with Native American Hemp, a company that grows and processes hemp as well as consults tribes and Indigenous-owned hemp businesses, shared their thoughts with Hemp Grower on various tribal-specific aspects of the final rule. “The new regulations provide helpful clarity on key points tribes need to consider in their hemp enterprises, such as how to establish an appropriate regulatory framework and enforcement mechanisms for hemp operations in tribal jurisdictions,” said company Chief Operating Officer Aaron Fournier. Read more
Meanwhile, a Kentucky senator is pushing back on the 0.3% THC limit set forth by federal regulations. State Sen. Adrienne Southworth introduced legislation in the state to increase the allowable amount of THC in hemp to 1% with the hopes that Kentucky can lead the charge in helping other states make the change at a local level. Read more
In other news:
Purdue University in Indiana has introduced a new course that will educate multiple professionals in the hemp industry, including growers, consultants, hemp product manufacturers and salespeople, on numerous aspects of the crop. Read more
Colorado-based Charlotte’s Web has filed a motion to dismiss its latest class-action lawsuit, at least put it on pause until the FDA completes its rulemaking process. But the plaintiff recently fired back arguing that labeling products as dietary supplements violates both California and federal laws, and that any guidance from the FDA would be forward-looking—not retroactive. Read more
The USDA is looking to fund one project to collect hemp germplasm for its Hemp Germplasm Repository located at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, New York. The maximum grant amount for the hemp project is $125,000 per year for four years. Read more
Christian | Adobe Stock
Congressman Introduces Legislation to Reschedule Cannabis, More State Legislatures Consider Legalization Proposals: Week in Review
U.S. Rep. Greg Steube has introduced the Marijuana 1-to-3 Act to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act.
This week, U.S. Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) introduced the Marijuana 1-to-3 Act to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. At the state level, lawmakers in North Dakota and Florida introduced adult-use legalization proposals, while a Kentucky legislator put forth a measure to legalize medical cannabis.
Here, we’ve rounded up the top 10 headlines you need to know before this week is over.
Federal: U.S. Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) has introduced the Marijuana 1-to-3 Act to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. Although rescheduling would lift the burden of tax code 280E and make cannabis research easier, the move would not end federal prohibition entirely. Read more
California: The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has filed proposed emergency regulations with the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) to implement Assembly Bill 1525, which became law in September to provide the state’s licensed cannabis businesses broader access to financial services. The new law provides a safe harbor for banking institutions doing business with cannabis companies and essentially makes it easier for cannabis businesses to start relationships with banks. Read more
After a judge ruled that cannabis billboards are illegal on California roads that cross state borders, the Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) has issued a notice announcing new rules for the advertisements. Under the new regulations, cannabis companies cannot place new billboard ads on any interstate highway that crosses the California border, and businesses must remove any current billboards placed along these roads. Read more
North Dakota: Rep. Jason Dockter has sponsored an adult-use cannabis legalization bill, despite his opposition to legalizing cannabis in the state. Dockter believes legalization is inevitable as more states regulate cannabis within their borders, and says lawmakers should draft a legalization proposal instead of leaving the issue in the hands of a ballot initiative campaign. Read more
North Dakota lawmakers are also considering legislation to update the state’s medical cannabis program. Bills pending in the state legislature would expand the list of qualifying conditions and allow access to edible products, among other changes. Read more
Kentucky: Sen. Steve West has introduced a medical cannabis legalization bill, Senate Bill 92. The legislation would allow practitioners to recommend medical cannabis to their patients, and would legalize the cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, sale and delivery of cannabis products in the state. Read more
Florida: Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith and Sen. Jeff Brandes have filed complementary bills to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state. Smith’s H.B. 343 would legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older, while Brandes’ S.B. 710 revises “the sales tax exemption for the sale of marijuana and marijuana delivery” for cannabis purchases. Read more
Montana: Rep. Matt Regier is drafting legislation to amend I-90, the ballot initiative voters approved in November to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state. Regier plans to introduce bills that would give more cannabis tax revenue to human services, as well as allow licensed dispensaries to advertise their products. Read more
Tennessee: Rep. London Lamar introduced legislation this week to decriminalize the possession of less than one ounce of cannabis. H.B. 413 would essentially legalize the possession and the casual exchange of up to one ounce of cannabis, as long as no transaction is taking place. Read more
Pennsylvania: Gov. Tom Wolf called for adult-use cannabis legalization in his 2021 agenda. “The revenue generated from legalization will be used to support historically disadvantaged small businesses through grant funding and provide them the assistance they need to build back from the economic crisis and strengthen our economy,” Wolf said. Read more
NIHC Meets with USDA Acting Secretary
The NIHC board chair met with the USDA acting secretary today to discuss issues facing the hemp industry.
WASHINGTON D.C., July 29, 2020 - PRESS RELEASE - National Industrial Hemp Council (NIHC) Board Chair Patrick Atagi, released the following statement after this afternoon’s NIHC meeting with the Acting USDA Secretary:
"As we continue to lead the industry as the only D.C-based hemp trade association, we felt it was important to update Acting Secretary Kevin Shea on a number of issues including consumer safety and climate-smart agriculture. After today’s meeting, we’re confident that Secretary-designee Vilsack will be fully briefed on the issues facing the hemp industry.
“We urge the U.S. Senate to swiftly confirm Secretary-designee Vilsack’s nomination.”
The National Industrial Hemp Council provides networking and resources for its members, from farm to consumer. Its leadership is composed of leading international, federal, state, private industry, and government professionals throughout the sector. The organization is dedicated to furthering market development, assisting members in entering the industry, and educating consumers on industrial hemp and its applications. For more information, please go to www.hempindustrial.com.
Extraction Explained: What Happens to In-Process Hemp Products?
As the DEA battles the hemp industry over its latest proposed rule, processors discuss how extraction works and how the rule could impact their operations.
A large-scale extraction facility in Greeley, Colo., Vantage Hemp produces a full range of CBD products for customers across the U.S. and globally.
It goes in one end, and only about 10% gets pulled out the other end.
In a nutshell, that’s the first step of the cannabinoid extraction process at vertically integrated Vantage Hemp Co., a large-scale facility in Greeley, Colo., which produces a full range of cannabidiol (CBD) products for customers across the United States and globally. The physical changes associated with hemp processing are similar elsewhere.
But as extractors ramp up operations to serve the growing hemp market, an air of uncertainty hangs around their future.
In August, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) proposed its interim final rule on hemp, which states that any material containing more than 0.3% delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on a dry-weight basis is still classified as a Schedule I substance. This has led some in the industry to interpret that the DEA may try to regulate in-process hemp extract, as delta-9 THC levels are concentrated during various stages of extraction. It has resulted in a lawsuit from Hemp Industries Association (HIA) and RE Botanicals, a South Carolina-based CBD manufacturer, which is still ongoing.
To understand the full implications of the DEA’s proposed rule, it’s important to understand the extraction process.
Extraction Basics
When a hemp plant enters an extraction facility, it contains the cell wall, proteins, fats, waxes, DNA – and, of course, all the cannabinoid compounds cannabis is known for. A few different methods can be used to extract those cannabinoids from the plant biomass. Some popular methods include extraction by solvent, olive oil, steam distillation, liquid hydrocarbon and supercritical CO2.
Vantage Hemp | vantagehemp.com
Vantage Hemp Chief Operating Officer Deepank Utkhede stays connected to the extraction process at his facility in Greeley, Colo.
The CO2 extraction is a scientifically advanced method that involves converting carbon dioxide to a liquid state under increased pressure and decreased temperature, before slowly increasing both pressure and temperature until the liquid reaches a “supercritical” point, when the CO2 is between a liquid and gaseous state.
At Vantage Hemp, the supercritical CO2 is pumped into a chamber with hemp biomass and used to extract out the cannabinoids in that first stage of the refinement process. Anything that is waxy and oily also gets pulled out of the plant to create what’s known as crude oil, a concentrate with a peanut butter-like consistency that typically contains about 50%-60% CBD. The other 90% of plant biomass gets repurposed, recycled or disposed.
From that point up until the final state of refinement, the THC levels of the intermediary hemp materials are also concentrated, meaning they are above the legal THC limit of 0.3% (on a dry-weight basis), as defined in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill).
“What you’ll see during extraction is a tenfold increase in the [cannabinoid] content,” says Deepank Utkhede, the chief operating officer at Vantage Hemp.
“So, if you’ve got 6% [CBD] in your plant, when you extract it, the crude you get out of it will be in the 50-to-60% [range] – so, almost a tenfold increase in that concentration,” he says. “You see the same in THC, because they both have very similar extraction properties. So, it goes from 0.3% to suddenly you’re at 1%-2%, and now you’re non-compliant.”
While THC levels are concentrated in crude, that’s only an intermediary hemp material and is not the final product Vantage Hemp or other extractors are aiming to distribute to consumers.
The next stages of refinement at Vantage Hemp are all purification steps that produce increased concentrations of CBD. Winterization is a multi-step process whereby fats, lipids and waxes are removed by dissolving them with an alcohol followed by cooling to cause them to precipitate out of the solution. The alcohol is then removed through an evaporation process to create what’s known as full-spectrum oil (FSO), which contains about 60%-70% CBD. The FSO then goes through a short-path distillation system that removes additional impurities while still leaving minor traces of beneficial terpenes (aromatic compounds found in many plants) to create a distillate with a potency of about 75%-80% CBD.
Full-spectrum oil and distillate do hold medicinal value, but they too are intermediary hemp material with increased amounts of THC, roughly 2% and 3%, respectively, during Vantage Hemp’s extraction process, Utkhede says. The percentages during those stages of extraction can vary slightly depending on the amount of THC in the original biomass.
“If you want to have a saleable product that’s either the full-spectrum oil or the distillate, you have to go through what’s known as a remediation step,” Utkhede says. “It’s a THC remediation step, where you actively remove THC from those [materials] through chromatography or some sort of chemical reaction but still have all the other cannabinoids present.”
In the final purification step at Vantage Hemp, the distillate goes through a crystallization process where it’s dissolved in another solvent, which is then cooled to cause selective crystallization of CBD and creates an isolate that is greater than 99.5% CBD. In its purest form, the crystallized CBD isolate is a white powder that’s absent of nearly all smell. When it leaves Vantage Hemp, or other extraction facilities, to become a saleable product, CBD isolate is compliant by the legal THC parameters defined in the 2018 Farm Bill.
“We’d have problems if we were selling our product at each step of the way without remediation,” says Dr. Daniel Chinnapen, Ph.D., the chief scientific officer at Vantage Hemp.
Vantage Hemp | vantagehemp.com
Vantage Hemp Chief Scientific Officer Daniel Chinnapen, Ph.D., stays on top of the scientifically advanced CO2 extraction method that involves converting carbon dioxide to a liquid state under increased pressure and decreased temperature.
“There’s no way to make [crystalized] CBD without going through and having concentrated THC,” he says. “And, really, that’s a percentage thing. It’s not a total amount. So, you could take this one compound or one product that is legal—let’s say it’s below 0.3% [THC]—and you take that same compound and, along the way, just because it’s concentrated, it all of a sudden becomes illegal. Although it has the same THC amount in there, the relative percent is higher. So, it still doesn’t make any sense. It’s just not practical.”
In other words, the extraction process does not create more THC but rather concentrated amounts in either waste hemp material (WHM), such as the byproduct from a solvent that gets pulled out and disposed of, or intermediary hemp material (IHM), which includes unfinished byproducts like crude, full-spectrum oil and distillate that haven’t had THC remediated.
HIA’s lawsuit alleges that the DEA is misinterpreting the 2018 Farm Bill in its attempt to regulate those extraction byproducts. The plaintiffs argue that Congress deliberately removed such commercial hemp activity from the DEA’s jurisdiction when lawmakers legalized hemp production, including hemp processing, with the 2018 Farm Bill.
EcoGen | ecogenbiosciences.com
Jason Waggoner
Jason Waggoner, the vice president and general manager of Grand Junction, Colo.-based EcoGen Biosciences, a leading vertically integrated wholesale CBD manufacturer and supplier of hemp-derived ingredients in the U.S., says his extractors operate within the spirit of the 2018 Farm Bill, so he doesn’t stay up at night worrying about the regulatory bounds, since WHM and IHM are necessary byproducts of hemp processing.
“In my heart, I just don’t believe that the DEA is actively pursuing folks that are operating inside the regulations,” he says. “I don’t believe as well that we should expect that the DEA is going to do anything other than restate the law. But that is not directed at good operators and fair operators.”
The reason the DEA maintains its party line is because, in some cases, there are “bad operators” and folks who are operating outside the bounds of the law, Waggoner says.
“For that reason, we should never probably expect that they’re going to say anything other than what the legal guidelines are,” he says. “But I don’t believe that they’re out to get me or anyone else in the hemp industry who is behaving in a manner faithful to their regulations. I think they’ve got too much to do than worry about me.”
EcoGen | ecogenbiosciences.com
An end-to-end hemp operation, EcoGen owns 400 acres of farm.
In addition to extraction, EcoGen runs an end-to-end hemp operation that includes company-owned genetics on catalog, roughly 400 acres of farm, a greenhouse and manufacturing.
While the physical changes associated with crude, FSO, distillate and isolate are ubiquitous as they relate to processing hemp, EcoGen uses propriety extraction and post-extraction processing equipment that is manufactured in house, Waggoner says.
“We don’t use isolate reactors,” he says. “Instead, we use a different process that crystallizes and cleans the isolate, which gets it to a very pure content with no residual solvent … that is unique in the industry.”
While extraction methods vary from extractor to extractor, Waggoner says he thinks about the waste and intermediary hemp materials in a similar fashion to that of alcohol distilleries. For example, when beer manufacturers distill their hops, they’re left with byproducts that are not extracted, such as the organic plant material, which then have to be treated and disposed of properly.
“I’m not an alcohol distiller myself,” Waggoner says. “However, I do know that … as an example, grain alcohols are created regardless of the spirit that you’re creating. And those are not how, for example, a bourbon or a vodka or a gin are sold right there. [They’re] intermediary steps that ultimately get to a finished product at the end through additional chemical conversion, dilutions, distillations – those types of things that allow for us to get to a legally sellable product that goes into the chain of commerce.”
In hemp extraction, WHM and IHM byproducts never leave EcoGen’s tracking inventory, Waggoner says.
Waste Streams
While the 0.3% THC threshold that differentiates between what is considered industrial hemp and marijuana applies to what’s growing in the field from an agricultural standpoint, that allowable limit should not apply to the in-process extraction, says Joy Beckerman, principal of Hemp Ace International, which provides professional hemp consulting, legal support and expert services.
But when it comes to finished extraction products like CBD isolate, or even CBD oil and CBD distillate that have undergone THC remediation, the legal limit of 0.3% THC should remain as is, Beckerman says. Mathematically, that translates to 3,000 parts per million (ppm) of THC.
“That’s a lot,” she says. “In Canada, it is 10 parts per million is what is allowed … to be a legal hemp product. If you have more than 10 ppm THC in your finished hemp product, you [have] a marijuana product.”
If the legal limit for hemp were increased to 1% THC, the concentration threshold for cannabis to have a psychotropic effect, according to the Congressional Research Service’s (CRS) 2019 fact sheet, then finished products would be allowed to have 10,000 ppm, which would jeopardize the extract industry because consumers seeking the non-psychoactive benefits of CBD could experience the intoxicating potential of THC, Beckerman says.
Regardless, extractors would still go through the same channels of processing hemp and still have the same waste streams, Utkhede says.
“Really no part of our waste stream should go into a landfill,” he says. “We should be able to find a home for everything.”
Vantage Hemp | vantagehemp.com
Vantage Hemp executives try to ensure little to no part of their company's waste stream goes to a landfill.
To support research and development, Vantage Hemp signs agreements that allow people to pick up the company’s waste stream for free, whether it’s used biomass that was separated from cannabinoids during the first stage of extraction, or fats and lipids that were pulled out and separated from cannabinoids during winterization. The used biomass could be repurposed as bedding (hemp stalks) or feed (hemp leaves and seeds) for animals that are not for human consumption, while waste fats and lipids could be turned into products like soap, lotion, or even snowboard and ski wax.
Once there’s a commercial use for materials from Vantage Hemp’s waste stream, then company executives sit down and negotiate a supply agreement where people have to pay for the raw materials that they had been getting for free.
“What that allows us to do is basically support the development of new businesses, new entrepreneurs who want to look at new ways to use hemp and the byproducts of our extraction process,” Utkhede says. “But it also allows for the complete use of the plant.”
Legislative Map
Cannabis Business Times’ interactive legislative map is another tool to help cultivators quickly navigate state cannabis laws and find news relevant to their markets. View More