From dealing with wildfires and smoke in Central Oregon, to anticipating labor needs and logistics coordination, a lot of planning has gone into this year’s harvest. Everyone is putting in long days as we bring in the 2020 harvest. In addition to being our first Certified Organic crop, this is the first season where we will have all harvest operations in one place.
Preparing to harvest
Boosting the harvest by culling male plants
Heading into harvest, our crew was out looking for male plants and any other unwanted pollen donors. Culling the male plants prevents them from pollinating female plants which, when fertilized, start to create seeds. A fertilized female diverts roughly half of its energy from producing beautiful flowers to producing seeds instead, which don’t have any cannabinoids. This can result in a less potent harvest if we don’t stay on top of those male plants like the one here. Jorge and the team are coming to find it and remove it from the field.
The path to organic
We’re in the process of harvesting our first crop of 120 acres of Certified Organic hemp at the Three Springs Farm. This is the first step in a process that will make us more sustainable, and a huge moment for the company. Congrats to Zack, our on-staff agronomist, who led the certification process, working closely with Oregon Tilth. By next year our entire hemp crop will be Certified Organic. We’re also making progress toward certifying our products and facility as organic and will have more updates on that soon.
Harvest is on
With the help of our new John Deere Harvester, we’re well into this year’s hemp harvest in Central Oregon. Fast Eddie and Hunter are bringing another trailer load of hemp out of the field. This season is shaping up to be the best quality harvest of the last three seasons. We’re stoked!
Crew members Noe, Franklin and Arnold prep the bins for the upcoming harvest.
Next stop the new hemp storage barn
In the past, we’ve tried processing plant material in the field, as well as inside a rented barn. Those experiments led us to build our very own new hemp storage barn. Construction finished just in time for harvest. Now, we can control the storage environment better and optimize for ideal conditions. After that, we transfer the plant material to the newly constructed lab facility next door where the cannabinoids will be extracted. Having everything in one place is more sustainable and efficient.
Casey is stoked with this seasons' hemp quality. Thus far, it looks like the best we've brought in over the last three seasons!
Today’s harvest will be the products you know and love tomorrow
We grow our own organic hemp so we can make high quality CBD products that help people get the most out of life. Our mission, since 2014, is to make CBD that’s effective, affordable and accessible to all.