Madison, Wisconsin, USA
July 26, 2023
Farmers growing industrial hemp – and those interested in doing so – are invited to attend the upcoming University of Wisconsin–Madison Hemp Research Field Day on Thursday, Aug. 17, held at the Arlington Agricultural Research Station. This free event runs from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and features presentations on the latest topics in hemp research. Please register online before the event at https://go.wisc.edu/hempfieldday.
Hemp is a versatile crop that is utilized in multiple ways. Its strong fibers are used in textiles, ropes, and building materials and its nutrient-rich grain can be used in food products and oil. Hemp also contains naturally occurring compounds called cannabinoids that show promise in health applications. Research in these aspects and more will be explored at the UW Hemp Research Field Day.
Breakfast will be available starting at 8:45 a.m., featuring coffee and donuts provided by BATCH CBD, a Wisconsin-based CBD company. Presentations begin at 9:00 a.m. and will be given in a “speed run” format – with each talk taking around 10 minutes, followed by five minutes of Q&A. Attendees will be shuttled to presentations and research trials around the research station.
Speakers include UW–Madison faculty and staff and UW–Madison Extension personnel and will cover topics such as hemp cultivars, industrial grain and fiber hemp variety trials, high cannabinoid hemp variety trials, hemp germplasm, companion cropping systems, feasibility of hemp as forage, and much more.
In this ca. 1944 photo, Rupert Rasmussen, host of the WHA radio program “On the Spot,” interviews three men at a hemp mill in DeForest, Wisconsin. Image #S07718 shared courtesy of UW–Madison Archives.
Earlier this summer, UW–Madison launched a year-long celebration of the 175th anniversary of the university’s founding (175.wisc.edu). In honor of this important occasion, CALS is recognizing past achievements in addition to current and future innovations. The university, for instance, has a long history of hemp research.
As described in a 1918 UW Ag Experiment Station bulletin, “The Agronomy Department of the Wisconsin Experiment Station in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture began breeding experiments with hemp in 1912… Since 1916 work with selecting and improving hemp has been materially increased.” In the 1970s, it became illegal to grow industrial hemp. When that changed in 2017, UW established a new program to serve the state’s hemp growers.
The Arlington Agricultural Research Station is located off Hwy 51 at N695 Hopkins Road near Arlington, Wisconsin. The 2,000-acre station is composed of 12 crop and livestock units and supports almost all disciplines in the UW–Madison College of Agricultural of Life Sciences.
The Hemp Research Field Day is hosted by the Ellison Lab in the UW–Madison’s new Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences. For more information, contact Ellison Lab research program manager Phillip Alberti at palberti@wisc.edu.
The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences will make a reasonable effort to provide accommodations for participants with disabilities when notified in advance. Request a disability accommodation when registering online. Efforts will be made to meet same day requests to the extent possible.
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