Got questions about hemp? This conference just over the Oregon border is for you.
Hemp production might not be legal in Idaho yet, but Boise-area farmers eyeing the prospective cash crop can learn the do’s and don’ts just across the Oregon border.
The Treasure Valley Hemp Conference scheduled for Feb. 21-22 at the Four Rivers Cultural Center in Ontario, Oregon, aims to help farmers in both states learn about the possibilities for hemp production — so long as Idaho lawmakers pass a law this session legalizing it.
Organizers are billing the event as the Treasure Valley’s first hemp farming education seminar.
“There’s lots of interest on both the Idaho and Oregon side,” said Clint Shock, an Oregon farmer and one of the organizers. “We have 25 growers on the Oregon side already. We have people who are growing the crop and people have encountered quite a few difficulties.”
Idaho is one of only three states — along with South Dakota and Mississippi — that does not allow the cultivation of hemp, despite the federal government making it legal to grow industrial hemp.
This means Idaho is one of the last states to not conform with the 2018 farm bill signed by President Trump, which approved the cultivation and sale of hemp on a federal level.
Shock is the former director of the Oregon State University Malheur Experiment Station, which researches farming practices. He said confusion over how U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations for hemp interact with a wide variety of state laws is just one problem for interested farmers.
Many growers who expected a quick cash payout from hemp were hampered by steep startup costs, seed quality issues and not a lot of standard industry practice to fall back on.
“We just really encourage people to come out because there are a lot of really expensive mistakes to make,” Shock said.
Topics at the seminar will include field selection, seed preparation, pest management, rule compliance, irrigation, best harvest practices and more.
Registration for the conference costs $200. The conference also will feature a free health seminar for anyone in the public interested in learning about the health benefits of hemp and CBD.
Matt Jantz of Global CBD, who is helping promote the conference, said they selected Ontario because they hope to attract Idaho farmers and entrepreneurs while drawing on the local expertise of Oregon farmers already successfully growing and marketing hemp.
“Boise or Caldwell would be more of a centralized location,” Jantz said. “But because hemp is not officially legal in Idaho, it doesn’t seem like the best place to have it.”
Registration information and applications for vendors, volunteers and sponsors can be found online at www.treasurevalleyhempconference.com.
