Georgia’s hemp crop is beginning to flower and could be ready for harvest starting in a little more than a month, says Tim Coolong, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension specialist.
“I’ve got trials that started flowering about (2 weeks) ago on some of the early material. We’re seeing that around the state. I suspect we’re going to continue to see more of that,” Coolong said.
Hemp harvest in Georgia should commence around late September or early October.
Coolong said the crop is doing well despite the hot and humid temperatures this summer.
“Right now, the crop overall, we’ve got some disease here and there, but I would say overall it’s looking okay,” Coolong said. “I was in some fields in South Georgia actually and the plants were 7 and 8 feet tall. They looked really good. And the stuff we have up here (north Georgia), even though it’s not quite as hot as south Georgia, it’s still pretty warm; the stuff here is growing pretty well, too.”
Coolong estimates between 300 and 400 acres were planted this year with 108 licenses issued by the Georgia Department of Agriculture. Some of those, though, may be processors and others may be farmers who decided not to plant.
“While we do have some bigger growers, particularly in South Georgia, a lot of them are pretty small,” Coolong said.