University of Arizona 2020 CBD Hemp Variety Trial

The 2018 U.S. Farm bill legalized cultivation of industrial hemp in the United States, delegating regulation and enforcement to the individual states (USDA-AMS, 2021). In the state of Arizona, the Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) issues licenses and regulates the production and processing of industrial hemp, maintaining records of every planting in the state (AZDA, 2021). The first year growing permits were issued to the public was in 2019 and 5,430 acres of hemp were planted in the state the same year. Statewide, only 72% of planting acres were inspected by the AZDA at harvest (AZDA, 2020), indicating a high rate of crop termination before inspection. Of the inspected acres, 25% produced psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels, in excess of legal compliance limits, resulting in mandatory crop destruction of 20% of inspected acres. In total, the hemp growers of Arizona suffered a 42% crop loss at the end of the 2019 season. It is the purpose of this paper to grow different varieties of CBD hemp, purchased from different seed companies, in the arid desert southwest climate of Arizona, with particular emphasis on evaluating varietal differences in the production systems of Yuma County, Arizona.