It will do corn stalks but this stuff acts much tougher. 

Funny you should say that about cutting it with a metal head weed eater.  We were joking that cutting it by hand might be the only solution yesterday.  I see you are from Kentucky and know there are many trying out hemp, so I imagine you are dead right.   I have heard that some are handling it like tobacco which is very manual.

The real problem is that due to the crop failure, but extreme regulation, they have to ship it for inspection as I understand it.  Silage chopper sounds like a good idea.  I thought about a wood chipper too. :-)

This year was supposed to be the trial year here in Indiana.  So, next year can be more outdoor growing and higher volume.  I guess there is a possibility that this field has a higher THC content than is allowable due to the seed mixup, hence ship it for testing.  It has turned into a nightmare to say the least.

I have to make up my mind by tomorrow on whether I want to try and bale it.  Appreciate your insight.

I don't have time to get a New Holland chain baler but maybe next year that might be a good idea. 

I do like the bush hog idea of taking off the side shield and making the wind row.  The bush hog I have does not come off.  Is that something that you have done or seen done by someone else?  What bush hog model would work best.

I worry that this stuff will get wrapped around the bush hog blade too.

Thanks.

PaulB,  You are right it isn't my problem other than I agreed to help my buddy out and the land owner allows me to bale a bunch of hay.  So, I am probably going to walk away this year.  However, I am thinking about applying for a permit and jumping into this hemp business.  Learning from the mistakes of others and getting a game plan is what's on my mind now.  Corn and soybeans have been worthless for me these past two years. 

It appears we have a problem here in central Indiana in that we have no processing plants very close to us.  Hence, we have to bale it.  Apparently, my buddy got involved with Sunstrand out of Louisville, KY on this contract but they want their contracts within 100 mile radius.  We are just outside of that.  If we get a processing plant, then the dump trucks would be a good idea.

That machine looks really nice that you built.  I need to find out more about that if I jump into the hemp business.  I assume this separates the seeds?  Did you build this for yourself to use?

Second pass is in 1st low on the PD with cutter down for 6" cut and she will bark grinding everything up.

Does the hemp have to be chopped up and left on the ground, or crop removed from field?

Maybe call some hippie co-ops, see if they'll smoke it, er, take it.

Everybody has went big with hemp around here this year, looks like most may wind up loosing big. Lots of people had contracts and the contracts fell though, and are having trouble finding somebody to buy it. This spring, all the talk was $40K per acre, now most people are hoping they can at least break even. My personal thought is it's a fad and the supply is more than the demand. Everybody thought they would get rich raising it, but lets face it, they will pay the farmer just enough to keep him raising it, no more. That's the way it's always been, you ain't going to get rich farming.

With any new industry there are going to ups and downs and a steep learning curve.Hemp was a good crop in the USA before the gov't stupidly outlawed it because of the Pot Psychosis thing.Hemp has a lot of very good potential uses,I use Hemp oil on my knees has really helped them to not hurt all the time.I've read its fibers are softer than cotton.

Maybe JD and Kubota can start making their tractor hoods out of hemp,won't break like the plastic they use now and can be ground up when the electronics go completely haywire and tractor is junked(LOL)

Really appreciate all of the replies!  I was busy last night and didn't get a chance to keep up  with the posts.  I really appreciate all of the info from CabinHollow.  Lot of good ideas to pursue on equipment too.  Allisrutledge, do let me know if you see anyone baling it and what they use.  It got too wet yesterday to do anything, so it is still out there.  The fact that the stuff is still in the field down south, like this stuff, makes me think it is trash this late in the season.  I didn't attend the meetings either, but I am wondering if it isn't worth trying 5 acres for the big dollar CBD oil.  I made nothing, not including my time on soybeans for 5 acres this year and looks tough for years to come so whats the harm? 

This stuff that I am dealing with was targeted at the fiber market.  It appears that the CBD oil harvesting is very tricky.  The window and the ability to snag the perfect seed can't wait on hand harvesting.  Figuring out how to harvest the fiber stuff might be a niche on custom baling as long as the equipment doesn't get torn up.  I will let everyone know what happens on this stuff.  Indiana is very new to this crop so a bunch of people are scratching their heads.  I don't think we are going to go down the silage/wood chipper route, but who knows.  Laughed at the use of hemp for hoods and grinding up of electronics. :-)  Will check into hippie coops too.  :-)  Funny thing is I have seed all over the barn lot where I cleaned off the mower.  If it grows, I would be considered to be illegal.

I think there is money in it, but you have to be in control of the variables and probably be an early successful adopter.  Of course, no one can control the weather which may be one of the reasons the hemp fields are crap this year.

The Rotary Scythe will cut anything I have tried to cut.  Even does a good job on small trees and buck brush.

I bet it would cut hemp.

I'll 2nd that on the MC Rotary Scythe it will cut anything,actually have 2 one that sits out to the side like a haybind and one that follows directly behind the tractor.

Thanks Willops.  If they grow it in heals, they were probably focused on the higher grade CBD stuff and not fiber.  Fiber goes in rows, I believe.  It most likely was a failure due to poor weather as here in Indiana.  Same 30 days, no rain.  If it was barely knee high it was not good hemp.  They are simply trying to salvage something and using some desperate techniques to do that.  Just as we are.  Let me know if you ever get into a conversation with them about what appears to be a fiasco and what worked.  Curious why they are not using a silage chopper?  If they wanted to borrow a sickle mower, they must not have had that in their long term plan.  Probably going to hand cut and now it is worthless to do that.

Perils of farming are everywhere.  I am trying to get a game plan for next year.

Cabinhollow, agreed.  No one has much experience with this stuff.  The stuff we are dealing with was planted like wheat but with wider spacing.  I am going to find someone over the winter that can explain this stuff to me.  If I decide to go after this market, I will contact you about your hemp stripper assuming you would build another one.  I watched the video and it looked good.  I still don't know what we are going to do up here about harvesting this stuff.

By the way, I looked at your other products and do you make AC Tractor metal signs?  I didn't see any.  Love to have a 190xt version of what you make.

If jd made the hoods outta hemp, at least you could get a lil buzz, as the tractor burns...

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That's all good information.  Appreciate any and all insight.  I believe this baling job is a sour contract situation as well.  Not big enough to lose any real money.  There could be a lawsuit too.  I am just a bystander for now.  The crazy part to this story is that the license holder is a single mom, who knows nothing about farming or own any land! 

Despite all of the bad, I still think the opportunity might be in either figuring out how to help these hemp pioneers harvest the plants or in actually raising the product.  I am thinking of getting a handler license at a minimum and figure out how to harvest it.  I now know of three test plots around me and all are struggling to harvest.  Funny thing is old farm equipment seems to be the best equipment.  I got plenty of old equipment.

I am leaning towards the small 5 acre patch for cbd oil and skip the fiber stuff.  I think cabinhollow may be right about the small operator making money even though highly manual.  They don't have a big investment and reduce their financial exposure.  It sounds just as manual as making small square hay bales.  Looks like some hemp growers actually direct market the cbd oil although that looks like a big investment.  I will probably wait a year on growing it and see how another year of growing and harvesting  plays out around here.

Indiana is late to the game but they may have learned something.  Indiana claims that you need to submit a marketing plan, contract sources and contracts for the seed acquisition before you get the license.

Cabinhollow, I will PM you after I get a picture of my 190XT for you to make some metal art.  You can give me a price then too.  Thanks.

Kiwi,

Are they struggling like us, or do they have the growing, harvesting and selling processes all figured out?  I read that China has this market previously cornered because the United States qualified it as a drug and no one could grow it for many, many years.  Did it get deregulated in New Zealand or just no one wanted to do it until the hype arrived?

What kind of AC tractors do you have down there?

Update on the hemp baling.  Sickle bar mower cut it down just great.  Laid it right down without shaking the tops much. 

I was busy, so another guy took his IH Round Baler over to bale the entire plant without chopping first.  One bale was produced and then it clogged up tight.  Glad I didn't try it. 

Just as predicted from my southern AC friends, you can't bale hemp fiber until it gets chopped.  You may still not want to bale it after it gets chopped either.  From central Indiana, baling is about the only way we can economically transport the hemp fiber to Kentucky for processing.  I know there is a time limit on processing so not sure that can be met.

So, it is now sitting in the field, laying on the ground.  I can't imagine that will be good for the plants, but we aren't sure it is worth anything or worth the time to hand harvest.

Not sure where this goes from here.

Every failure has opportunity.  Better to be watching the first failure from a computer screen than from the field, that's for sure. 

As crazy as it sounds, I still may try it.   The only thing that worked for me this year is hay.  My beans were a loss.

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. :-)

A friend of mine grew a half acre of hemp last year at his orchard in western Colorado, he sold it through another friend on this side of the mountains.  Got a check for $30,000. figures he had $10,000 in growing and harvesting (hand cut).  So he was quite happy with $20,000 profit and decided to grow a full acre this year.  Only talked to him once this fall and he didn't brag about how much he made so don't know if he did as well this year or not.

The guy my friend sold the stuff to, also a friend, is a BTO with about 170 acres of hemp, along with around a thousand acres of grain, hay and veggies.  He chopped the hemp with a big JD self propelled chopper into a brand new Western Star tandem axle truck with a manure spreader box with double doors on the back.  Told me the truck was a tax write off from the hemp business.  I don't think he did nearly as well this year as last.