The maturation of hemp markets will take considerable time, and real, meaningful progress – particularly with hemp fiber – will be measured in a 5- or 10-year time horizon, rather than 1 or 2.  That said, the markets are evolving at a meteoric pace, but highly fractured, and absent the standards and specifications needed to facilitate transactions.  The result is stifled trade and wide ranges for hemp prices.  

Hemp biomass does not lend itself to commoditization in current markets.  Standards are being shaped by markets, but specifications for hemp biomass are all over the board and getting more complex with minor cannabinoids gaining in popularity.   As markets develop, and mass production is required to supply products like beverages, buyers will settle on specifications that are very different from the craft extractor. This is good news for the craft extractor, which…