One attendee at the Rocky Mountain Industrial Hemp Summit Saturday in Longmont, Colorado asked if the hemp fiber industry had developed standards and specifications yet.  “None to my knowledge”, answered Corbett Hefner, a principal at Formation Ag, the company that manufactures the Fiber Track 660 decorticator that we’ve discussed routinely in the Hemp Bulletin.  

We agree with Corbett wholeheartedly that there are no overarching specifications adopted by emerging hemp fiber operators, but some characteristics are universal to commodity crops.  This includes moisture content, so that material remains stable, and doesn’t fluctuate enough to manipulate pricing via water content.  

Baled hurd for animal bedding is also consistent, with 33-pound compressed bags being the most common form factor, and an appropriate scale for farmstead or small-scale startups.  The animal bedding…