Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) for grain and fiber is an annual crop suitable for Zones 4-9, grown for seed/oil and bast fiber from the stalk. Requires well-drained loamy soils, moderate precipitation, and 100+ frost-free days; dual-purpose varieties common.
Crop Snowflake Score
/acre
/acre
/acre
years
Overview
Growing Season
- Plant
- May to early June (after frost risk) – May to early June (after frost risk)
- Harvest
- Fiber: Aug-Sep; Grain: Sep-Oct – Fiber: Aug-Sep; Grain: Sep-Oct
- Frost-free days
- 100+
Yield
- Typical yield
- 3.97 tons or lb/acre
- Productive lifespan
- 1 years
Market Fit
Active Regional Buyers
2 active buyers on record purchasing this crop.
Price Trend Stable/Up
3-year price trend recorded as "stable".
Supply Below Demand
Priced on national fibre markets where supply is well established, leaving little regional headroom regardless of local channel strength (1 of 4 channels rate "strong").
Multiple Buyer Channels
1 of 4 documented market channels rate viable or better (wholesale). Thin — dependent on few outlets.
Value-Added Potential
0 viable direct-market channels. Limited direct-market routes; value chiefly captured at wholesale.
Market Growth Projected
Mature fibre market; growth over a 5-year horizon is expected to track population rather than outpace it.
Market Channels
Climate Fit
Hardiness Zone Match
Crop tolerates zones 4-9; region spans 5-6. Overlaps.
GDD Sufficient
Crop needs 100 GDD (base 50F); region accumulates 2500+. Sufficient.
Precipitation Compatible
Crop needs ~20 in; region receives ~38 in/yr. Compatible, irrigation available as supplement.
Frost-Free Season OK
Crop needs 100 frost-free days; region provides ~180. Sufficient.
Chill Hours Met
Not applicable — annual crop has no winter chill requirement.
Climate Trend Favorable
Crop spans 6 hardiness zones (4-9). Wide adaptive range buffers against warming trend.
Fit by region
The farm matcher, run on each region's cited climate normals. Soil and site are not included here; add your own on the match page.
Limited by high-severity risks. 5 criteria evaluated, 1 not yet researched; 100% cited.
Limited by high-severity risks. 5 criteria evaluated, 1 not yet researched; 100% cited.
Limited by high-severity risks. 5 criteria evaluated, 1 not yet researched; 100% cited.
Climate envelope & site
What the farm matcher compares your conditions against.
Climate envelope
- Hardiness zone
- n/a
- Frost-free season
- 100+ days
- Heat (GDD base 50°F)
- not yet recorded
- Winter chill
- n/a
- Rainfall
- 23.6–157.5 in/yr
Below the minimum, irrigation is needed; above the maximum the crop fails.
- Soil pH target
- 6.0–7.0
Extension lime target; within 1.0 of it is correctable.
Site & structure
- Spring frost at bloom
- n/a
- Needs cold-air drainage
- n/a
- Shade tolerance
- none — full sun
- Mature height
- not yet recorded
- Rooting depth
- not yet recorded
- Wind exposure tolerance
- not yet recorded
- Workable slope
- not yet recorded
Height, rooting depth and shade tolerance are the inputs an alley or guild layout needs.
Soil Compatibility
Soil Texture
Drainage
Infrastructure Fit
Equipment Compatible
1 of 8 documented equipment items are crop-specific (13%) against a catalog median of 29%. Most needs are met by general row-crop or orchard equipment.
Storage Available
4 documented storage routes; at least one (Ambient dry storage (grain)) is reachable with conventional on-farm or third-party facilities.
Irrigation Compatible
Requires ~20 in. Deliverable with conventional drip or overhead irrigation.
Field Layout Suitable
Fibre crops need large contiguous acreage to be economic; the region's parcels are typically small and fragmented by topography.
Labor Availability
Labor requirement not recorded. Catalog 75th percentile is 250 hr/ac.
Processing Proximity
2 processor/cooperative buyers on record for this crop.
Equipment Requirements
harvesting
Turns cut fibre stalks during field retting to achieve even fibre separation.
Windrows retted stalks ahead of baling.
Bales retted fibre for transport to a decorticator.
Most grain varieties can be harvested with typical combines familiar to US farmers. Fibre wrapping in the header becomes a serious problem when harvest is delayed.
Fibre hemp requires specialty equipment; the market for machinery able to handle the crop height is limited.
cultivation
Primary tillage for fibre-oriented production systems.
planting
Rutgers and UVM both note standard grain drills are suitable for establishing hemp.
post_harvest
Hemp grain comes off at high moisture and deteriorates quickly; prompt drying is required to preserve oil quality.
Storage Requirements
Ambient dry storage (grain)
Temperature
40–60°F
Humidity
50–65%
Max Storage
365 days
Cold storage (hulled/dehulled grain)
Temperature
32–40°F
Humidity
50–60%
Max Storage
365 days
Frozen (hemp oil/kernel)
Temperature
-10–0°F
Max Storage
730 days
Baled fiber (dry storage)
Temperature
32–90°F
Humidity
?–65%
Max Storage
1095 days
Financial Return
Revenue Above Average
Gross revenue $794/ac vs catalog median $6,000/ac. Below median.
Input Costs Acceptable
Annual operating cost $390/ac vs catalog 75th percentile $6,300/ac. Within typical range.
Payback Period OK
Reaches full production in 0 years. Acceptable payback.
Insurance Available
Federal crop insurance or an equivalent risk product is available.
Revenue Per Labor Hour
Cannot compute — labor hours not recorded. Catalog median is $13.16/hr.
Grants/Subsidies
No specialty-crop or cover-crop incentive program identified for this fibre crop.
Economics Breakdown
| Avg Price/Unit | $0/$/lb |
| Gross Revenue/Acre | $794 |
| Annual Operating Cost | $390/acre |
| Establishment Cost | $546/acre |
| Total Input Cost | —/acre |
| Net Return/Acre | $248 |
| Revenue/Labor Hour | — |
| Crop Insurance | Available |
Source: Cornell Cooperative Extension, Penn State Extension, USDA RMA, regional budget studies (2025)
Risk Profile
Manageable Pest/Disease
5 of 8 documented risks are high-severity (63%) against a catalog median of 36%. Above-median concentration of high-severity risk, demanding intensive management.
Market Diversified
1 viable market channel of 4 documented, plus 2 named buyers. Concentrated — losing one outlet would strand the crop.
Low Establishment Risk
0 years to full production at $546/ac establishment cost. Low establishment exposure.
Climate Resilient
Tolerates zones 4-9 (6 zones). Broad tolerance indicates resilience to seasonal variability.
Regulatory Burden Low
Subject to federal and state licensing, THC testing and reporting requirements — materially higher compliance burden.
Diversifies Portfolio
Adds a fibre revenue stream distinct from the region's grape-dominated base.
Known Risks
pest
Reported hemp pest; feeding on leaves and developing seed heads, with pressure highest in dry seasons and along field margins.
Reported to cause damage across North America. Larvae tunnel stalks, weakening them and creating entry points for stalk rots.
Reported defoliator of hemp in North America; damage concentrates in outbreak years and can be rapid.
regulatory
Rutgers states plainly that no pesticide materials are currently registered for use on hemp. Growers therefore have essentially no chemical rescue treatment for any of the pests and diseases above.
Production requires state licensing with mandatory pre-harvest THC testing. A crop testing above the statutory threshold must be destroyed regardless of agronomic quality or contracted value.
disease
Reported to infect and impact industrial hemp. Attacks dense inflorescences and stems in humid conditions, and can collapse a grain crop close to harvest.
Sclerotinia infects hemp and persists in soil as sclerotia for years, constraining rotation with other susceptible hosts such as soybean, canola and sunflower.
market
Fibre in particular depends on decortication capacity that remains thin in the Northeast. Without a processor in economic haul distance the crop has no route to market.
Nutritional Yield
Nutrition data pending.
Research agents will profile Hemp (Grain/Fiber) against USDA FoodData Central on the next maintenance pass. Per-acre nutritional yield will appear here once the per-100g panel is recorded.
Ecosystem Services
Pest suppression
- Dense canopy weed suppressionhigh
Fibre-density hemp closes canopy rapidly and shades out most annual weeds, which is why the crop is typically grown without herbicides — significant given that no pesticides are registered for hemp at all.
Applies when: Requires fibre-density seeding rates; widely spaced grain plantings do not close canopy the same way.Evidence: Extension guidance·Confidence: high
Carbon sequestration
- High biomass accumulationmoderate
Rapid accumulation of above-ground biomass in a single season. Durable sequestration depends on the end use — fibre in long-lived building materials retains carbon, whereas combustion or short-cycle products do not.
Applies when: Only where fibre enters durable products such as hempcrete or board.Evidence: Modeled estimate·Confidence: low
Soil health
- Deep taproot and soil structuremoderate
Hemp develops a vigorous taproot that penetrates compacted layers, improving structure and water movement for the following crop in the rotation.
Applies when: Effect is on the following crop; benefit realised in rotation rather than in the hemp year.Evidence: Extension guidance·Confidence: medium
Nutrient cycling
- Retted residue returnmoderate
Field retting leaves leaf and fine-stem material on the surface, returning nutrients taken up during the season rather than exporting the whole plant.
Applies when: Applies to field-retted fibre systems, not whole-plant removal.Evidence: Extension guidance·Confidence: medium
Cultivars
Named varieties and what the sources say sets each apart. A cultivar-specific zone, chill or maturity figure overrides the species value above.
No cultivars recorded yet for this crop.
Grows With / Avoid Near
Documented interactions with other catalog crops — shared pests, allelopathy, rotation effects, alley and understory pairings — for companion, guild and rotation planning. Plan a combination with Hemp (Grain/Fiber) →
Avoid near, or plan around (15)
Direction matters: a rotation benefit of A before B says nothing about B before A. Interactions are documented pairs only; absence is a research gap, not a clean bill.
Nearby Buyers
Data Sources
Every data point on this page is traceable to its source. Below you'll find the complete provenance trail — which sources were used, when data was last verified, and a full change history.
Primary sources: Data sourced from Cornell Cooperative Extension, Penn State Extension, USDA resources, and regional research.
Economics data year: 2025 · Basis: lake erie
50 tracked changes across 6 data categories