Understanding The Smokable Hemp Flower Market
Inside this Article:
- Smokable Hemp: A New Entry Into The Growing Hemp Flower Market
- We Don't Grow The Same - Organic Buds Matter
Smokable Hemp: A New Entry Into The Growing Hemp Flower Market
For many hemp farmers, the 2020 grow season added heartache to an already grim pandemic year. Excess biomass from 2019 left deteriorating in storage drove wholesale prices to new lows. But the year’s end yielded a bright spot in one market segment: smokable hemp flower. Since we are one of the first hemp flower farms in America, we thought we should chime in.
Some states have banned it, while others have embraced it. Some chose not to take sides, instead looking the other way. But for hemp farmers and consumers, craft hemp flower and smokable hemp popularity keeps growing.
Smokable Hemp Flower Benefits
Much of the opposition to smokable hemp flower is because of the difficulty it gives law enforcement. There's no ability to easily distinguish federally legal hemp flower with low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content from higher-THC cannabis. Obviously, this poses problems for officers who have to sort out legal hemp from illegal marijuana - especially since they come from the same plant and look exactly the same. There's no way to tell, without a lab test, and who wants to have to keep sending samples out all day?
Wholesale bulk hemp flower prices were down more than 50% from December 2019 to May 2020. But bulk flower values slowly began to rise. They finally passed back into a positive price difference in November 2020 from the previous year—the only major category to do so. Month-over-month pricing increased 32% from November to December 2020, when bulk industrial hemp flower was selling at around $250 per pound.
Hemp consumers have learned (and research shows) that smokable hemp products offer the fastest delivery of medicinal and therapeutic benefits of cannabinoids. As the hemp market matures, it appears that consumers are willing to pay more for high-quality craft hemp flower.
And farmers are responding. Hemp growers are producing more indoor-grown and greenhouse-grown smokable hemp, as the popularity and demand for the product has cemented itself last year.
Some growers are running their operations somewhat similarly to those who grow THC cannabis. By cultivating it indoors, the flower can be grown in more controlled and precise conditions. When smokable hemp flower is craft quality and organic, it can command premium prices relative to national averages. International pricing for hemp flower is rising as well.
Is Smokable Hemp Flower Legal In Texas?
As the smokable hemp debate moves forward, state bans have left some flower farmers in limbo. In Texas, a state ban prohibits the manufacture, processing, distribution and retail sale of hemp for smoking. But a subsequent legal challenge and temporary restraining order prevent the ban from being enforced until the lawsuit is resolved. (As of this writing, the next hearing for the case, Crown Distributing LLC et al. v. Texas Department of State Health Services et al., was set for March 22.)
There’s no question that smokable hemp flower—especially premium, organic, craft hemp flower—represents a farmer’s most lucrative option. In 2020, regional wholesale pricing for hemp flower ranged from $300 to $1,500 per pound, depending on the quality and cannabinoid content. Commercial greenhouse-grown wholesale hemp flower typically goes for $500 to $1,000 per pound. Retailers are selling product for roughly double the wholesale cost.
Meanwhile, top shelf flower that has been grown to high standards is the most valuable. Craft hemp flower which is hand trimmed and properly cured will usually demand a price of $1200-$1500 per single pound.
Conscientiously crafted hemp flower can also overcome negative consumer perceptions caused by misleading and mislabeled CBD products. People who have bought products that are refined may find that most of the "quality" has been stripped away. They may try it, find no response or experience no benefits, and give up.
But when you look at smokable hemp, you can’t ignore the quality of the flower. The best hemp flower companies will also offer a lab result that shows you the percentages of cannabinoids. Consumers know exactly what they’re getting in their hemp flower.
We Don't Grow The Same - Organic Buds Matter
Growing premium hemp flower is a much more labor-intensive process than growing hemp for extraction or other purposes. There's a whole other skillset to learn how to handle it, post-harvest. It's very different than how you handle hemp biomass.
For any grower expecting to add CBD flower for an extra turn in the greenhouse, they should use caution. It is not as easy as, say, planting a winter crop of vegetables or ornamental flowers.
Hemp may be a little more forgiving than high-THC medical cannabis. But growing for higher cannabinoid content in either market leaves plants more finicky. This is another reason that controlled environments yield higher-quality crops, such as growing indoors or in a greenhouse. But that too comes at a cost.
Craft hemp flower producers invest time, labor and inputs comparable to premium recreational cannabis or medical cannabis growers, but the margins don’t stack up.
Wholesale pricing for bulk industrial CBD hemp flower was around $250 per pound in December 2020. Meanwhile, a pound of outdoor-grown flower in the cannabis market brought $900 per pound. Greenhouse-grown cannabis hit $1,400 per pound.
It is a very expensive and tedious thing to produce a high-quality bud for smoking.
But while biomass remains a tough sell right now, and despite price disparity with medical cannabis, business models with organic hemp flower can still be profitable.
CBD Buds Are A Thing Now | Smokable Hemp Is Trending
Over time, the demand for smokable hemp flower and other CBD hemp products will increase. But first, industry obstacles to the segment’s growth must be resolved.
The most important thing we can do as an industry is really promote the development of technology that helps distinguish between hemp and marijuana. You could think of it as roadside THC testing. If police officers have an easier method to determine hemp from marijuana, it will be more acceptable in a variety of areas. As a result, this will eliminate most of the challenges that we see from law enforcement.
For those growers that are looking at it and seeing the price difference between low and high grade hemp, it is only natural to think maybe they can make up their margins that way. I caution new growers against this - not necessarily to not do it, but to learn more first. It’s important to be aware that growing premium hemp flower does come with extra costs to bring a really solid product to market.
The growing process is almost easier than the curing and drying process. This procedure is a critical step that many large hemp flower farms just cannot do right.
Without the proper drying and curing environment, hemp flower loses it terpenes. As a result, it becomes harsh and less than desirable to inhale.
But if done right, there are no shortage of CBD hemp flower consumers looking to medicate with a quality, flavorful hemp nugs, like the ones grown by Dreamland Organics!
In conclusion, note our price chart for hemp flower per pound.
Hemp Flower Prices Per Pound
- Low Grade Industrial Hemp Flower - $100-$300 per pound
- Mid Grade Industrial Hemp Flower - $300-$500 per pound
- Upper Mid Grade Industrial Hemp Flower - $500-$900 per pound
- True Craft Top Shelf Hemp Flower - $900-$1500 per pound
If you enjoyed this, check out some of our hemp products, or read more. Try: All About Our Organic Green Dream Strain