Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is visiting with the Executive Vice President of Panda BioTech, Scott Evans. BioTech is working with producers to grow a particular variety of industrial hemp which is then processed at the Panda High Plains Hemp Gin in Wichita Falls, Texas.
“Panda BioTech is developing a large industrial-scale help processing center where we process industrial hemp,” Evans said.
In a process called decortication, Evans said the green outer part of the hemp stem, called the bast fiber, is separated from the rest of the plant. Once the outer bast is separated from the plant, Evans said the inner woody core of the stem, called the hurd of the plant, will remain.
Evans said the bast fiber is similar to short-staple cotton but it has a few different properties.
“It is a very strong fiber and antimicrobial, and the list goes on,” Evans said.
After the decortication process at Panda BioTech, Evans said the fiber produced is sold downstream to other manufacturers for use in various applications.
“It is a great crop; it remediates soil, it is low input, doesn’t use a lot of water, it is a tap root crop, it will go down there, break down the soil, and look for water,” Evans said.
Evans said for hemp to be utilized at Panda BioTech, it is grown for 90 days before it is cut. This way, a flower or seed head does not have the chance to form.
“It looks just like a bale of straw going down the road,” Evans said. “We receive round bales and square bales, and to the untrained eye, you really can’t tell the difference between this and silage.”
The primary target of Panda BioTech is the textile market, Evans said, where hemp is cleaned to mimic short staple cotton. It is then sent to a spinning mill, and depending on the fabric, a percentage of cotton will be blended into the hemp.
“We will make denim, khaki, twill, or whatever the brands are looking for,” Evans said.
There is also plenty of use for hemp in the non-woven industry for things such as installation, sound-dampening materials, trunk lids, door panels, and more.
“It is just another fiber that manufacturers can use,” Evans said. “Textiles are our target market with the bast fiber. The hurd is about 50 to 55 percent of the plant, and that is used for high-end horse or chicken bedding, as well as hempcrete, which is a non-structural concrete substitute that is gaining popularity in the construction industry.”
Because hemp is one of the strongest fibers on Earth, Evans said when it is blended with cotton, the final product results in more durability and more strength. Evans said this means a pair of jeans or any type of clothing may last an extra year or two if it is made with hemp.
“The main benefit is the strength of the fiber, and we blend it with cotton because cotton has that buttery-soft feel,” Evans said. “With cotton and hemp blended together, we get the great hand feel, and we also get some strength and antimicrobial and UV resistance. It just makes a more durable fabric than cotton alone.”
Over the past four to five years, Evans said Panda BioTech has worked with Texas A&M Agrilife to trial varieties from all over the world.
“We have narrowed in on the variety that works best for our latitude and our region, as well as our process,” Evans said. “That is a big part of what we did, and then we have rolled out a new ‘pay to grow’ program, that essentially de-risks this for the farmer.”
While some farmers may be hesitant about trying a new crop, Evans said Panda BioTech will provide the verified seed they source at no cost. The farmer is also guaranteed payments after planting and harvesting, and then the farmer is paid at a per-pound rate for the biomass on the back end.
“We have stepped in to essentially act as their crop insurance so they can experiment with this crop, see what it does, and not have the fear of losing out on revenue from wheat, or whatever they would normally grow in their rotation,” Evans said. “There are a lot of benefits for their soil, as well as economic benefits to this.”
In Oklahoma, Evans said the hemp crop will be planted in early April or late March, depending on the part of the state. Evans said this plant offers the chance to rotate other crops afterward.
“All in, it is about a four-month growing cycle, and they can follow that up with winter wheat or whatever else they want to grow,” Evans said.
Hemp is a soil remediator, Evans said, so if farmers add hemp to their crop rotations, it will clean up their soil and put nitrogen back into the soil.
“Whatever they follow that hemp crop up with should have better yields,” Evans said.
For more information, producers can visit https://www.pandabiotech.com/. Producers can also utilize the grower inquiry tab for specific questions.
