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Texas A&M AgriLife specialists discuss hemp production, legal issues, budgets and crop insurance in short videos.

Shelley E. Huguley, Editor

March 10, 2021

2 Min Read
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Shelley E. Huguley

A series of short video presentations addressing major issues facing Texas hemp producers is now available. The free series, "Economic and Legal Considerations for Production in Texas," addresses issues pertinent to producers considering adding hemp to their operation. 

"We are thrilled to roll out a project we’ve been working on the for the last year," said Tiffany Dowell Lashmet, Texas AgriLife Extension, in her recent Texas Agriculture Law Blog.  "Thanks to a grant from the Southern Extension Risk Management Education Center, I’ve worked with my colleagues in the Ag Economics Department at Texas A&M to pull together legal and economic resources related to hemp production."

Lashmet, assistant professor and Extension specialist in agricultural law, said the three-hour series contains presentations from Texas A&M AgriLife specialists addressing the following issues:

  • Hemp plant and hemp production overview by George Knapek, program manager for representative farms. "This is a fantastic 101-type lesson for anyone who wants to learn more about hemp production and the hemp industry," Lashmet said.

  • Key legal issues for hemp producers by Lashmet. "We cover the USDA Final Hemp Rule, the Texas Department of Agriculture, contracting considerations for producers, and a look at additional legal issues including nuisance, trespass, and hemp for feed," she added.

  • Hemp budgets for various products and a price outlook and overview by economist Justin Benavidez.

  • Explanation of the FARM Assistance program and how it can help with financial analysis and comparisons of different crops by Greg Kaase, Extension program specialist III.

  • Crop insurance options for hemp producers in Texas by Steven Klose, professor and Extension economist farm management.

"We are excited about this project and think it will be a great source of information for farmers considering hemp production in Texas," Lashmet said.

For more information visit the Extension Agricultural Economics website or to view the 28-short YouTube videos, click here. 

"When you visit our webpage, the video library will be located on the righthand side of the screen by topic. Click on the topic of your choice, and then you will find a list of available videos to view," Lashmet said.

Funding for the project was made possible by the Southern Extension Risk Management Education Center and the United States Department of Agriculture.

About the Author(s)

Shelley E. Huguley

Editor, Southwest Farm Press

Shelley Huguley has been involved in agriculture for the last 25 years. She began her career in agricultural communications at the Texas Forest Service West Texas Nursery in Lubbock, where she developed and produced the Windbreak Quarterly, a newspaper about windbreak trees and their benefit to wildlife, production agriculture and livestock operations. While with the Forest Service she also served as an information officer and team leader on fires during the 1998 fire season and later produced the Firebrands newsletter that was distributed quarterly throughout Texas to Volunteer Fire Departments. Her most personal involvement in agriculture also came in 1998, when she married the love of her life and cotton farmer Preston Huguley of Olton, Texas. As a farmwife, she knows first-hand the ups and downs of farming, the endless decisions made each season based on “if” it rains, “if” the drought continues, “if” the market holds. She is the bookkeeper for their family farming operation and cherishes moments on the farm such as taking harvest meals to the field or starting a sprinkler in the summer with the whole family lending a hand. Shelley has also freelanced for agricultural companies such as Olton CO-OP Gin, producing the newsletter Cotton Connections while also designing marketing materials to promote the gin. She has published articles in agricultural publications such as Southwest Farm Press while also volunteering her marketing and writing skills to non-profit organizations such as Refuge Services, an equine-assisted therapy group in Lubbock. She and her husband reside in Olton with their three children Breely, Brennon and HalleeKate.

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