Cornell Hemp: Pushing the Industry Forward

Our guest on the podcast this week is Dr. Heather Grab, senior lecturer at Cornell University’s School of Integrative Plant Science, where she focuses on hemp cultivation and processing.

On Nov. 15, Grab will be participating in a free online event, The National Hemp Industry Needs Workshop, co-hosted by The Global Hemp Innovation Center at Oregon State University and USDA.

The workshop will cover all aspects of hemp from genetics, sustainable ag practices, harvesting and processing to manufacturing, supply chains, economics, regulations, compliance testing and more with interactive sessions led by experts in the hemp space (many of whom will be familiar to regular listeners of this podcast).

The workshop is free but you must register at hempindustryresearchneeds.org by Nov. 11.

The goal of the workshop is to bring together many voices “to contribute to the synthesis of knowledge and to understand what the needs are and how we can work together as public institutions with private partners in order to build our knowledge and put that to use,” Grab said.

Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Science’s hemp program has been a leading source of research in hemp genetics, pest and diseases, supply chain development and processing.

Contact Dr. Heather Grab

Cornell University profile page: https://cals.cornell.edu/heather-grab

email: heathergrab@cornell.edu

insta: @heather.grab

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-grab/

Cornell's Hemp Program

https://hemp.cals.cornell.edu/

Hemp Industry Research Needs Workshop

https://hempindustryresearchneeds.org/

Dr. Grab's article about Retting for Lancaster Farming newspaper, April 25, 2025

https://www.lancasterfarming.com/farming-news/retting-hemp-fiber-from-the-stalk/article_d40a884d-83f4-53c8-a196-81b8ef346611.html

News Nuggets

Company commits $17.5 million to make Virginia hemp manufacturing center

https://www.wavy.com/news/virginia/company-commits-17-5-million-to-make-virginia-hemp-manufacturing-center/

Hemp grain and fiber processing facility opening in Augusta, KS

https://www.kwch.com/2022/11/02/hemp-grain-fiber-processing-facility-opens-augusta/

Pennsylvania Hemp Summit, November 14-15

https://pahempsummit.com/

Thanks to our Sponsors

IND HEMP

https://indhemp.com/

King's AgriSeeds

https://kingsagriseeds.com/