By Noah Chen
It might grow like a weed, but getting hemp from seed to profitable product ain’t always the easiest process. If you’re not a hemp farmer, you might think the flower goes straight from the plant to the pipe, but put down that bud you just picked because it doesn’t work like that!
All hemp should get dried, cured, tested, packaged, and distributed, with drying and curing being the two most important steps. Done right, they give you a superior product to then process and produce high-quality extractions. Preparing hemp has to start somewhere, so do you know how to dry hemp like a pro?
Why dry hemp?
When it’s first picked, hemp flower is still full of moisture and chemicals unnecessary to the enjoyment of hemp. For one, if you’re hoping to smoke the hemp, it will be much easier once dried.
Dried hemp also has a better flavor than ripe hemp as ripe hemp often tastes too grassy. This is due to chlorophyll and other chemicals still being present.
Drying your hemp doesn’t only make it taste and smoke better, it also increases the effectiveness of the hemp. While it’s true that hemp produces CBD as it is growing, that process actually continues after clipping the bud from the stalk. Drying hemp properly allows the CBD to fully develop, leading to a stronger product!
Hang me (the hemp) out to dry
While the simplest way may be to cover your hemp with a tarp and leave it in the fields, no one actually does this. The next step up, and this is a gigantic step, is bringing the hemp into a facility to hang dry.
This could be as simple as a barn or as complex as a moisture-controlled room. The more you can monitor and manipulate the drying environment, however, the faster the process will be.
Any hemp drying facility should have a humidity level of no higher than 55 percent, and a temperature no greater than 70°F. The room should also have decent airflow, so setting up some fans, to gently blow, is not a bad idea.
To get started, hang the hemp plants upside down from the ceiling and let them do their thing. This drying process can take anywhere from five days to two weeks. You’ll know it’s done when you go to snap a branch and it breaks rather than bending.
An industrial dryer? Yes, please!
If you don’t have the time to hang your hemp, working with a processor who has an industrial dryer is a great alternative. An industrial dryer will insure the job gets done faster than any other methods of drying hemp.
Industrial dryers come in many shapes and sizes, though most are tailored for large scale hemp operations. Purchasing one for yourself might make sense if you own a huge farm, but if you’re looking to dry hemp quickly, it’s always possible to send your hemp to a company like Arbor Vita8 for drying. Our industrial dryer can tackle 10,000 pounds of hemp biomass per hour. This saves you weeks in the overall processing of hemp compared to hang drying.
Pick your drying preference
In the end, the process of hemp farming can be complex and full of decisions. No matter which way you dry your hemp though, Arbor Vita8 can hemp. In addition to our superior drying machine, we offer almost one million square feet for hang drying. Our facility is carefully monitored for ideal drying conditions.
Regardless of how you handle your hemp, Arbor Vita8’s attention to detail and industry expertise make us the best choice when it comes to finding your hemp processing partner. Contact us today to learn more.
