When do I harvest hemp fiber?
Harvest hemp fiber when the stalk is the crop you sold, then dry it in the field under 15 percent before you bale. HFGA names the header, not a calendar date.
When do I harvest hemp fiber?
When the stand of stalks is the crop you agreed to sell, and the straw can be dried in the field to under 15 percent moisture before it is baled. HFGA has seen that cut done with a Kemper header or a sickle bar. They do not publish a calendar date on the planting notes this page uses. If the same field is also a grain crop, take the seed first, then the straw.
Related reading
Related reading
When do I harvest hemp grain?Harvest hemp grain with a soybean or wheat header when the seed is ready, then get it to a dryer within 3 to 4 hours. HFGA's clock is spoilage, not a date.
Fiber harvest is a stalk decision. The plants were grown to be cut, dried, and baled, not to be threshed like wheat and forgotten. HFGA's spring planting guide says the cuts they have seen work used a Kemper header or a sickle bar, then the straw dries in the field to less than 15 percent moisture, then it is windrowed and baled. Bale shape and weight come from the offtake partner.
The grain clock is different. Read When do I harvest hemp grain?. What happens to the straw after the cut is How do I rett and bale hemp fiber?.
Grain first, if the field is both
HFGA's textile standard allows a dual-purpose crop. The grain is graded on its own. The straw can still be textile fiber if, after the grain harvest, it is baled at 15 percent moisture or below and stored under cover, off the ground. Taking seed does not excuse a wet bale.
The side-by-side harvest is How is hemp fiber different from hemp grain?. The pre-harvest cannabinoid sample sits in Do I need a license to grow hemp?.
Who the bale is for
Heartland buys the fiber. Imperium Fiber describes what a textile lot has to carry after that: retting method on the record, and a lot that can be traced from the standing crop to the bale. rechem's job was earlier, at planting: What planting chemistry does hemp fiber need?. The map is Fiber.
FAQ
Quick answers about this part of the approach.
Is there a date on the calendar?
Not from rechem, and not from the HFGA planting notes used here. The season they describe for fiber is roughly 70 to 140 days. The harvest decision is the stalk and the moisture, plus the buyer's delivery day.
What if I am also taking grain?
Cut the seed first, with a grain header. The straw still has to make the fiber moisture and storage rules after that grain harvest. HFGA's textile standard allows that dual-purpose straw.
What header cuts fiber?
HFGA says the cuts they have seen work were a Kemper header or a sickle bar. A standard grain header is the grain tool, not the stalk tool.
What test comes before the cut?
Under the HFGA textile standard, a cannabinoid sample is drawn within 30 days before harvest. The license note is the paperwork. This page does not replace it.
Who takes the bales?
Heartland buys fiber. Round or square, and the bale weight, come from that offtake partner. Imperium Fiber is the textile path after a conforming lot.