The Midwestern Hemp Research Collaborative (MHRC) is seeking licensed and experienced grain/fiber hemp growers to conduct on-farm variety trials during the 2023-2025 growing seasons. Below is the application to participate in 2025. Growers will be asked to plant replicated strips of 3-5 hemp varieties, sample and record observations of the crop at key growth stages. A stipend of $500 per year is available to offset participant expenses. Participating growers will also have the opportunity to serve on an advisory group for the project, which will meet online.
As a re-emerging crop and highly regulated industry, the U.S. hemp sector faces both basic and unique challenges to sustainable growth. Principle among those challenges is adapted cultivar development and selection. The MHRC, a joint effort of Michigan State University, Purdue University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, seeks to address this challenge with regional data from participatory on-farm research. Our goal is to support stakeholder decision-making and mitigate risk to ultimately increase the regional adaptation, productivity and profitability of industrial hemp in the Midwest U.S. Work of the MHRC is made possible by financial support from the USDA-NIFA Supplemental and Alternative Crops (SAC) program (award # 2022-38624-38368).
Completing the application below does not obligate you to participate in 2025 or beyond. By participating in this research study, you acknowledge that your participation is voluntary, and you consent to the collection of all data requested, and consent to making the agronomic data indicated publicly available. Any private information (name, license number, etc.) will not be shared publicly, will be used only for the purposes for which it was provided, and will not be shared with another entity, except as prescribed by law. By completing this online form, you are accepting the policies and practices described in this notice and willingly participate in the Midwestern Hemp Research Collaborative participatory industrial hemp trials.
