The table below is a breakdown of data gathered from the 2019 hemp variety trial by Dr. Tim Coolong of UGA. Plants were harvested at full term and tested after drying. This is just the beginning of University data which will help guide and progress growers, breeders, farmers, and our hemp industry as a whole. Below, I will share my take-aways from these data.
KEY:
Red
The table above is sorted from high to low THC percentages. Varieties above 0.3% total THC are in red. As you can see, most varieties grown would not qualify as hemp at full term flowering.
Ratio (Consider 1:X)
The highest ratio varieties are highlighted with a blue box with the highest being 1:35.6. To explain the math for ratio, take Suver Haze for example: THC= 0.729% and CBD= 24.7%. To standardize comparisons, we want to look at the ratio considering THC to be 1. Let's cross multiple and divide… or solve for the unknown factor.
Auto
When only looking at a COA, KG2902 looks like the perfect plant. You must look further. This plant is an autoflower type and had extremely low yield.
Yield/acre
When growing for extraction, the most important aspect is mg of active (CBD)/acre. Mg/acre is determined by not only potency, but one must also factor yield. Other variables are important such as disease resistance, crop cycle timing, and photoperiod but those data were not reported. Theoretical yield is reported in the table above. As you can see, THC at such a minuscule difference (0.298 versus 0.5) can equate to a significant amount of money.
The above table considers the average extracted amount per acre between cultivars within legal and illegal cultivar groups. Of course, this is not considering oil loss due to extraction efficiency. Using $500/kg as a realistic number per kg you can see the drastic difference of potential profit/acre simply due to regulation of numbers less than 1%. Obviously, cannabinoid formation is a progression and accumulates over time. Other varieties which do become illegal at harvest can still be grown yet will need to be harvested early. Keep in mind harvesting early will potentially reduce yield.