Progress report for FNE24-089
Project Information
The over-production and overconsumption of synthetic textiles is
a significant contributor to climate change. The objective of
this project is to help in the creation of a new local textile
economy based on locally-grown and processed natural bast
fibers.
In this proposal, we seek to improve our capacity to sustainably
grow, ret, and process high-quality long-line hemp bast fiber for
textile use. Through our work, we hope to add value to an
expanding knowledge base of fiber hemp production that will
support farmers and spinning mills in our region and beyond. The
work of the project includes:
- trials of several different dioecious fiber hemp varieties
- selective harvesting and processing of male and female plants
- study of several different retting processes
- a test of the use of retting water as fertilizer
- partnership with a local spinning mill to bridge the gap
between growers and commercial customers for locally grown bast
fiber
The project is designed to span
three growing seasons, and is based in Danby, Vermont at Mountain
Heart, the farm of the applicant/project leader, Andrea
Myklebust. The results of the work will be shared via a
series of field days, on-farm demonstrations, organizational
website and social media outlets, and presentations to interested
stakeholder groups, including academic partners, Fibershed
affiliate groups, local growers, and laypeople interested in
local, natural-fiber textiles.
The objectives of the project:
- demonstrate that it is possible to grow and process very
high-quality long-line hemp fiber in our region - continue to build a set of retting methodologies for regional
growers - work with a small regional spinning mill to understand the
qualities required for locally-grown and processed hemp fiber to
be utilized in their blended wool/hemp yarns. This section of the grant may need to be modified going forward. The mill with which I am working (Battenkill Fibers) has informed me that the carding machine they have dedicated for bast fiber production may be sold this year. I am beginning the process of searching for an alternate processing venue should this come to pass.
To achieve these objectives:
- I will grow several different dioecious fiber hemp varieties
chosen for their potential to yield high-quality, long-line bast
fibers. - The plants will be harvested at two different times/batches
by pulling male plants when they mature, and female plants when
they mature at a somewhat later date. - Male and female plants will be processed via dew retting (a
control sample) and water retting with several variables,
including: - traditional water/tank retting and dispersal of retting water
as a fertilizer for dye plants. - experiments with the addition of saponification, alkaline,
and acidic ingredients to the retting water, based on historic
recipes but adapted to use non-toxic ingredients. - evaluation and cataloging of the resulting fiber through hand
processing and spinning, and evaluation by a local dry spinning
mill for use in their yarns.In the 2024 season, I successfully grew and multiple dioecious fiber hemp varieties and harvested the male and female plants at different times. I have conducted both dew retting and traditional water retting work on these plants. Much of the material is presently being stored in a retted straw form.
This proposal addresses 'wide-lens' concerns:
Problems/challenges:
- Current global textile production models of production, consumption, and disposal come with significant costs to the environment and human communities
- We need to sharply curtail our use of synthetic, fossil fuel-derived textiles to address the textile industry's contributions to climate change.
- We need to create more textiles locally, using natural fibers.
- There are significant gaps in both our regional knowledge base and physical infrastructure to supply our textile needs through local production.
Bringing these big-picture problems into the context of this proposal:
- Many years of prohibition on hemp cultivation have created a situation in which knowledge of how to produce high-quality long-line bast fiber from hemp plants has been lost.
- Present processing capability in regional spinning mills is designed for protein fibers (wool, alpaca, mohair, etc.). Mills wishing to incorporate bast fibers into their spinning production lack a local source of good-quality fiber which can be blended with wool or other protein fibers to create yarns for textile use.
- Historic sources suggest ways in which people grew, retted, and processed fiber from hemp plants, but work is needed to “translate” these practices into a contemporary context of tools, materials, fertility, and environmental concerns.
There is a need to recover lost knowledge and to bring new expertise and methodologies into being in a way that is useful and achieveable for growers and can meet the needs of contemporary textile spinning mills. At the present time, many large-scale primary processing methods for bast fibers utilize unretted fiber that produces a product that is too rough, tangled, broken, and stiff to be used by a mill to spin yarns for textile use, and which requires additional chemical processing in order to be further broken down and de-gummed. This process, called “cottonizing,” breaks the intrinsically long, strong bast fibers into very short staple lengths for blending with cotton. These processes are frequently out of the reach of the small-scale growers and mills presently operating in our region, and both processes compromise the strength, durability, and luster of the original material. The work of this proposal is to explore alternative ways of more carefully handling hemp bast fiber to produce a high-quality, long-line product suitable for use in textile applications without cottonizing.
Solutions: Work to expand and deepen knowledge of how to grow and ret fiber hemp to yield high-quality long line bast fibers that can be used in local textile production.
This proposal is designed to begin to fill some gaps in our knowledge by:
- trialing dioecious hemp varieties chosen and selectively harvested for their potential to yield high-quality fiber
- offering ways in which a water retting process can be used on the farm as a source of fertility, and exploring the potential of different retting 'recipes' to yield superior long-line bast fiber.
- beginning to bridge the gap between the work of a farmer growing fiber hemp and a critical link in the local textile supply chain – the spinning mill.
It is important to note that the on-farm processing work being described in this proposal highlights a critical gap in local textile infrastructure: a scutching mill. The sample processing which will be completed at the project site will be undertaken with hand tools: the hemp/flax break, scutching knife and board, and hackles. At the present time, there is no small- or regionally-scaled scutching capability for long line bast fibers available in the United States. This question was the subject of my 2017-18 USDA SARE project, “Local Linen: Exploring the Feasibility of Small-scale Mechanized Processing of Fiber Flax for Linen Production in Minnesota and Wisconsin.” The need for such a facility is well understood among bast growers, researchers, and end users, and is the focus of other work in which I am engaged via the Northern New England Fibershed’s Bast Fiber Working Group.
The work of building a new regional textile economy based on natural fibers, that are locally grown, processed, consumed and recycled, is an enormous undertaking requiring research, investment, and creativity at all levels of the supply chain, from the agronomics of fiber production through multi-stage processing operations, to the work of designers makers, end-users, with consideration of the entire life cycle of the textiles we create, use, and discard.
This proposal addresses some small parts of a very complex and challenging puzzle: how can we better grow and ret a traditional source of textile fiber – hemp - in a way that supports farmers, rural economies, end users, and the natural world?
My farm is a very small operation - just 12 acres. I began farming in 2011. In addition to my bast fiber (hemp and flax) production, I keep a flock of 36 wool sheep, and create a variety of value-added wool products from their fiber (raw and washed wool, roving, yarn, and wool pellets made from waste wool). I maintain a large dye garden (for seed sales and teaching purposes), and sell all of my farm products at local shops and fiber festivals, and through an online store on my website. I split my time between farming and teaching topics related to my farm work (i.e., handspinning, weaving, bast fiber production, indigo extraction, etc.). In 2024 we purchased a 6' x 2' x 2' galvanized steel stock tank for retting (an expense covered by grant funds), and we purchased a Jang seeder (@ $800) that we are using for the research plots (this expense was out-of-pocket, not covered by the grant funding). In the fall of 2024 I acquired a 1960s'-era hay condition from a neighbor (this was a free item), which I am hoping to convert into a piece of specialized equipment -- a decorticator/brake -- for the initial processing of my hemp fiber. This was not part of the initial project description, but I am finding that the amount of material I am able to harvest from even my small research plots (I grew approximately 1,800 s.f. of hemp in 2024) is taxing my ability to process with hand tools.
Cooperators
- - Technical Advisor
- - Technical Advisor
Research
The project activities will take place at the research plots and within my fiber processing studios at my farm in Danby Vermont, over the course of three growing seasons in 2024, '25 and '26, with final reporting complete by February 2, 2027. .
The project includes elements of a variety trial, on-farm demonstrations, and a randomized complete block comparison study of retting water used as fertilizer. Much of the research being undertaken is qualitative, with observational data recorded throughout the growing season, material samples gathered and retted in several ways, and evaluation of the fiber produced undertaken in consultation with the cooperators identified in the project.
At the end of the project, the final report will summarize the results of the project in the form of a written narrative, quantitative data from the retting water randomized complete block comparison study, photo documentation of the fiber samples processed, and physical samples identified and catalogued.
In the variety trial portion of the project, we will plant three dioecious varieties of hemp plant (Cannabis Sativa) selected by the project lead and the technical advisor for their likelihood to yield high-quality long-line bast fiber. At the present time, the three varieties selected are Carmenecta (International Hemp), Zaki, a variety being grown by the USDA Germplasm bank at Cornell, and a third variety to be provided by KonopiUS.
For the purposes of this project, seeds will be planted at a rate of 80 pounds per acre, with a maximum plot size of 20' x 40' per variety. This high seeding rate serves to keep individual stem diameters small, and encourages an upright growth habit with little side branching. Beginning at approximately sixty days after planting, I will observe the research plots for signs that the male plants are mature. Before the males show signs of senescence, they will be harvested by selectively hand-pulling them from the larger planting. Plant density within one-quarter square meter samples will be recorded, along with time of harvest, and representative heights, stem diameters and weights. The male plants will be set aside in a covered storage area to dry and cure prior to the beginning of retting experiments. The female plants will be harvested when flowers are at peak, but prior to the maturation of seeds (approximately 70-80 days) by cutting the stems close to the ground, with the same documentation of plant density, heights, stem diameters and weights.
In the on-farm demonstration phase of the project, I will conduct a series of retting experiments designed to assess the effect of different methods of water retting on the quality of the fiber produced in comparison with a traditional dew/field retting process, and whether the selective harvesting of male plants yields a noticeably finer or softer fiber after retting, breaking, scutching and hackling.
Three different retting experiments will be conducted on each of the 6 samples grown (three fiber hemp varieties, male and female plants handled in separate sampling processes).
- Retting trial 1: traditional dew/field retting: this type of retting is the simplest from a technical and ecological standpoint, in that the plants are simply laid on the ground and the natural processes of dew and rain work to break the bonds between long bast fibers in the plant stems and pithy core material, called hurd or shive. Based upon ongoing research being conducted by UVM, optimal dew retting times in our area appear to range from 14 to 21 days. I will use dew retting to establish a "control" sample for each variety grown, and its male and female samples.
- Retting trial 2: tank retting with retting water used to irrigate dye plants: This portion of the project incorporates a randomized complete block comparison study, in which retting water will be used to irrigate portions of blocks planted with dye plants. Water from the retting tank (a 48" stainless steel evaporator pan designed for processing maple syrup), will be distributed on one third of the beds in three different blocks of dye plants. One third of each bed will be irrigated with plain water at the same time retting water is applied, and the remaining third of the bed in each block will receive no supplemental watering. The purpose of this part of the project is to begin to answer a common question about tank/water retting, namely; is water retting a source of pollution? Some historic sources suggest that retting water can be used as fertilizer, while there is also ample evidence of pollution caused by intensive water retting practices of the past. I will measure the growth and vigor of the dye plants receiving each of the three treatments using statistical analysis of variation to analyze the data.(ANOVA), and will have samples of the retting water tested to measure nutrient levels and to check for the presence of heavy metals. This portion of the project will take place in years 2 and 3, using material grown, harvested and stored in year one to begin the retting experiments in May of year two.
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Retting trial 3: retting with additional ingredients and/or supplemental heat in the retting tank: In the third retting experiment I will attempt to create an ecologically safe and effective working recipe for tank retting which incorporates the use of additional ingredients, using principles outlined in SS Boyce's treatise, Hemp, published in 1900 (Chapter 3.1) as a starting point. Boyce's century-old recipes purport to yield a very high quality fiber, but include additions which are undesirable in an ecologically-friendly retting solution (muriatic acid) as well as ingredients which may be suitable for use in some situations (soda ash), and ingredients which may be considered safe to use (neutral soap, vinegar). I will test different combinations of retting solutions using the safest ingredients available, evaluate whether the addition of heat benefits the retting process, and compare the resulting fiber with the dew retted control and the traditionally tank retted samples.
Fiber evaluation
When all of the harvesting, retting and hand processing for each season is done, I will hand spin some of the resulting fiber samples into 100% hemp yarns. Other samples will be evaluated by a local spinning mill for their capacity to be made into roving and spun into yarn on their dry spinning equipment. The best/most suitable samples in the project may be test processed into a hemp/wool blended yarn at the mill.
Working over three growing seasons, there should be adequate time to observe the performance of the fiber hemp varieties being grown over different conditions, to evaluate the effects of using retting water as a fertilizer, and begin to understand whether it is possible to create an eco-friendly recipe for water retting with supplemental ingredients and/or heat that produces a noticeably higher-quality fiber than traditional field retting or water retting alone.
My hope is that this work will yield well-documented, actionable information for farmers hoping to produce high quality hemp bast fiber. As small-scale, long-line scutching capacity comes online in our area in the future, this practical knowledge will help meet the needs of spinning mills that are already part of our local textile infrastructure.
In 2024 I was able to successfully grow three different dioecious hemp varieties: Carmenecta, Zaki, and Tiborszalassi (a Hungarian variety). My plot of Zaki plants was small, due to limited seed availability, but I made an effort to isolate some plants and saved seed from them. At the other end of the continuum, I experienced difficulties in sourcing small-enough quantities of the other seeds I am using on my project; For example, the smallest quantity of the Hungarian seed I purchased far exceeds what I will be able to grow in the timeframe of the grant. I am saving this seed to use in the 2nd and 3rd years of the project, but some will likely go to waste, as I don't have any other licensed hemp growers in my area to share it with.
All of the varieties I planted grew larger than I had hoped they would - many plants were more than 12' tall, with maximum stem diameters of more than 1.5", including the Zaki variety, which I had observed the season prior at the Cornell research site, in a plot where it grew to only 36-48" in height.
Soil testing which was done in the spring of 2024 revealed that my planting area was very high in organic matter, and rich in nutrients. This stands to reason, as the growing site was part of my sheep pasture/rounds bale feeding area until the spring of 2024, when it was converted to cultivation. Historic texts on hemp cultivation emphasize that one need not (should not?) "dung" their hemp fields. I think my experience growing on this recently-converted, very rich soil illustrates what was meant by that old directive!
All of the varieties I planted grew very tall in 2024. In 2025, I will rotate my hemp onto are areas of my field which were planted in flax in 2024, and into disturbed areas which were excavated in the summer of 2024. My hope is that I will be able to grow somewhat shorter, finer-stemmed examples of these same varieties. I suspect that soil quality is a larger determinant of fiber quality than variety, but I will see if the 2025 and 2026 growing seasons bear this out.
2024 was the first year of my research project, and in many ways it was a "laying the groundwork" year as I established my research field and assembled the tools and equipment I am using for the project. I successfully sourced several dioecious fiber hemp varieties from the GRIN-Global seed bank, King's Agroseed, and Northeastern Heritage, an EU source. I grew, harvested and retted fiber from these hemp plants. Although it was not included in my SARE budget, I purchased a new piece of equipment (a Jang single row seeder) and used it for planting my fiber hemp as well as the other crops I am growing in rotation with the hemp (flax, sorghum and indigo). This tool worked very well, and permitted me to very precisely plant all of the hemp and rotational crops which are part of the project with great precision. The Jang will be used for all of my research planting again this spring, and will be an asset at my farm for many years to come.
In addition to pursuing the goals already stated in the proposal for years 2 and 3 of the project, my goal in 2025 is to convert a vintage hay conditioner gifted to me by a neighbor into a simple, motorized or hand crank-powered hemp brake/decortication machine. This was not something I included as part of my original proposal, but will significantly speed up my processing work if I am able to make it happen. As a lack of ANY mechanized processing machinery for small farms is one of the major barriers to utilizing this crop, I see this work as a valuable sidebar to my primary project goals.
One potential challenge in 2025: the local mill with whom I am working to test my fiber quality in a small-industrial system may be forced to sell a key piece of their machinery, a dedicated bast-fiber carding machine. If this comes to pass, I may struggle to find another mill with who to collaborate on this aspect of the project. I am actively exploring alternatives if this should become necessary.
Education & Outreach Activities and Participation Summary
Participation Summary:
The farm was open during both weekends of Vermont's Open Farm Week, and I conducted demonstrations and tours for the 30+ visitors who attended. Our site was also part of Vermont's Open Studio Weekend in October (60+ visitors). I hosted a local high school's Ethnobotany class on site for tours and demos, and visited their classroom where I presented the work I am doing.
I discussed the project at several regional fairs and festivals: the Green Mountain Linen Fair (VT), Gilmanton Farm and Flax Day (NH), and the New York Sheep and Wool Festival (Rhinebeck, NY).
I also discussed the project over the course of several Bast Fiber Community Calls hosted by the Northern New England Fibershed (Typically attended by 15-20 people), and wrote about the project in the NNEF Bast Fiber Newsletter, The Hackler (online circulation of approximately 900 email addresses).
On my own website (www.mountainheartvt.com), I described my work on the project in multiple entries of my farm Blog.
A long-form article about my hemp project was published in Vermont Country Magazine in their September/October issue.
Learning Outcomes
2024 was just my second year growing hemp, and I feel like I am still in a pretty steep learning curve with this crop. Even basic information about row spacing, seed spacing, depth and seeding rates are difficult to find for small-scale fiber growers, and I am happy to be gathering data about what is working on my farm which I think will be useful to other Growers.
2024 taught me quite a bit about how fiber hemp performs in very good soil conditions. In 2025, I will intentionally be planting much of my hemp in the poorest soil I can find within my research field; this feels a bit counter-intuitive, but because I am trying to grow apparel-quality fibers, the most successful plants in my 2024 field were those (of any variety) that grew on soil with a lower level of nutrients. I am very interested to see how my 2025 hemp that will be planted on an area that grew flax (traditionally known as a "heavy feeder") in 2024 will perform, and whether in 2025 I will have measurably different outcomes from the 2024 growing season.
I have retted samples of male and female plants from all of the varieties I grew. As I process these samples, I am finding that the seed variety and sex of the plant appears to be a smaller determiner of fiber quality than the soil in which it was grown. My work in 2025 and 2026 will continue to examine the affect of soil nutrients on fiber production, as well as the stated project goals of selective harvesting and processing of male and female hemp fiber plants.
Project Outcomes
The project funded by this grant is ongoing, so it feels a bit early to describe project outcomes. Nevertheless, it has been exciting for me to see the level of excitement and curiosity people have about the work I am doing. During the NYSW festival, where I brought samples of my hemp fiber and discussed the project with festival goers, it is no exaggeration to say that I communicated with hundreds of people about this work. A lot of my education and outreach about the project has focused on the larger challenges presented by the lack of infrastructure for harvesting and processing hemp fibers.
Many people (including as recently as this week) have contacted me with questions about growing hemp, and I hope I have been able to assist people in understanding the complex licensing and regulatory compliance tasks required to grow hemp in the US at the present time.
As part of the project, I am growing and strengthening my partnerships with colleagues at the University of Vermont and beyond. My prior experience in processing bast fibers for textile use (hemp and flax) has given me perspectives and insights which I hope have been useful to my collaborative partner at the Battenkill Fiber Mill as we work towards the creation of new yarns using local bast fiber spun on commercial machinery that was originally designed for wool and other protein fibers.
My grant is TINY is the big scheme of things, but it has been invaluable in permitting me to undertake work for which there is not yet a processing pipeline, and to conduct basic research which will help others to build a new natural fiber-based infrastructure and economy in our region and beyond.
This grant is ongoing, so I cannot speak to final outcomes. I feel that the primary research questions posed by my project (selective harvesting of male/female plants for fiber quality) will continue to be answered by the work I am doing in 2025 and 2026. Additional questions (the influence of soil conditions on fiber quality) are presenting themselves based on my 2024 growing season, and will have an influence on my data collection and fiber evaluation as I proceed.
One unexpected thing I have already learned - seed sourcing for fiber hemp is a significant challenge! I did not anticipate that I would encounter barriers to sourcing fiber hemp varieties in the small, research-level quantities I need, but this has definitely been the case. As a sidebar: seed availability for fiber flax has also become a challenge in the current season. Because flax is not subject to the same regulatory restrictions as hemp, I am helping to develop a seed inventory and seed-saving project for flax in Northern New England. Hopefully someday fiber hemp will be exempted from some of its current restrictions, which will permit similar work to be undertaken with this crop.
I am confident that the work I am doing will be of benefit to other people interested in growing hemp for fiber production. The knowledge may be of value especially to small producers (like most Vermont/New England farms), but will also have utility for people working at larger scales.