Sovereign fields of medical gold - an interview with h.s.o.

As the industry rides the wave that CBD and medicinal Cannabis has created, Soft Secrets sat down with Diggs Terra, a long time breeder at the Humboldt Seed Organization to find out how they have been working hard over the last 5 years with Dinafem to create the first ever low THC designer hemp varieties.

SSUK: Hello Diggs, Can you tell us more about your latest project Sovereign Fields?

We are a collective of breeders from the THC market as we have combined forces with our longtime friends and partners to recreate designer hemp CBD flower, for the now legal market in the United States. This project was about 2.5 years worth of work in order to create these stable low THC and high CBD designer flower, the Kush Hemp for the now federally legal Hemp market in the United States.

Our objective is to transform the highest quality and highest demanded designer varieties from the Cannabis market and re-create them in low THC, high CBD form. We just created the first Kush Hemp using our old pre-98 Bubba Kush. This has all the profiles of the original Bubba Kush but with the cannabinoid profile meeting 0.3% THC requirements.

What gave you an insight to go into breeding low THC hemp varieties over 5 years?

Five years ago we saw the big gap in the market for high-quality low THC varieties that matched the flavour profiles of the designer varieties, that most people medicate with or enjoy on the daily. We recognized that there was a large portion of the market that was not interested in the psychoactive property and wasn’t receiving the same attention as the high THC varieties.

With the baby boomer generation going into retirement, the demand for more functional forms of holistic plant healing has really sparked a lot of interest in more balanced percentages of both THC and CBD. We have created a few varieties initially to serve the THC market but now the focus has become to breed the THC out all together leaving trace percentages behind. Emphasizing other cannabinoid profiles that are now reaching new heights of understanding has allowed us to find more accurate applications for these type of profiles.

How large is your operation and what method of farming are you working with?

Our operations are still modest as we are working with about 10 different farms for both seed production and selection throughout three states, specifically for this project. We have created about six varieties so far for the market here and each has taken quite a bit of time to get it complete and stable.

Our staff now is about 10 people internally and with our extended farms over 100 to work on this collaborative effort. As far as HSO is concerned, we now have over 100 people working together globally as domestically in Humboldt we will have about five active farms next season for both selection and production for the new legal market.

So you are purposely breeding the THC out of the plant and increasing CBD levels?

Yes for the last five years, we have been slowly evolving these projects to be able to get to the stage now where we have the THC the lowest it’s ever been, and some of the most designer sort after varieties in the market. We meet that 0.3% of THC criteria in homogenous sample form required by law.

Can you tell us more about that process and how long will each strain take to finalise?

Each strain takes about two years plus in order to be stable and run on a large scale. Four generations of line breeding are used typically before we release anything. Under the circumstances it’s a must as farmers are super dependent on stable genetics to achieve superior results. When you talk about the scale that a lot of farmers are going to be cultivating on there is a very small margin of error for unstable genetics.

Why did you choose to produce strains that do not exceed more than 0.3% THC?

In the US it’s actually 0.3% THC that we must breed to accommodate for. This is why we’ve had to put a lot more working to get these profiles stable enough to be able to introduce to the market. The law has helped to shape the breeding style as well as our understanding of the further benefits of low psycho active properties accompanied by alternative cannabinoid profiles like CBD, CBN, CBG.

What progenitors are you breeding with to achieve such high CBD levels?

We used a cross that we had made years ago from a California Sour Diesel and California Orange Bud selection. The limonene as well as pinene terpene profiles seemed to be associated with this high CBD expressions. A mix of data from our lab and instinctual selection was used to pull from about 500 plants. We found a terpene and cannabinoid profile that had both bag appeal and had a very high percentage of CBD, 19% to be specific, while 0.5% THCA with a very low Delta-9 at 0.2%.

Could you tell us more about how you test varieties and your lab facilities?

Yes we do liquid chromatography testing in house as well as terpene profiles, 17 to be exact and we have four lab technicians now, who are the backbone of our data analysis. Depending on the week anywhere from 200 to 400+ tests can be performed.

What made you want to produce a low THC autoflowering line?

We wanted to allow the farmers in certain regions to be able to capitalize on shorter seasons and potential additional harvests. Depending on how the seeds are germinated. Done in trays for the first 14 days allows the seeds to only have to be in the ground for about 60 to 65 days.

This means averaging anywhere from 30 to 150 grams per plant, contingent on planting season and climate conditions of the location. Our fast flowering and Auto flowering varieties allow farmers to pull harvests down potentially a few weeks earlier especially for more volatile weather stricken areas.

Which CBD rich hybrids have you made so far, and are they all less than 1% THC?

Yes they are all for the 0.3% THC market and they are Kush Hemp E1-  Pure Indica/Pre-98 Bubba, we have Fast Flowering Kush Hemp that finishes 2weeks faster, Auto Flower CBD, Lemon Diesel CBD-Sativa, Fast Flowering Lemon Diesel CBD and Kush Kemp E1 x Lemon Diesel CBD.

Can you tell us what you believe  about the benefits of low THC and high CBD varieties when used medicinal or recreational?

From my understanding CBD is good for anxiety relief as it is uplifting. Low THC is good as many people do not like high psychoactive properties especially during daytime use. There still a lot to be learned as I think there’s major misconceptions about what these cannabinoid profiles can actually provide. I think anxiety and relaxation while still uplifting seems to be the best take on CBD at this point. It’s not a sleep aid, again this is just my opinion based on the research that I have read.

What research was done prior to see how low THC and high CBD, work on patients in comparison to a 1:1 ratio or anything more THC dominant?

Well, I’m not a doctor so I can’t give any medical advice but what I can say is that people seem to experience a more clear headed and balanced high, without an overwhelming amount of psycho active effects. I would recommend for people to try them and feel the difference between a 1:1 ratio or a 1:2 ratio versus high THC.

As you work on such a large scale, what approach is taken when farming the land and how does organics play a part in Humboldt?

We don’t work on such a large scale as seed production requires a much smaller space than flower production. We also select so a lot of times they become a lot more intimate scenarios as opposed to large scale. We are encouraging a lot of farmers to take a very conscious approach to cultivation as the margins are really good for the first time for farmers with a product that isn’t subsidized.

So we have encouraged everybody along the way to use poly culture concepts to re-invigorate their land and help to support more closed loop concepts as people are now becoming more involved with hemp. Organics is always been a part of how we have done things over the last decade, as we became more educated we have now found that sustainable concepts need to evolve into regenerative concepts.

How does farming large scale hemp production benefit the environment in your opinion and what needs to be considered?

Large scale farming isn’t beneficial for the environment so we need to take that into consideration, already as most of our land has been depleted over the last for five generations of farming. Now what can benefit from is the transformation of the use of new techniques for cultivation including poly culture and regenerative concepts into agricultural practice.

This is a must for us to repair the damage that has been done for so long. Industrial hemp is a bioremediator and could provide a lot of benefit to cleaning up certain types of waste and toxicity build up or heavy metal. Regardless, they still do demand nutrition and take from the soil, as we need to make sure that we have healthy practices to keep our land replenished in carbon rich matter and microbiological diversity.

Finally...When will Sovereign Fields be available and where can our readers find out more?

Kush hemp is available now with our other varieties all in production now ready in late spring as well, will be available throughout the spring, summer and fall. So please be in touch with us as we would love to share in these amazing new creations. If you go to www.sovereignfields.com, or you can email us at info@sovereignfields.com

Big Thanks for your time and keep up the great work Soft Secrets!