Learn how the company worked with ABM Equipment and Kason Corp. to overcome a number of hemp processing challenges.
June 17, 2021
In 2018, native Oregonian and local hemp and vegetable farmer Billy Toshef sensed that his home state was on the precipice of a unique opportunity for positive, transformative growth through cannabis.
Could he leverage the crop in a way that improved the health and wellbeing of the people and farming community, supporting independent farm ownership while also providing new jobs and income for farmers and workers? The hemp industry needed a home port in Oregon, and Toshef felt that he had the vision and the means to spearhead the initiative. His partner Jacob Crabtree agreed, and so the duo launched Columbia Hemp Trading Co. to put their plan into motion.
The startup posed some initial challenges. While Tosheff and his new colleagues had ample experience in organic farming and processing, they quickly realized that the characteristics of cannabis posed distinctive logistical problems from a harvesting and distribution standpoint.
If they had any hope of ramping up production and achieving their mission of bringing the benefits of hemp and CBD to a global community, they needed to first address the challenges specific to cannabis drying and processing in an environment that lacked industry background and experience to lean on.
As their volumes increased in tandem with their understanding of the complexities of hemp and cannabis drying, CHTC turned to a longtime processing partner ABM Equipment of Vancouver, WA, for help. For the venture to have a fighting chance of taking off in what was quickly becoming a competitive business landscape, it was critical that they equipped themselves with an integrated system capable of higher quality output, faster throughput, and massive cost reductions.
The call led to a unique three-way partnership between CHTC, ABM and Kason Corp. of Millburn, NJ, a well-known screening and processing equipment manufacturer with decades of success at demanding food- and pharmaceutical-grade applications. The collaboration led to the development of an innovative biomass processing system that features unique, patent-pending dual-stage drying technology. Thanks to ABM and Kason’s built-to-spec solution, the integrated continuous processing system has provided CHTC dramatic performance and cost advantages while finally giving the company a platform to scale to full-acreage crop volumes.
The innovative system has reduced production costs by more than 50% while preserving the terpene content, color, and aroma of the processed plant. The biomass processing equipment has also provided much-needed consistency in the drying process, targeting a 10% moisture content of the processed biomass at ambient temperature.
Challenges:
• Physical Characteristics: Compared to other biomass products, its inherent stickiness and toughness makes cannabis more challenging to process.
• Variability: Crops vary widely based on strain, soil conditions, weather, and other factors – each crop may require different settings for processing.
• Rapid Throughput: When crops are ready to be harvested, it must be dried within a week of harvesting. Otherwise, processors run the risk of having the biomass begin to decompose. Harvests come in at specific times of year and cannot be spaced over time.