Phylos, a Portland-based hemp and cannabis science company, has brought its first hemp seed, called AutoCBD, to market — with the notable perk of having an average maturity rate of just 75 days, far faster than a typical hemp seed. AutoCBD is a day-neutral hemp variety that has both CBD-rich biomass for extraction and smokable flower. Hemp for grain, for example, usually takes 90 to 120 days to mature, so AutoCBD has the potential to offer an extra growing cycle annually in regions with long growing seasons.
AutoCBD has been evaluated with data from partnerships with more than 30 farmers, ag retailers, and universities who ran 40 field demonstrations across the United States last summer and fall. The attributes of this autoflower variety address a range of harvesting issues. By enabling early processing, farmers can avoid supply chain bottlenecks, reduce late-season weather-related production risks, and increase rotation flexibility bolstering overall crop predictability.
This third-generation autoflower hemp seed is one of the first products released from Phylos’ in-licensing program. Our Phylos Tested AutoCBD hemp seeds are backed by rigorous analysis that includes chemical, feminization, germination, and genetic testing. Beyond the scientific analysis, Phylos has a team of technical field agronomists who are on the ground supporting farmers in planting, cultivation, and harvest to further mitigate risk in growing what is essentially a new crop without a recent history to fall back on
AutoCBD is a compact, female plant that can deliver as much biomass per acre as photosensitive varieties at lower overall production costs. The compact and uniform autoflower plant is particularly well suited to mechanized harvest, greatly reducing the burdensome manual labor required by most full-term hemp varieties.
Phylos is selling and supporting the AutoCBD product line this coming planting season through distribution partners with plans to release in-house developed seeds in 2021 and beyond.
