- [Narrator] These plants are cannabis and they might be illegal in Nebraska, or they might be legal.

This cannabis is classified as hemp, and it's legal here.

(upbeat digital music) By law to qualify as hemp, a plant must contain less than 0.3% THC, the main psychoactive substance in cannabis, a level so low, it's not known to be intoxicating.

That means in states like Nebraska, exceeding the narrow threshold for THC in hemp can result in a loss of an entire harvest.

- We have to find some way to prevent entire crops from being destroyed, if they're just above that, that, that illegal limit, right?

That 0.3%.

(machine whirring) - THC content can rise or fall at any stage of breeding, growing or processing.

- Hemp is kind of like a little baby.

You don't, they don't, it doesn't always do what you want it to do.

So sometimes depending on temperature and climate conditions, the controlling the cannabinoid levels can be difficult.

So it's, it's not easy.

- Cannabinoids are the compounds in cannabis that interact with specialized receptors in our brains and bodies.

THC is just one of the ingredients that the plant can produce, sometimes up to levels of about 25 to 30%.

- And we're down here trying to deal with 0.3% THC.

So there's a huge difference.

- Sweetwater Hemp began processing hemp in 2020.

The company purchases the plant and extracts cannabidiol or CBD another cannabinoid from the plant.

But unlike THC, it does not produce a high.

They've cultivated a couple of research crops in their greenhouses.

Growers use genetics to engineer plants that repress their own THC content.

- They keep being able to find that genetic, create that, that cannabinoid and have that type of plant that creates that specific cannabinoid.

- Where the hemp is planted may cause drastic swings in the THC level.

Sweetwater recognized it's research crop in one of its greenhouses produced high quality plants that push the boundaries on THC content.

- Those plants, they have the best of both worlds of not dealing with high extremes outside of wind and conditions and, and and those kinds of things.

And they just really push and thrive really fast.

- Two weeks before Sweetwater's anticipated harvest, state regulators are called to take random samples of the crop.

The plants are sent to an independent lab.

Nebraska-based Kennebec is one of the first in the state to get the needed certifications.

- We take the sample, we grind it.

We sieve it to get the seeds and the stems out.

We grind it again to make a very, very fine powder.

And then using organic solvents, we extract the cannabinoids.

- The final report provides measurements of a whole range of cannabinoids.

And most importantly determines whether the THC falls within the 0.3% legal limit.

- I think it's, what's, what's challenging for us, and we keep it always at the forefront, is how important and serious this measurement is.

That it means the difference between harvesting and marketing a field of hemp, a greenhouse of hemp, or destroying your crops.

- If there is too much THC, the law demands every single plant in the batch be destroyed.

Those black buckets are all that remains of a recent Sweetwater hemp crop that tested over 0.3.

- I was 0.39 on my very first one and 10 days before that I was 0.26.

- The team considers it to be part of the learning curve.

- The first time you grew corn, was it perfect?

No.

The first time you grow soybeans, was it perfect?

No.

- Next step, turning the acquired plants into product.

Even if the crop hits that legal THC mark, the same rules apply to what's extracted from the hemp.

The flower gets hand stripped off the buds, which are soaked in ice water and filtered.

- And it then goes through 1, 2, 3, 3 filters.

Before it comes out as bubble hash.

- The bubble hash is blended with a concentrated version of coconut oil, which becomes the base ingredients for the dozens of CBD-based products on the market.

- And the hard part about that is you want to be as close to that 0.3 as possible because THC kind of has a bad reputation.

But THC is going to help that product to be better.

- Some industry players and consumers think cannabis compounds like THC help boost the medicinal qualities of CBD, but scientists say we need more data.

There's one other way hemp growers could stay out of trouble; change the federal law and increase the amount of THC allowed.

- And I think raising the threshold on that would help, especially Nebraska farmers, with growing industrial hemp.

So they don't have to be so diligent about catching that plant before it's gone over that limit.

- Whether the law changes or not, those processing and marketing hemp see the crop has its own distinct place in the market.

- Even in places where cannabis with higher levels of THC remains illegal.

(traffic sounds) - Oh, it's amazing.

And I really look forward to how it's going to change.

I think that these plants have so much to offer in terms of medicinal properties and other things.

There's a lot of good that comes out of this plant.