Described is a processing machine for processing relatively short fibre plants such as flax and relatively long fibre plants such as hemp. The processing machine comprises a self-propelling vehicle comprising a vehicle chassis provided with a first conveyor for transporting at least parts of the fibre plants from a first end to an opposite second end, and a second conveyor for transporting at least parts of the fibre plants from the first end to the second end, first and second delivering units provided at or close to the second end for the purpose of delivering and placing on the ground surface the fibre plants coming from respectively the first and second conveyor, and wherein the vehicle chassis comprises first mounting means for mounting of, as desired, either a first exchangeable picking unit or a second exchangeable picking unit.

A hemp harvester which strips the leaves and flowers from the stalks and branches of a hemp plant and separates them for subsequent processing includes a branch lifter for lifting and bunching the branches of the hemp plants as the harvester advances towards them; a stripper with counter rotating stripper rollers having radially extending resiliently flexible paddles which converge as said rolls turn to trap said flowers and leaves between them and strip the flowers and leaves from said stalks and branches; a capture system for capturing the separated flowers and leaves as they are stripped from the stalk and branches of the plants, a transfer and mulcher system for mulching and transferring said flowers and leaves from said capture system to a collection chamber; and an uprooting system for uprooting and collecting the stripped plants as said hemp harvester passes.

One embodiment of the present invention relates to an insertion plate disposed on an external surface of a cannabis bucking machine configured to receive cannabis plants containing stems and buds. The insertion plate includes a top surface, a first angled surface, a second angled surface, and a bottom surface. One or more additional angled surfaces may also be included. The first angled surface includes a plurality of insertion recesses and the second angled surface includes a plurality of insertion channels. The insertion recesses and channels are substantially conically shaped to function as a funnel for receiving larger cannabis bunches. The unique correspondence between the angle of the surfaces and the shape of the recesses allows feeders to efficiently insert larger cannabis bunches and continue to feed as the bunches are levered down from the insertion recesses to the insertion channels.

A sorrel de-seeder that facilitates the stripping of sepals from the seed of a sorrel bud.

A hemp flower, bud, and leaf material stripping machine having a housing, a motor and gearbox that drive a pair of rollers inside the housing, an adjustable locking shaft that adjusts and maintains a space and pressure between the rollers, and a series of feed holes of different diameters on a front side of the housing. Each feed hole is constructed to strip flowers, buds, and leaves from a hemp stem as the stem is inserted into a feed hole and is pulled through the feed hole by the rollers. The flowers, buds, and leaves are severed from the stem at an exterior of the front side of the housing, without damage to the flowers, buds, and leaves. The feed hole is constructed with close tolerance so that the stem can pass through the feed hole but the flowers, buds, and leaves cannot. Hemp stems are stripped in seconds. The flowers, buds, and leaves are not crushed, cut, torn, or compressed as they are severed and fall into a container.

A method and device for harvesting plants belonging to the family of hemp plants (Cannabaceae), in particular of the genus Hemp, with which the harvesting and separation of the individual plant parts is made possible without damaging the individual plant parts. In particular, during harvesting, the hemp stems are pulled downwards by a pair of rollers and the flowers are pulled backwards through a chain gap, whereby the flowers are stripped from the stems.

A unique method of harvesting hemp plants is useful to isolate the leafy/flower-budded crop canopy from lower stalks of the plants to enable separate collection thereof, whereby CBD rich leaves/buds of the canopy can be processed more efficiently at an off-site facility. The harvesting method includes performing a first cutting operation at an elevated cutting height, during which the tops of the plants are detached from remnant lower stalks left standing in the field, and the detached plant tops are laid in a windrow or collected in an accompanying collection receptacle. A second cutting operation performed over the same field area at a lower cutting height serves to cut the lower stalks from the field and lay these cuttings into a separate windrow that is entirety isolated from the cut plant tops. This enables separate storage, transport and post-harvest processing of the different materials.

A method for processing hemp to form a dry hemp product including cannabinoid oil comprises steps of: (i) cutting hemp plants growing in a field between about 85 days and about 120 days after seeding, such that the hemp plants include at least one of leaves and flower buds but are free of seed; (ii) drying the hemp plants to a prescribed moisture content of about 5% to about 15%, by leaving the hemp plants in the field to air dry; (iii) shaking the hemp plants to shear said at least one of the leaves and the flower buds from stalks of the hemp plants so as to form separated stalks and said at least one of the leaves and the flower buds which are not deformed; and (iv) screening the separated stalks and the leaves and/or the flower buds so as to be separated from one another.

Described is a processing machine for processing relatively short fibre plants such as flax and relatively long fibre plants such as hemp. The processing machine comprises a self-propelling vehicle comprising a vehicle chassis provided with a first conveyor for transporting at least parts of the fibre plants from a first end to an opposite second end, and a second conveyor for transporting at least parts of the fibre plants from the first end to the second end, first and second delivering units provided at or close to the second end for the purpose of delivering and placing on the ground surface the fibre plants coming from respectively the first and second conveyor, and wherein the vehicle chassis comprises first mounting means for mounting of, as desired, either a first exchangeable picking unit or a second exchangeable picking unit.

An apparatus for trimming plant material includes a rotatable tumbler through which the plant material is to be axially propagated while rotationally tumbling, and a plurality of cutting reel systems adjacent the tumbler. The plurality of cutting reel systems includes a first cutting reel system adjacent the tumbler, and a second cutting reel system adjacent a landing zone of the rotatable tumbler. The landing zone is an angular range about the axis of the tumbler within which plant material tends to land on the tumbler after tumbling through a central volume of the tumbler.