Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast

On this week’s hemp podcast, we listen to a panel discussion from the NoCo Hemp Expo that took place in Colorado earlier this month. The panelists were Rachel Berry, a farmer and founder of the Illinois Hemp Growers Association; Terry Moran, a sales rep from Kanda Hemp, an importer of Asian hemp varieties; Corbett Miteff from KonopiUS, an importer of European hemp genetics; and Larry Smart, a geneticist and plant breeder from Cornell University. The panel discussion was moderated by Eric Singular who described the topic of discussion as “the intersection of agronomy and genetics in hemp fiber production.” Smart talked about starting the breeding program at Cornell and how trying to meet the needs of the industry has been a roller coaster ride. “But certainly right now the demand is for fiber,” Smart said. “So we have been focused on breeding fiber hemp. And the main trait that we see as valuable in fiber hemp is very late flowering.” Because hemp is a photoperiodic crop, it will stop growing taller once it starts to flower. “If we can identify varieties that continue to grow and do not transition to flowering, those are going to create the greatest amount of biomass,” he said. Typically, later-flowering varieties are adapted to tropical or subtropical latitudes, he said. Moran spoke about the need for seed in the U.S. as the industry grows. “The main thing to think about is if you’re going to get to 250,000 acres,” he said, “is where’s that seed going to come from?” Asia and Europe are the likely sources based on current trends. “And I don’t see that changing in the near term. And even if there’s some great variety out there, it’s going to take several years to scale that,” Moran said. Berry, a first-generation farmer in Illinois, spoke about the importance of genetic research and how she worked with the Midwestern Hemp Research Collaborative. The group provided genetics that were tailored to Berry’s region, one of which she said provided amazing results. “Having folks like you who are doing the research on these genetics and providing them to farmers like me to eliminate all that trial and error, I’m so grateful for that,” Berry said. Miteff described his work with processing methods, various fiber lengths, and the defibrillation of cellulose. “At end of the day, we’re trying to find things where we can get some really good fiber that we can break apart that cellulose and start using it,” Miteff said. “But at the same time, how do we get the grain off of it?” he asked, a question that took the panelists into a conversation about dual cropping varieties that produce both fiber and grain. Learn more: Eric Singular https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-singular Pennsylvania Flax Project https://paflaxproject.com/ Illinois Hemp Growers Association https://www.illinoishga.com/ Cornell University Hemp Program https://hemp.cals.cornell.edu/ KonopiUS https://www.konopius.com/ Kanda Hemp https://kandahemp.com/ Noco Hemp Expo https://www.nocohempexpo.com/ News Nuggets HempWood https://hempwood.com/ Coolest Thing Made in Kentucky https://coolestthingky.com/ USDA's 2023 National Hemp Report https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Pennsylvania/Publications/Survey_Results/2024/hempan24.pdf Thanks to Our Sponsors! IND HEMP https://indhemp.com/ Mpactful Ventures https://www.mpactfulventures.org/ Forever Green https://www.hempcutter.com/ HUGE THANK YOU TO SUNRAY HEMP in ALASKA Music courtesy of Tin Bird Shadow https://tinbirdshadow.bandcamp.com/album/dot-dot-dot

On this 420 Bonus show, we share an episode of one of our favorite podcasts, Rumble Strip. It’s made by Erica Heilman who tells stories of rural Vermont. On this episode she interviews Vermonter John Rodgers, a stonemason the Northeast Kingdom, where he also runs a construction business, plows driveways and rents properties, and for sixteen years he served in the Vermont Legislature in both the House and the Senate. He works all the time so he can hold onto the farm that's been in his family for 200 years. It was a dairy when he was growing up there. Now he's growing weed for Vermont retailers. Thank you to Erica Heilman at Rumble Strip for letting us share this episode! Please go to her website and listen to more episodes of Rumble Strip: https://www.rumblestripvermont.com/

This week’s hemp podcast is a recap of the 10th annual NoCo Hemp Expo in Estes Park, Colorado, April 11-13, where industry stakeholders gathered to collaborate, commiserate and celebrate the state of hemp in 2024. The episode features voices from many attendees, including Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. “We’re really all hands on deck to make sure Colorado continues to be an ag powerhouse, and hemp is a big part of that,” Polis said. State Ag Commissioner Kate Greenberg agreed with the governor and said the “conversation is really just diversified in what hemp is capable of.” Hemp researcher Przemyslaw Baraniecki came all the way from the Institute of Natural Fibres and Medicinal Plants in Poland, where hemp was never prohibited yet still carries a stigma. “In Europe, when you when you say to someone on the street ‘hemp,’ they will smile and treat it as something, let’s say, spicy,” Baraniecki said. Karll Lecher from Dakota Hemp Co. in South Dakota echoed those sentiments and the industry is being held back by conflicting messaging. “We just need one unifying voice to enlighten the public about hemp and maybe get rid of some of those stigmas,” he said. The Hemp Twins — Abigail and Noemy Cuevas — from Los Angeles have been hosting workshops and events back home for years to educate the public and spread the message of hemp. For Noemy, hempcrete construction is one of the bright spots in the hemp industry. “Living in Los Angeles, California, we have a lot of wildfires, so if we would have hemp building, then we will be able to save people’s homes, people’s lives,” she said. Andrew Bish from Hemp Harvest Works, an equipment manufacturer from Nebraska, was showcasing a recent research-scale decorticator. “We produced this for universities around the country, as well as processors that want to work to ultimately grade their herd and fiber products,” he said. You will hear many voices from all over the world on this week’s show, plus you’ll hear about the time spent with Danny DesJarlais and the crew from the Lower Sioux from Minnesota. Thank you to the following voices featured in this week's episode: Aaron Appleby Andrew Bish, Hemp Harvest works Caroline Matthews, Tatham Colorado Department of Ag Colorado Office of the Governor Abigail and Noemy Cuevas, The Hemp Twins, Hemp Traders Bethany Niebauer, Industrial Hemp Research Foundation Raven Faber, EngErotics Nianyi Gan, Kanda Hemp Patrick Atagi, NIHC Przemyslaw Baraniecki, Institute of Natural Fibres and Medicinal Plants Thanks to our sponsors! IND HEMP https://indhemp.com/ Americhanvre https://americhanvre.com/ Forever Green https://www.hempcutter.com/ SunRay Hemp Music Courtesy of Tin Bird Shadow.

On this week’s hemp podcast, Lancaster Farming talks to Steve Groff from Cedar Meadow Farm in Holtwood, Lancaster County, where he is getting ready to plant 70 acres of industrial hemp. “This year it’s all fiber. And we’ll probably plant about 10 varieties,” Groff said. Of those 10, about a third will be what he calls his “core varieties“ that have performed well previously on his farm or in the Mid-Atlantic region in general. “We are going to be testing several other newer varieties that might perform well, that we need to basically, I’ll say, ground-truth and see how they work,” he said. As the post-prohibition hemp industry puts itself back together, one of the many riddles to solve is what plant genetics will work where, which is why Groff is so keen on trying new varieties — he enjoys figuring stuff out, and if his work on the farm can help grow an industry, that’s even better. Groff, well known for his pioneering work and educational efforts in no-till farming and cover crops, has been growing hemp on his farm since 2019, the first season it was legal to grow commercially in Pennsylvania. His interest in hemp is full spectrum. He’s grown hemp on his farm for CBD, grain and fiber, but this year his focus is exclusively on fiber — not just growing it, but also how to process. Groff is a partner in Hemp Katalyst, an aspirational hemp processing company focused on research and development. “So we’ve been experimenting with several different variations of processing. And as everybody knows, there’s a lot involved,” he said. Groff said that ultimately the varieties that farmers grow will be determined by how it’s used, and that manufacturers will provide specs for processors. But the industry is not there yet, so Groff pushes forward with “experimental micro processing.” “And so we’re trying to back up from what our customers want and figure it out so that when we do invest in larger scale machinery, we get it right the first time.” “I love doing the cover crops because it helped farmers. It helped the environment. It checked all the boxes,” Groff said. “And the nice thing about hemp is it does all those things too, but it’s enhanced because it a stronger connection to everyone.” Or, as we say on the podcast, cannabis loves community. Groff also discussed his recent work with Penn State’s College of Medicine. Groff grows CBG and CBD varieties of hemp for their medical research. From food, fiber and fuel to building materials and medicine — the list goes on and on — Groff said he can’t think of another plant that God made that benefits humanity in more ways than hemp. Learn more about Cedar Meadow Farm https://cedarmeadow.farm/ Learn more about Hemp Katalyst https://www.hempkatalyst.com/ New Nuggets IND HEMP Earns B Corp Certification https://www.bakersfield.com/ap/news/ind-hemp-earns-prestigious-b-corp-certification/article_6a68890d-1ee4-524f-975b-c38286b68ecb.html Commercial Operations Begin at Panda Biotech’s Massive Wichita Falls Hemp Gin https://dallasinnovates.com/commercial-operations-begin-at-panda-biotechs-massive-wichita-falls-hemp-gin/ Thanks to our sponsors! IND HEMP https://indhemp.com/ National Hemp Association https://nationalhempassociation.org/ Mpactful Ventures https://www.mpactfulventures.org/ Forever Green, distributors of the KP-4 Hemp Cutter https://www.hempcutter.com/ Music Courtesy of Tin Bird Shadow.

On this bonus episode we talk to Andrew Bish and Morgan Tweet from the Hemp Feed Coalition, the advocacy group that has been working for four years to get hemp grain approved as a livestock feed. Opening up the feed markets is the one of the most important issues in the hemp industry today. Hemp grain was given tentative approval by AAFCO in January, with a final vote in August. On this episode the HFC folks respond to a recent blog post published by Agriculture Policy Solutions, another advocacy group with deep ties to the hemp industry, a blog post which at best confuses the issue and at worst jeopardizes the likelihood of hemp’s approval in August. Then we hear from Hunter Buffington from Agriculture Policy Solutions and author of the blog post in question. She defends her position and lays out why she wrote and why she chose to publish it now. She raised a few questions that needed answered so we talked to Morgan Tweet from HFC again. Hopefully this episode sheds some light on the messy process of getting ingredients approved for livestock. Hemp Feed Coalition https://hempfeedcoalition.org/ Agriculture Policy Solutions http://www.agpolicysolutions.com/ as TENTATIVE DEFINITION FOR HEMPSEED MEAL Moves forward, APS Constituents have concerns http://www.agpolicysolutions.com/news/tentative-definition-for-hempseed-meal-has-been-described-as-a-poison-pill-for-the-hemp-industry Response to Industry Questions Around Tentative Definition and Potential Concerns on Cannabinoid Thresholds https://hempfeedcoalition.org/2024/03/29/response-to-industry-questions-around-tentative-definition-and-potential-concerns-on-cannabinoid-thresholds/

In this week’s hemp podcast, Lancaster Farming speaks with Ken Meyer, beekeeper and hemp processor from South Dakota. Meyer and his family run a fourth-generation beekeeping business as well as the state’s first industrial hemp processing facility. As a young man, Meyer enjoyed beekeeping but was encouraged by his elders to get an education instead of going into the family business, which he did, and he had a fruitful career as lawyer. In 2013, his dad and brother successfully recruited him back into the family business of keeping bees, and today he oversees the beeswax rendering facility as vice president of A.H. Meyer & Sons, the business started by his great-grandfather over 90 years ago. Honeybees are known for their industriousness, efficiency and community spirit, not to mention the vital ecological services they provide, including the pollination of many of our food crops. “The number that we often talk about is that every third bite of what we eat,” Meyer said, is made possible because of bees. And beekeepers. Some of that industriousness and community spirit must have rubbed off on Meyer. In 2020, he co-founded the South Dakota Industrial Hemp Association, and has since been on a mission to bring full-scale production of industrial hemp to the state. Since 2020, he and his SDIHA colleagues have conducted nearly a hundred educational meeting for farmers to show them the benefits of including fiber hemp in their corn and soy rotations. Simultaneous to his educational efforts, Meyer has led the way in bringing processing capacity to the Mount Rushmore State. In 2023, he and his crew opened Complete Hemp Processing at a 25,000- square-foot facility, which includes a decortication system and mechanical drying area. His outreach efforts to farmers have paid off. “Last year, we contracted for 1,600 acres,” he said. “This year, we’re right at 2,000 acres.” The increase is twofold: more farmers have signed up to grow, and some of his existing farmers have increased their acreage of hemp. “It’s definitely a mix of both. So for example, one or two farmers that did 300 acres last year, this year are doing 500 each,” he said. Corn prices are also having a positive effect on hemp acres. “Last year when we signed up hemp farmers, we paid them $300 a ton for their (hemp) stalks. They were getting the same money they were getting for corn when corn was at $7 a bushel,” Meyer said. But now corn is in the $4 a bushel range, and South Dakota farmers “have that extra margin in there where hemp is better than corn, because we haven’t brought our prices down as corn prices have dropped,” Meyer said. The processing facility is in Winfred, about 60 miles northwest of Sioux City. Meyer said most of the hemp production in South Dakota takes place in the eastern half, as the western part of the state is mostly ranchland. He said the corn and soy growers he’s working with generally already have the equipment they need to plant and harvest and bale the fiber crop. “The farmers bring the bales to us, per our contract, at roughly the rate of a third of their harvest at harvest time. And then a few months out into the second quarter, they bring a second third,” he said. “And then as we’re coming into the spring, they bring the last third of their bales,” Meyer said. The hemp is processed into two main lines: bast fiber and hurd. Meyer said the majority of the processed hemp hurd goes into the hemp animal bedding market, while some goes into the hemp-lime, or hempcrete, building industry. According to USDA’s national hemp report, South Dakota led the nation in harvested acres of industrial hemp in 2022 with 2,550 acres, in no small part thanks to Ken Meyer and his crew. As hemp becomes more common in the state, the marijuana stigma has lessened, Meyer said. “The first year when we were educating people, we would hear people ask questions or make jokes about industrial hemp being marijuana,” he said,” and who was going to come and steal the crop and those kind of things.” But none of those things ever happen, Meyer said, and now just a few years later, no one is making those jokes. “So after some education, attitude is changed quite a bit,” Meyer said. Learn more about Complete Hemp Processing https://www.completehempprocessing.com/ Learn more about A.H. Meyer & Sons https://www.meyerhoneyfarms.com/ Thanks to our sponsors! IND HEMP 
https://indhemp.com/ King’s Agriseeds https://kingsagriseeds.com/ The Pennsylvania Industrial Hemp Council https://www.pahic.org/ Forever Green and the KP4 Hemp Cutter
 https://www.hempcutter.com/ Topics discussed in this interview: Industrial Hemp Processing in South Dakota Complete Hemp Processing Center Location and footprint Drying process for bales Contracting with farmers in South Dakota Increase in industrial acreage from previous year Reasons for hemp vs corn Challenges and education for new hemp growers Regulations for hemp growers in South Dakota Ken Meyer's family business Beekeeping history Origin (Switzerland) Migratory beekeeping Facilities for beekeeping services (wax rendering, honey packing) Impact of mites on beekeeping Number of hives currently managed by Ken Meyer Bee species used (European honeybee) Intersection of bees and hemp Potential of hemp protein for bees Nutritional benefits for bees Addressing seasonal pollen shortage Stimulating bee growth before almond pollination

On this bonus episode of the Hemp Podcast, we talk to Mike Mercadante from Right Coast Hemp in Manahawkin, New Jersey, where the company is holding the first of a series of hands-on hempcrete work shops, May 10-12. The workshops are intended to give local builders and contractors a chance to get to know hemp as a material and see how the hempcrete process works. Learn more about Right Coast Hemp https://rchemp.com/ Learn more about Hearts of Mercy https://hearts-of-mercy.org/ Register for the workshop May 10-12 https://rchemp.com/learn-to-build-with-hemp-workshop/ Thanks to our sponsors: IND HEMP Americhanvre National Hemp Association Forever Green King's Agriseeds Pennsylvania Hemp Industry Council SunRay Hemp  

This week’s podcast guest Mattie Mead competed in a 2013 pitch competition at Hobart College in Geneva, New York. He had just shared his vision for a company that made building materials out of hemp. “One of the judges for the contest said, ‘So let me get this straight, you’re looking to build houses out of a Schedule 1 substance?’ “And I said, well, ‘Yes.’ “Today it’s a Schedule 1 substance, but in five or so years it’s going to be federally legal,” Mead said. “And I want to be on the forefront of what I believe to be an emerging industry.” Indeed, industrial hemp was legalized with the 2018 Farm Bill and today Mead is co-founder and CEO of Hempitecture, a building materials manufacturing company in Idaho. “We’re focused on what we believe are the most truly sustainable building materials on the planet,” Mead said.  “And as you could probably guess by our name, our not-so-secret ingredient is hemp fiber.” Hempitecture makes several construction materials from hemp, including HempWool thermal insulation, a plant-based alternative to fiberglass insulation. Another product line is FiberPad, a hemp-fiber-based, non-toxic carpet underlayment. Hempitecture brought a state-of-the-art manufacturing center online in early 2023 in Jerome, Idaho. The company sources hemp fibers from Montana and Alberta, but recently a processor in Idaho — Whitefield Global — has come into operation, providing Hempitecture with fibers produced by farmers in Idaho. “Seeing this kind of movement towards industrial hemp cultivation in the Rocky Mountain West — and seeing it move closer and closer to our manufacturing plant — is really encouraging,” Mead said. He also talks about his company’s latest round of fundraising. “We opened up our second round to the public on March 18. And within the first day of going public, we’ve put $740,000 of reservations in this investment round,” he said. He also speaks about expanding Hempitecture by building a second manufacturing facility in upstate New York. “As we look towards expansion on the East Coast, we want to use our Idaho facility as a blueprint and replicate that blueprint nationally,” Mead said. Also on this podcast episode, we hear from Morris Beegle, founder of the NoCo Hemp Expo taking place in Colorado in April. We’ll have a handful of news nuggets as well, including a story about kitty litter made from hemp. Invest in Hempitecture https://wefunder.com/hempitecture Learn more about Hempitecture https://www.hempitecture.com/ News Nuggets All Walks Pet Products Hemp Litter https://allwalkspet.com/ Get Your Tickets for Noco Hemp Expo, April 11 - 13 https://www.nocohempexpo.com/ Hemp-Lime Appendix Published in 2024 US Residential Housing Codes https://www.hempbuildmag.com/home/irc-hemp-lime State attorneys general urge Congress to address risks posed by intoxicating hemp products https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/20/intoxicating-hemp-products-state-attorneys-general-congress-00147819 Manufacturing skis from hemp tapes https://www.knittingindustry.com/manufacturing-skis-from-hemp-tapes/  

  Hemp Podcast guest James “Jimmy” Cottrell II is a fourth-generation paper maker at family-owned Cottrell Paper in Saratoga County, New York. He started cutting the grass in high school and began working at the mill after graduation, and has worked his way up. Today he is director of maintenance for the mill and vice president of Mill26, Cottrell Paper’s hemp paper brand. The company was founded in 1926 when Cottrell’s great-grandfather began making electrical insulation paper. “We’ve always produced electrical insulating sheet,” Cottrell said. “It’s a specialty product, and nobody else in the world makes exactly the same sheet we make.” Cottrell Paper’s products are in numerous consumer goods “We’re in cars. We’re in automotive. We’re in a lot of things that are in your household items, your dishwashers, little parts and pieces everywhere,” Cottrell said. “But we’ve never actually sold to a consumer where people know who Cottrell Paper is.” The company operates in the same paper mill in Rock City Falls, along the Kayaderosseras Creek, where 19th-century industrialist and the so-called “Paper Bag King” George West is said to have invented the paper bag, a story in which Cottrell finds inspiration. “So to come full circle now 150 years later, to invent a hemp sheet and build another paper bag in this mill...,” Cottrell said. “I feel that’s a threat to the paper bag itself, because we got something new in the same old place.” Mill26 Hemp Paper During the days of COVID when the world slowed to a snail’s pace, Cottrell put the time to good use. “We ventured into trying to make a new line,” he said. “We got a little slow, like everybody did, and started getting some stalks and stems in, and we started processing some hemp.” At first he bought hemp out of Canada and the Netherlands, but has lately been sourcing material from Texas. “The United States is catching up, and we’re just a little bit behind, you know, overseas everywhere,” he said. He said he wants clean bast fiber at a 95:5 ratio of bast to hurd. The bast fibers are the long strands that make up the outer portion of the stalk and the hurd is the inner woody core, often used for hempcrete construction and horse bedding. “Everybody has their own classification right now of what 95 five is,” he said, “but we really need the cleanest bast fibers around to make the best papers that we can make here at Mill 26.” Cottrell Paper decided to brand their hemp paper line independently as Mill26 to attract new costumers and to avoid any negative association with marijuana. Cottrell said his warehouse is full and he is ready for business. “We can sell rolls, we can sell sheets, we can sell coils. We can sell paper bags from size two to size 12. We can print your logo on it up to four colors,” he said. “You can buy a thousand quantities all the way up to million quality bags.” The implications of Mill26 hemp paper are wide. A durable, tree-free paper has the potential to disrupt many industries and usher in a new era of regenerative consumer packaging (and maybe the newspapers). “I really feel that it can help change so many industries and then help change this planet and the ecological footprint and our carbon footprint here at Cottrell Paper itself,” Cottrell said. Mill26 Hemp Paper https://mill26.com/ Cottrell Paper https://www.cottrellpaper.com/ Thanks to our Sponsors! IND HEMP https://indhemp.com/ Americhanvre Cast-Hemp https://americhanvre.com/ Forever Green https://www.hempcutter.com/  

This is a special weekend edition of the Hemp Podcast. Lancaster Farming speaks with Geoff Whaling, chair of the National Hemp Association. I will update the details of this episode soon. For now, enjoy the audio. Learn more: National Hemp Association https://nationalhempassociation.org/   Thanks to our sponsors! IND HEMP https://indhemp.com/ Americhanvre https://americhanvre.com/ Forever Green, distributors of the KP4 Hemp Cutter https://www.hempcutter.com/