Experience Hemp: 9th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo Offers 'Full Spectrum' of Educational Tracks, Networking Events
Experience Hemp: 9th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo Offers a ‘Full Spectrum’ of Educational Tracks, Expo Hall and Networking Events
December 9, 2022
For everyone with an interest in the business of hemp — from agriculturalists to investors, from entrepreneurs to product innovators, from retailers to researchers, and from advocates to the “hemp- and cannabis-curious” — the 9th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo offers a “full spectrum” of conference tracks to benefit you and your business. A networking lunch is included with each full-day conference track.
What: 9th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo
When: March 29-31, 2023
Where: The Broadmoor Resort, Colorado Springs, CO
Info: https://www.nocohempexpo.com/
Register for Noco9 early bird tickets: https://www.nocohempexpo.com/ticket-sales/
Loveland, CO (December 8, 2022) – The 9th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo will take place on March 29-31, 2023, at one of Colorado’s most legendary and historic resorts, The Broadmoor. Now is the time to reserve space to showcase your brand and products at this highly anticipated event – and certainly to mark your calendar to attend.
With roots dating back to the late 1800s and located at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs features a world-class setting, 315,000 square feet of new, state-of-the-art meeting and convention space, a lake, walking paths, a 36-hole golf course, a spa, restaurants, and premium lodging at a special rate for NoCo Hemp Expo attendees. Recently remodeled, the Broadmoor is committed to sustainability and has been awarded a Forbes Five-Star resort rating every year since 1960.
This year, NoCo9’s educational program will highlight investment and finance, science, technology, innovation, industry and consumer trends, regulatory and legislative news, BIPOC and diversity in hemp, advances in research, best practices in sustainable agriculture, and more. Covering all aspects of hemp over three days of programming, NoCo9’s comprehensive educational program is divided into the following tracks:
Advocacy & Policy
Hemp businesses are required to operate in a highly regulated, rapidly evolving environment. As a result, it’s critical to pay attention to legislation and what’s going on in regulatory agencies including the USDA, FDA and DEA, as well as various state-by-state regulations. By staying abreast of current legislation before Congress affecting hemp, CBD and cannabis, the hemp industry has a unique opportunity to create the regulatory environment it seeks, but not without advocacy, vigilance … and knowledge. This track will feature policymakers, regulators, legal specialists, and legislative advocates involved in advancing the market for hemp from inside the Beltway and in states across the country. Learn how what happens in Washington, D.C., affects your business, and how you can stay involved to affect outcomes that favor business growth and ultimately create greater access to hemp-derived products.
Business & Investment
NoCo Hemp Expo’s Business & Investment Track will bring together top business leaders and investors from around the world in the exciting convergence of industrial hemp, cannabis, natural products, technology & innovation, infrastructure, diversity & inclusion, capital markets, banking & financial services, ESG, and more. Learn from the stories of entrepreneurs, experts, and leaders from publicly traded companies. Garner data and information from market and economic analysts about what trends are on the horizon and, from investors, learn what's drawing their interest, where they're placing capital in the hemp and cannabis markets, and where they see future opportunities and risks. Gain valuable insights about what lies ahead for the business of hemp in the U.S., North America and throughout the world, and interact with key business influencers and investors in the market.
Agriculture & Academia
Hemp is entering its fifth year as a legal crop in the U.S. after more than 80 years of prohibition. The industry has experienced growing pains, but it also has seen significant advances in hemp agriculture and production techniques, as well as a renaissance in hemp and cannabis research. NoCo Hemp Expo’s Agriculture & Academia Track draws skilled farmers, researchers, educators, and specialists in genetics and plant breeding, soil health, sustainable and regenerative agriculture, pest control, harvest and post-harvest handling and storage, testing and compliance, and innovations in value-added processing and product development. Exploring the latest science, research, methodology, agricultural economics, domestic and international trade, and what’s happening in universities across the country, this full-day event also will focus on programs farmers can take advantage of, e.g., carbon credits, banking services, crop insurance, farm, harvest and processing equipment, and more.
Experience Hemp Expo Hall – The World of Hemp Under One Roof
In addition to the educational program, NoCo9 will feature the Experience Hemp Expo Hall in The Broadmoor’s new, state-of-the-art exhibition facilities. Featuring a world of hemp and business opportunities in 100,000 square feet, NoCo9 attendees can sample wares, learn about products and businesses, hold meetings and visit with more than 350 exhibitors. The Experience Hemp Expo Hall also will feature specialized zones, including:
Solution Circle – Visit this special educational zone on the trade show floor for quick solo presentations from experts and specialists innovating with hemp solutions across all industries, from automotive to zero-waste.
NoCo Demo Zone – Experience hands-on demonstrations and workshops featuring traditional and new applications of hemp, from the making of hemp textiles to using hemp in artisan craft production, as well as in building and construction.
Schedule at a Glance
- Advocacy & Policy Conference, Wednesday, March 29
- Welcome Party, Wednesday, March 29
- Business & Investment Conference, Thursday, March 30
- 2nd Annual NoCo Hemp Pitch, Thursday, March 30
- Agriculture & Academia Conference, Friday, March 31
- Experience Hemp Expo Hall: Thursday and Friday, March 30-31
- NoCo Hemp Expo After Party, Friday, March 31
Register Here for NoCo9 – $499 early bird Platinum tickets are still available. Visit https://www.nocohempexpo.com/ticket-sales/
First Citizens Bank, EarthX, Patagonia Lead Distinguished Group of Sponsors
NoCo Hemp Expo is also pleased to recognize our Sponsors, including First Citizens Bank, which returns as Presenting Sponsor after a successful experience at this past summer’s 4th Annual Southern Hemp Expo, held in August in Nashville, Tenn.
“Having a leading, agriculture-focused financial institution such as First Citizens Bank, with its 100-plus-year history of serving farmers and ag-related businesses, step up and serve as Presenting Sponsor of this year’s NoCo Hemp Expo is a huge statement, providing vital credibility and legitimization for the industry at a time when it’s needed most,” said Morris Beegle, NoCo9 Hemp Expo organizer and president and founder of We Are for Better Alternatives (WAFBA).
“We’re also thrilled to welcome EarthX as our Environmental NGO partner and Patagonia as Sustainable Apparel Sponsor. We are very excited about these categories to bring focus to areas where hemp can make a difference in sustainability and improving the environment,” Beegle said.
NoCo9 also will feature networking events, as well as the much anticipated 2nd Annual WAFBA Awards of Excellence, recognizing top leaders, innovators, educators, policymakers, and advocates in the hemp community.
For more information on sponsorship and exhibiting, please visit https://www.nocohempexpo.com/sponsors-and-exhibitors-request/
About NoCo Hemp Expo
For nearly a decade, NoCo Hemp Expo — the world’s most comprehensive industrial hemp exposition and conference — has brought together international business and government leaders, academia, nonprofits, media, and the public to collaborate on important initiatives, opportunities, and solutions for the future of a crop and an industry that can have a significant positive impact on human, animal, and planetary health.
The 9th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo is produced by We Are For Better Alternatives (WAFBA), a leading organization dedicated to the advancement and advocacy of hemp farming, processing, production, innovation, education, and legalization. WAFBA also is the publisher of Let's Talk Hemp, the industry's leading news source. Learn more about the hemp and cannabis industry, and subscribe to the latest news at www.letstalkhemp.com.
Contact
Morris Beegle, WAFBA, info@nocohempexpo.com
Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com, tel 303.807.1042
Hemp Industry Shifts from CBD to Food and Fiber, According to New Report
Photo: Pexels
This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s February 2022 Industry Newsletter
By Steve Hoffman
Look for the industrial hemp market to continue to grow in 2022, in spite of a few handicaps caused by continued regulatory uncertainty from the FDA and supply chain bottlenecks, according to the new Hemp Industry 2022 Opportunities Report published by Let’s Talk Hemp Media. The executive-level report provides an overview of the trends and potential strategies ahead in the growing industrial hemp sector, after hemp has been legalized in more than 65 countries this year.
Two things holding the hemp industry back in the U.S. are supply-chain bottlenecks and regulatory uncertainty, said report contributor Beau Whitney of Portland, OR-based Whitney Economics. “Once the market begins to mature, the future looks bright for the hemp industry,” Whitney noted.
The pandemic and a glut in biomass supply saw farmers turn away from hemp last year. Licensed acreage in 2021 dropped by 55% year-over-year to levels seen before the 2018 Farm Bill, according to the report. CBD market prices fell below production costs, due to a glut of product, as well.
However, a “bright spot was the supply and demand for fibers and grain,” the report said. Expect a “pivot” in the hemp industry as more farmers see the potential (albeit less profitable) of hemp fibers and grains, which are predicted to exceed acreage planted for CBD by 2024-25, Whitney projected.
Regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. has hampered the cannabinoid hemp industry because the FDA to date has refused to approve CBD as an ingredient for food and beverage or dietary supplements. However, CBD remains popular with consumers, and recently passed legislation in California sets health guidelines for hemp-derived CBD in food, beverages and cosmetics. That could be the green light for large multinational food companies waiting for FDA approval to add CBD to consumer products, experts believe.
In addition, hemp seed is viewed today as a superfood containing complete protein and omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids. Hemp protein is poised to become a staple ingredient in new plant-protein foods and is expected to grow to $109 billion by 2050, the report predicts.
The Hemp Industry 2022 Opportunities Report is available at LetsTalkHemp.com. The report is published by the producer of the 8th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo, the hemp industry’s most comprehensive trade show and conference, scheduled for March 23-25, 2022, in Denver, CO.
U.S. Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Legalize Sale of Hemp-derived CBD
This article originally appeared in the May 26, 2021 edition of the Let’s Talk Hemp Newsletter and Presence Marketing’s June 2021 Newsletter
By Steven Hoffman
In a bipartisan move, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Rand Paul (R-KY) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) on May 19 introduced S. 1698, the Hemp Access and Consumer Safety Act, in the U.S. Senate, a bill that would allow the sale of CBD and other hemp-derived ingredients in dietary supplements and in food and beverage products.
The Senate bill joins H.R. 841 a bill introduced in February 2021 in the U.S. House of Representatives to allow for the use of CBD in dietary supplements only. The Senate version also allows for hemp-derived CBD in food and beverage products.
According to a statement from Sen. Wyden’s office, currently, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act prohibits any new dietary ingredient, food, or beverage from entering the market if it has been studied or approved as a drug. The FDA has the authority to exempt items from this prohibition, however, the agency has yet to exempt hemp-derived CBD, despite Congressional action to legalize its production and sale.
By exempting hemp-derived CBD from the prohibition, the FDA can regulate hemp-derived CBD like all other new dietary ingredients, foods, and beverages, Sen. Wyden’s office said.
However, FDA, has stated that hemp-based CBD – or cannabidiol – cannot be lawfully marketed in dietary supplements or added to food and beverages because the compound was first studied as a drug and is currently the active ingredient in the GW Pharmaceuticals’ Epidiolex, approved by the FDA to treat certain forms of epilepsy.
According to a summary of S. 1698, the Hemp Access and Consumer Safety Act:
Gives hemp-derived CBD products an opportunity to lawfully be used in dietary supplements, foods and beverages under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
Prioritizes consumer safety, requiring manufacturers to comply with all existing federal regulations for the products that contain CBD.
Ensures that these products are properly labeled.
The Bill text can be found here.
The U.S. Hemp Roundtable encourages hemp industry members to urge their Senators to support S. 1698, the Hemp Access and Consumer Safety Act, and also to contact their Representatives to support H.R. 841, the Hemp and Hemp-Derived Consumer Protection and Market Stabilization Act. For your convenience, you can use a pre-written letter here.
The Hemp Access and Consumer Safety Acthas support from the Consumer Brands Association, the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, Hemp Roundtable, American Herbal Products Association, Oregon Farm Bureau, Vote Hemp, and the National Industrial Hemp Council. The following industry leaders submitted comments via press release, Sen. Wyden’s press announcement and direct submission:
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR): “CBD products are legally being used and produced across the nation. Yet because the FDA has failed to update its regulations, consumers and producers remain in a regulatory gray zone. It’s been more than two years since I worked with colleagues to have Congress legalize hemp and hemp-derived products. It’s long past time for the FDA to get with the program, for the sake of American consumers and farmers.”
Senator Rand Paul, (R-KY): “Hemp-derived CBD products and businesses have earned their recognition in the marketplace, but the FDA, unfortunately, hasn’t treated them like any other food additive or dietary supplement. The Hemp Access and Consumer Safety Act directs the FDA to regulate hemp products properly and provides a huge relief to hemp farmers, processors, and merchants.”
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR): “Every day that the FDA drags its feet to update its CBD regulations, hemp farmers are left guessing about how their products will be regulated, and real economic gains for workers and business owners in Oregon and across the country are left on the table. Hemp-derived CBD products are already widely available, and we all need FDA to issue clear regulations for them just like they do for other foods, drinks, and dietary supplements.”
Jonathan Miller, General Counsel, U.S. Hemp Roundtable: “We could not be more excited about the successful, bipartisan rollout of S. 1698, which is simply critical for hemp farmers and businesses,” Miller told Let’s Talk Hemp. “The hemp and dietary supplement industries are united behind the bill and we’ve also secured the support of leading food and beverage companies and organizations. What we need now is the help of the grassroots to push this bill to final passage. We encourage all hemp supporters to go to www.hempsupporter.com to send emails to their Senators, urging them to co-sponsor this vital legislation.” In addition, Miller interviewed Sen. Wyden on May 24 on U.S. Hemp TV; you can watch the interview here.
Michael McGuffin, President, American Herbal Products Association: “The leadership of Senators Wyden, Paul, and Merkley in resolving this matter is greatly appreciated. Americans deserve to have assurances that the hemp and CBD products they include in their food and dietary supplement choices are properly regulated. AHPA supports this legislation since it would clarify the lawful pathways for bringing such products to market.”
Eric Steenstra, Executive Director, Vote Hemp: “It is critical that FDA begin regulating CBD products to ensure that consumers are protected and top quality compliant producers are the only ones on store shelves. Hemp derived CBD should be regulated the same as all other food and dietary supplements and we thank Senator Wyden, Senator Paul, and Senator Merkley for their leadership and support.”
Jason Miller, N.D., Cofounder and CEO, HempFusion, and Member of the Board of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable: “We proudly endorse and commend The Hemp Access and Consumer Safety Act and thank Senators Wyden, Paul and Merkley for their bipartisan support. A major component of our strategic business plan has been to prepare for this day and now we are finally at the door of what will open up the CBD industry for those brands that can properly adhere to FDA’s requirements.”
Ola Lessard, Chief Marketing Officer, HempFusion, and President of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable: “While the Senate bill is more comprehensive than the previously introduced House bill H.R. 841, passage of either will provide a vast and very important boost to the hemp industry, benefitting farmers, producers, manufacturers, small and large retailers and, most importantly, consumers. The lack of clear regulation for the past several years has had devastating economic impact across many sectors. It’s also allowed fly-by-night companies to thrive, selling products that don’t meet label claims, aren’t manufactured properly, and – in some cases – are actually dangerous to consumers.”
Patrick Atagi, Board Chair, National Industrial Hemp Council: “Last year, nearly $15 billion in economic benefits were left out of the economy because CBD wasn’t regulated appropriately. If the FDA can’t act, Congress should fulfill its oversight role and pass this legislation. NIHC supports Senators Wyden, Paul, and Merkley’s recognition of hemp and CBD as an ingredient in both food and supplements, and we applaud their legislative approach to ensure that it’s regulated accordingly. This bill will deliver safe products to the marketplace and create a hemp economy that works for everyone.”
Morris Beegle, Cofounder, We Are for Better Alternatives (WAFBA), Producer of NoCo Hemp Expo and Southern Hemp Expo, and Publisher of Let’s Talk Hemp: “As a producer of some of the largest industrial hemp trade shows in the world, we have to have a clear regulatory understanding of hemp-derived cannabinoids as ingredients for dietary supplements, foods and beverages. I have seen first hand over the last several years as this industry has started to take shape how the FDA’s lack of clarity and action has adversely affected the entire supply chain and created a vast amount of state-to-state patchwork regulations regarding CBD and hemp as a whole. The Hemp Access and Consumer Safety Act provides necessary relief to an industry that needs stability to mature. Here at WAFBA, we thank Senators Wyden, Paul and Merkley for championing the benefits of industrial hemp at the federal level, and we appreciate the broad industry support and collaboration around this proposed legislation. This cannot pass through congress and get signed by President Biden soon enough.”
Courtney N. Moran, LL.M., Oregon Industrial Hemp Farmers Association: “We are grateful for the continued leadership of Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Rand Paul (R-KY) in advancing hemp policy, creating economic opportunities and broadening protections for our industry stakeholders. This bill is an important step forward not only for the cannabinoid sector, but for the grain and fiber sectors investing in infrastructure to open the food, animal feed, and supplements markets.”
Brian Furnish, Owner, Hempin’ Hill Farm: “I want to thank Senator Paul for being a co-sponsor of the Hemp Access and Consumer Safety Act. This is a much needed step in moving the hemp industry forward. This bill will clarify that hemp byproducts are treated as a food or dietary supplement. Senator Paul has been an advocate for hemp legalization since the very beginning.”
Katie Moyer, Owner, Kentucky Hemp Works: “I am so grateful for Senator Paul’s continued support of the U.S. hemp industry. This bill will take us one step further in ending the Drug War mentality and allow hemp farmers and processors to not only break even, but to flourish in their fields. Current regulations pit state and federal bureaucracies against our farmers, and I’ve never been prouder of my Senator for consistently looking for ways to get government off the farm.”
Derek Selznick, Executive Director, Kentucky Guild of Brewers: “The Kentucky Guild of Brewers would like to thank Senator Paul and all of the other sponsors of this bill. Allowing breweries to use safe products like CBD in beer allows us to continue to innovate and respond to consumer demand by offering new and unique beers. Innovation is at the core of our industry and this is one more way we can further diversify our product portfolio.”
Scott Melville, President & CEO, Consumer Healthcare Products Association: “We strongly commend Senators Wyden, Paul and Merkley for their bipartisan bill which will provide a pathway for CBD to be legally marketed as a dietary supplement. A lawful regulatory pathway will provide long-term certainty in the hemp-derived CBD market and protect consumers from potentially unsafe products.”
Angi Bailey, President, Oregon Farm Bureau: “We are so thankful to both Senator Merkley and Senator Wyden for their steadfast support for one of Oregon’s fastest growing agricultural crops. This important legislation will ensure consumers have access to non-intoxicating hemp and hemp derived ingredients in both food products and dietary supplements. Providing consumers with the assurance that the CBD products they are purchasing are safe and property labeled is of utmost importance to the industry.”
Dawson Hobbs, EVP, Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America: “The lack of clarity on the legality of hemp-derived CBD products used in foods and beverages has been a significant source of confusion in the marketplace. America’s family-owned wholesalers are federally permitted and regulated businesses that need clarity from federal regulators regarding the legal status of CBD products. We applaud this action directing the Food and Drug Administration to affirm that CBD is legal in dietary supplements, including food and beverages. It will allow America’s wholesalers to continue providing U.S. consumers with the most diverse product selection in the world.”
Jen Daulby, SVP, Government Affairs, Consumer Brands Association: “The Consumer Brands Association commends Senators Wyden, Paul and Merkley for shining a spotlight on a product that has been a catalyst for a conflicting patchwork of state laws and regulations. Consumer Brands has long advocated for a national regulatory framework for CBD that empowers FDA to establish smart, consistent regulations and gives them the resources they need. Today’s action is a first step in delivering these much-needed regulations for American consumers.”
Photo courtesy of Let’s Talk Hemp
Founding Farmer: Ryan Loflin Talks on Hemp
By Steven Hoffman
Known as the first modern-day farmer in the U.S. to harvest an industrial hemp crop after decades of prohibition, Colorado hemp producer Ryan Loflin shares his trailblazing tale
It takes a village. At least it did in the late fall of 2013, when, lacking migrant workers who had all left for Texas for the winter, Colorado farmer Ryan Loflin put out a call on social media for his friends to help. In all, about 60 people from six states showed up to assist in the first harvest of an industrial hemp crop in the U.S. in more than 70 years.
Now, Ryan will be the first to tell you he wasn’t the first to plant industrial hemp. In that, he tips his cap to other hemp trailblazers, including California’s Chris Boucher, and South Dakota tribal leader Alex White Plume, who planted industrial hemp years before him, but whose crops were seized by government authorities before they could be harvested. Thus, Loflin’s status in the hemp community as the first modern-day farmer to harvest a crop of industrial hemp on U.S. soil.
In 2013, hemp was not quite legal yet; that didn’t happen until the 2014 Farm Bill, which allowed for moderate production, says Loflin. Speaking of the authorities who could have seized his first crop – a half-crop circle of 60 acres – “They just didn’t show up. I actually put it out on Twitter and Facebook; I was transparent, because I needed the help. People showed up from all over the country, but thankfully, the authorities didn’t,” he says.
Speaking of soil, Loflin’s third generation family farm, 900 acres in all (300 irrigated acres and 600 acres in grass and dryland), is located in Baca County, an arid, high plains region in southeastern Colorado, only 25 miles from the epicenter of the Dust Bowl that devastated farms and Western communities in the 1930s.
Organic and Regenerative Approach
For the dryness of the area, combined with Loflin’s concerns about how climate change is affecting his farm – “It’s a part of everyday life for us, now” – he has always focused on organic and now regenerative production practices that focus on rebuilding and capturing organic matter, or carbon, back into the soil.
“We practice organic and regenerative farming because we have to,” Ryan says. “We’ve been conscious of cover crops the whole time, so we never leave the soil bare during the winter, where carbon can escape into the atmosphere. We plant winter wheat, or triticale, or oats as winter cover crops,” he adds. The farm also grows sorghum, another drought-resistant grain crop, in rotation with hemp, alfalfa and other commodity crops.
Cattle, too, are an integral part of Loflin’s regenerative practices. “We let them graze in the wintered fields with either cover crop or feed stubble we leave from the sorghum.” Their manure helps add organic material back into the soil, Ryan notes.
For organic pest control, corn ear worms can be a problem with hemp flowers, and grasshoppers can be a significant problem in hemp. “There’s not much you can do, but I mix a spray of garlic and neem oils, and I ‘harass’ them out,” Loflin says.
Since his first crop in 2013, Loflin has grown up to 250 acres of hemp, but has pulled back, based on recent market conditions. “We’re thinking of planting a half-crop circle, minimum, in 2021,” Ryan shares, “but we’re still going to see where the market goes in 2021.”
Focus on Fiber
In recent years, Loflin’s farm, Rocky Mountain Hemp (www.rockymountainhemp.farm), has focused on hemp production for fiber, as well as hemp seed for food and for planting future crops.
In the fiber business, Loflin is a collaborator with Mike McGuire, owner of Western Fiber. Founded in 1976, the company offers textile fibers, hemp-based panels and insulation for the building, construction and automotive industries, animal bedding products and livestock feed.
“We’ve replaced traditional insulation materials with hemp bast and hurd – long and short fibers – and developed a process to blow that insulation into walls, floors, ceilings, etc.,” Loflin notes. “It’s a more natural and potentially safer, insulation from a renewable source,” he adds.
“We still have a lot of opportunity with the hemp industry in that it is a multi-use crop, it’s a ‘multi-dimensional’ crop,” Ryan emphasizes. We can use it for food, animal feed, housing, clothing, medicine – we are just getting started! We also need to look more seriously at building houses with this material – not just hempcrete, but making everything you see in the home out of it. In the wildfire areas of the West, we could build hempcrete homes that won’t burn. We need to change the way we think about building homes…and where,” Loflin muses.
Outlook for the Future
“In agriculture alone across the board, it’s crazy right now with tariffs and trade,” Ryan says. “For hemp farmers,” we need investment in processing and we need industry to step up – the American auto industry needs to be put on point for hemp,” Loflin opines.
While CBD helped build awareness for the hemp plant, “the all-star uses of this plant is in automobiles, composites, construction, plastics, fibers – hemp can make everything work better, and is less toxic,” he notes.
While Loflin is carefully watching how the USDA’s new rulings for 2021 will affect hemp producers, it will come down to states’ rights, he believes. “Colorado has been very supportive. In 2012, I was at the state capitol advocating for programs to use hemp for phytoremediation in contaminated sites. Today, Colorado State University offers a course in hemp production,” he adds.
“My advice for producers in 2021: keep fighting,” Loflin offers. “Don’t quit because agriculture is hard right now. It can be a high pressure lifestyle and many question whether it’s worth it, but I believe it is.”
Global Equipment Leader New Holland Agriculture’s Direct Advantage in Hemp Innovation
By Heather Collins
When Pennsylvania-based New Holland Agriculture, a global 125-year old farm machinery brand, identified an opportunity in hemp, the company went straight to the root of the problem by breaking ground on its own dedicated 15-acre testing farm.
“We wanted to better understand the complexities of hemp by farming it ourselves, which explains why we took the time and effort to discover more about this fibrous crop. More importantly, we wanted to ensure that our haymaking equipment and harvesting equipment worked properly with hemp,” said Jon Hundley, Marketing Manager, New Holland Agriculture.
Hundley adds, “We’re the only major equipment manufacturing company that has a working test farm at its headquarters. This gives New Holland Agriculture an advantage because we know firsthand what farmers require when out in the field.”
Known around the world as a leader in advancing the agriculture industry, New Holland Agriculture’s complete line of equipment includes harvesting and packaging solutions that are readily available to meet today’s hemp farmers’ needs.
“The ‘in-the-hemp-field’ experience gave our team perspective on how our company can better serve as advocates for hemp farmers and continue to push the industry forward,” adds Hundley.
Hemp, which is similar in structure to hay, is relatively new to New Holland Agriculture’s traditional commodity portfolio with specialties in corn, wheat, and other crops. That’s why the field team took the time to learn everything about hemp before planting to its dedicated end-use.
As Hundley points out, the headquarters hemp team quickly realized that it takes more than having the right equipment. “We found that field preparation is extremely important. Despite the lack of rain, we had a nice yield, and our equipment worked effectively”.
New Holland Agriculture is proudly celebrating its 125th year of serving farmers on a global scale and believes hemp can play a pivotal role in the future of agriculture. “It’s all about educating the ag industry about the opportunities that hemp provides from a farming and innovation perspective,” says Hundley. “We have opened many new doors and partnerships through hemp and see it as a way to vertically integrate our company.”
Partners in the Field
New Holland Agriculture works closely with Pennsylvania State University’s Extension office and relies on their expertise for the role hemp plays in the ever-evolving industry. “We’re fortunate to collaborate with Penn State and as the interaction provides our team with credible, unbiased analysis, data and key information on the hemp industry,” says Hundley. “Through this partnership, we are positioned as a hemp proponent when it comes to regulation and standards.”
The Penn State Extension office works with various entities to further the hemp industry by hosting informational webinars, in-person workshops and serves as an additional resource for farmers interested in learning more about the viable crop.
This year, New Holland Agriculture also announced a partnership with the National Hemp Association, a nonpartisan hemp advocacy group. Through this alliance, New Holland Agriculture intends to leverage its active role in hemp policy and progress. “We’re taking a close look at what hemp can do and how it can innovate. For example, we are seeing automakers integrate hemp materials in their automobiles. This type of innovation indicates that farmers need to know what the end use is before they plant.”
Hemp Farming: The Next Frontier
As the hemp industry continues to evolve, Hundley indicates that innovation is always top of mind at New Holland Agriculture, “The future of hemp is in fiber, and we’re excited to be a part of the next frontier in farming and serve as a resource for farmers.”
New Holland Agriculture’s product offerings, including its harvesting, cutting and baling equipment, are already being used in hemp farming operations, and Hundley believes that the company will grow with the industry. “Hemp is an unbelievable opportunity for future farmers and the next generation because it is such a new commodity, and the crop excites young farmers who are ready to grow something new.”
Hundley predicts as hemp becomes a viable crop in more states that more farmers will plant it as a secondary crop to diversify. “That’s where the excitement is with hemp. It provides the opportunity to do something different for the betterment of the future.”
Hundley advises, “As New Holland Ag continues to work in the hemp frontier, additional information will be available through local dealerships. We’re proud to be on the cutting edge of this industry and look forward to helping generations.” For additional information and support, contact your local New Holland dealer.
New Holland Agriculture is a proud Sponsor of the NoCo Hemp Expo Hall, scheduled for 2021, where attendees can view the hemp machinery equipment and meet with New Holland Agriculture representatives.
Functional Remedies’ Tim Gordon: Hemp Trailblazer
By Steven Hoffman
From seed to shelf, Tim Gordon has been at the forefront of the hemp and cannabis industry since well before it was legal. From a few narrow escapes with the law in the 1990s to serving today as Chief Science Officer for Functional Remedies and its full spectrum hemp oil brand Synchronicity™, it’s been a long and winding road for the Colorado-based industrial hemp trailblazer.
“I began growing cannabis in the 1990s and quickly became a passionate student and advocate of the plant. I watched friends suffering from serious illnesses and they needed relief with the cannabis I was giving them. I would risk everything to help these people feel better. This is what still drives me today. Only 25 years ago, I was deemed a criminal for growing cannabis; now I’m invited to speak around the world about its benefits,” Gordon said.
Tim’s responsibilities as Chief Science Officer for Functional Remedies include scientific, technological and research operations, agronomic and genetic research, trial and clinical work, advising on scientific matters, serving as a company spokesperson, and more. Tim’s involvement in the fully integrated company ranges from overseeing planning, planting and harvesting at the company’s organic hemp farm in southern Colorado to helping formulate the Synchronicity line of products.
The company stands behind its proprietary “LipidTrans™ Infusion Process” as opposed to more widely used extraction methods. According to Gordon, hand-pressed whole hemp plants are infused with organic coconut oil, allowing for maximum absorption of the full spectrum hemp oil in Synchronicity products. “We are the fresh-squeezed orange juice of hemp oil while all the others are from concentrate,” Gordon teases.
Products include tinctures, capsules and topicals targeted to aid sleep, anxiety, chronic pain and muscle recovery. Synchronicity products are third-party tested ensuring FDA compliance, GMP certified, NSF certified and Kosher, said Gordon. Plus, working with certifier NSF and its QAI organic certification division, he anticipates Synchronicity products will receive USDA organic certification in 2021, “from farm to process to products,” he said.
“How I think about cannabis in general is that if you are creating an optimal environment to work in synchronicity with the plant, working with the soil rhizosphere – because of the plant’s relationship with us – it’s all connected from the soil to the plant to the oil to us,” mused Gordon.
“As such, we created a brand centric to our bodies and its relationship to the plant, and we transitioned our brand name from Functional Remedies to Synchronicity to reflect that.” Gordon noted that the company’s parent name remains Functional Remedies.
“Response from the packaging to the products has been absolutely amazing, given that we’re in the midst of a global pandemic,” Gordon noted. “We’ve been able to keep our employees through this – we’re knocking on doors and folks are letting us in. ”
Gordon, who in 2006 helped launch Front Range NORML to legalize marijuana, originally served in 2014 as CEO of CBD Rx (the predecessor to Functional Remedies) when it became the first hemp farm in the U.S. to receive USDA organic certification. He currently serves on the boards of the Hemp Industries Association, U.S. Hemp Growers Association, the American Herbal Products Association’s Cannabis Committee, and the Executive Committee of CHAMP (the Colorado Hemp Advancement Management Plan).
In addition to his work with Functional Remedies, Gordon is excited about his involvement in Impello Biosciences, a Fort Collins, CO-based startup that has formulated patent-pending bio-stimulant fertilizers and soil amendments “unique to the cannabis industry,” he said.
“Cannabis produces multiple different bacteria in the plant’s microbiome,” Gordon explained. Working with plant biologist Michael Key, “we were able to sequence this microbiome in the plant’s root system to identify three specific bacteria that play major roles in the plant’s metabolic uptake,” Gordon said. “Impello products work great outdoors in soil, and indoors in any medium. Essentially, we are trying to create a complete ecosystem in the cannabis plant’s rhizosphere,” he added.
According to Tim Gordon, Impello’s integrated solutions and next-generation technology, ranging from microorganisms to other bioactive compounds, help farmers increase the quality and yield of their harvest in a more sustainable way. “With biostimulant technology, we’re reinvigorating soils, plants, farmers, and consumers with a powerful tool: the force of nature,” he said.
EarthxTV to Livestream Half-Earth Day and EarthX Global Gala, October 22
This article originally appeared in the October 21, 2020 edition of the Let’s Talk Hemp Newsletter.
“Attention all hempsters! EarthxLings await your expanded minds at the Global Gala. Half Earth Day mean several things and we mix ‘em up. The resulting blend will give you a taste of things to come on EarthxTV.” – EarthX Founder Trammell S. Crow
By Steven Hoffman
Dallas, TX – Most of us know that Earth Day is held each April 22, and this year, 2020, marked the 50th anniversary of the day dedicated around the globe to environmental education and awareness.
But not many people may know about Half Earth Day. Yes, Half Earth Day.
This year, celebrating the halfway point in the calendar to the 51st Annual Earth Day in April 2021, Half Earth Day will be livestreamed for free on EarthxTV on Thursday, October 22, 2020, 5:00 pm – 6:25 pm CDT.
The idea is to get us thinking about the environment all year round, said event organizers. And rather than lament the fact that they can’t host the gathering in person this year, “we will now be able to have a worldwide audience for streaming,” said Dawn Spalding, Executive Producer of the EarthX Global Gala held in conjunction with the Half Earth Day event.
With headline speakers including Erin Brockovich; renowned naturalist E.O. Wilson; Rachelle Carson Begley, wife of “uber-environmentalist” Ed Begley and a passionate environmentalist in her own right; and conservationist and writer Harvey Locke, Half Earth Day brings together people from around the world and across disciplines and party lines to share their perspectives and thought leadership on how we can work together to ensure the health of the planet for future generations.
Half Earth Day is presented by EarthX, an internationally recognized nonprofit multi-media organization dedicated to building environmental awareness and founded by Dallas, TX, real estate scion and environmentalist Trammel Crow.
Inspired by the work of E.O. Wilson, Half Earth Day is a call to conserve half the Earth’s land and sea in order to provide sufficient habitat to safeguard the bulk of biodiversity, said event organizers.
The free livestream Half Earth Day program will be followed by the EarthX Global Gala, held the same day, October 22, 6:30 pm – 11:00 pm CDT.
The “eco-star-studded” virtual gala event will feature “some of the most notable eco-heroes on the planet,” along with live musical entertainment by The Compton Kidz Club, Grammy winner Skip Martin of Kool and the Gang, and the Bastards of Soul, plus a live virtual auction. The gala is hosted by Dr. Evan Antin, host of Animal Planet’s Evan Goes Wild. General admission tickets for the Global Gala livestream are available for $25 here. VIP tickets are also available.
“Hemp industry professionals will want to tune in to the Global Gala to celebrate environmentalism and progress for the planet,” said Daulton O’Neill, who works in Corporate and Partnership Development at EarthX. “The hemp movement plays a significant role in the regenerative agriculture conversation, and we are happy to curate those conversations here at EarthX and now on EarthxTV.”
What started as an outdoor street fair in Dallas in 2011 has grown into one of the world’s leading Earth Day events and a globally recognized environmental organization, EarthX. Founded by Trammell Crow, the Dallas, TX-based nonprofit promotes environmental awareness and impact through conscious business, nonpartisan collaboration and community-driven sustainable solutions. Visit www.EarthX.org.
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Italy Classifies CBD as Narcotic; Orders Products Off Retail Shelves
This article originally appeared in the October 21, 2020 edition of the Let’s Talk Hemp Newsletter.
While the EU is the world’s second largest market for hemp-derived CBD products, Italy’s Ministry of Health this week decreed CBD is a drug, and retailers were warned not to sell hemp extract products, in conflict with the country’s Agriculture Ministry, which listed hemp flowers for “extraction uses” as an agricultural product, and not a drug.
By Steven Hoffman
With the CBD-based pharmaceutical, Epidiolex, manufactured by the UK’s GW Pharmaceuticals, poised to enter the Italian market, hemp-derived CBD was classified this week as a narcotic in Italy by the country’s Ministry of Health. According to a HempToday report on October 20, CBD was officially added to Italy’s list of medicines.
In addition to the ruling, Italy’s Customs and Monopoly Agency immediately followed up with a warning to retailers, advising them “not to hold and sell … inflorescences (flowers), oils, resins or other products containing substances derived from hemp sativa,” HempToday reported.
The move comes in conflict with the country’s Agriculture Ministry, which published an official decree in August 2020 that listed hemp flower, or “canapa infiorescenza,” for extraction uses as an agricultural product.
According to the Cannabis Law Report, the decree was approved by Italy’s Agriculture Minister Teresa Bellanova, adding hemp flower under “medicinal plants” in a list of approved agricultural products. HempToday reported that Italy’s Agriculture Ministry “listed hemp flowers for ‘extraction uses’ as an agricultural product, and not a drug.”
Concerns Over Proposed EU CBD Regulation
Italy’s decision contributes to the hemp industry’s concern that the EU market overall is becoming less friendly to hemp-derived CBD products. According to Better Retailing, retailers in Europe could see up to half of existing CBD brands disappear due to upcoming cost-prohibitive regulation.
“From 31 March 2021, CBD food, drink, oil and supplement brands must be able to prove that products released to [the EU] market before 13 February 2021 have a validated novel foods application to be legally allowed to sold in stores. It applies only to ingested goods, meaning CBD vaping lines are exempt,” Better Retailing reported. According to Better Retailing, it could cost more than $500,000 to have each product line submitted for EU regulatory approval.
Then, in July 2020, news reports shared that the European Commission was suspending applications for CBD to be included as a novel food. Instead, it was learned the commission is reviewing whether CBD and other extracts derived from hemp flowers would be better regulated as narcotics. The reasoning behind the suspension was based on a reference in the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961, which states that “’extracts and tinctures’” of the flowering tops of the hemp plant (cannabis sativa) should be classed as a narcotic,” reported New Food Magazine.
While it is still only a proposal, the ramifications of such a ruling has the European hemp industry quite concerned. Responding to the proposal to rule CBD as a narcotic in the EU, the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) accused the European Commission of being “poised to kill the EU’s hemp sector,” Hemp Gazette reported.
“If confirmed, this position is likely to strike the final blow to the sector and deprive farmers from a low maintenance and profitable rotation crop with the potential to bringing environmental benefits,” the EIHA said in a July 2020 statement. “Cannabidiol would stay on the market but only in synthetic form, produced via polluting chemical manufacturing.”
According to EIHA’s view, “Industrial hemp and its downstream products are not narcotic or psychotropic drugs.” Further, EIHA stated that “hemp is exempted from the scope of the United Nations Single Convention of 1961, whose authors made a clear distinction between cannabis varieties grown for the production of drugs (falling under the scope of the treaties) and exempting those grown for any other purpose (i.e., low-THC varieties). On top of that, EIHA states clearly that not all hemp extracts shall be considered novel but only the enriched and isolated ones,” the organization stated.
“EIHA collected many evidences which clearly demonstrate that traditional hemp extracts were widely used as food for centuries. Traditional hemp extracts, which have been consumed for centuries in Europe and worldwide, should therefore be considered as traditional food according to food regulations. Hemp extracts processed by new extraction methods should be subject to the respective legal frameworks of the Novel Food Regulation (EU) 2015/2283,” EIHA asserted.
Meanwhile, in Italy, hemp industry observers expressed concern that GW Pharmaceuticals’ desire to enter EU markets – and its recent request to begin marketing in the Italian market – may have prompted the Italian Ministry of Health’s decree establishing narcotics status for CBD, reported HempToday.
According to HempToday, “It remains to be seen what will happen in Italy with smokable hemp, which is based on hemp flowers (“inflorescenses”) and therefore not extracted, under the Customs and Monopoly Agency’s stop-sell order.” Sold as pre-rolled cigarettes and loose in pouches, smokable hemp has grown in popularity in Italy, Switzerland and elsewhere in the EU over the past few years, HempToday reported.
Also, HempToday pointed out that hemp flowers can also contain hemp seeds, “which are technically legal in Italy, raising still further potential confusion.” Approximately 80% of Italy’s agricultural hemp production is in food seed, according to a report published in February 2020 by the Foreign Agricultural Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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Hemp Industry Staying Connected During COVID-19: New Let's Talk Hemp Website Delivers Top Industry News, Strengthens Hemp Community
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hemp Industry Staying Connected During COVID-19: New Let's Talk Hemp Website Delivers Top Industry News, Strengthens Hemp Community
Expanded Media Platform Fosters Education and Unites Evolving Industry with Real-Time News, Business Features, Trends, Research, Guest Contributors, Events, Podcasts, and More.
Denver, CO (August 25, 2020) – The Colorado Hemp Company, a division of We Are For Better Alternatives (WAFBA), is pleased to unveil the expansion of its digital media properties, showcasing a new and improved website for Let’s Talk Hemp (http://LetsTalkHemp.com).
Let’s Talk Hemp is amplifying its digital platform to further educate and unite the industrial hemp community during COVID-19 with unique and curated content, including a focus on recent news and thought leading articles, a weekly newsletter, and continuing its industry famous podcast.
Let’s Talk Hemp, a premier online media resource, provides in-depth news and information featuring top hemp industry headlines, exclusive interviews with experts, leaders, and guest contributors while highlighting business and agriculture updates, product innovations, and trends. The newly redesigned website offers a more user-friendly experience and focus on industry news. With improved search, education, and an editorial focus, LetsTalkHemp.com is poised to be the top hemp industry news source.
“We’re reinforcing our commitment to the industry and reenergizing the community by creating even more accessible content. We’re taking it a notch by offering additional information and news to our current line-up of virtual and online events,” says Morris Beegle, Colorado Hemp Company and Let’s Talk Hemp Media Co-founder. “We are proud to serve as a community and collective voice through our reformatted website, weekly newsletter, digital magazine, and podcast."
Also, Let’s Talk Hemp integrates with the hemp industry’s top digital weekly newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox every Wednesday. To subscribe to the weekly newsletter, click here.
Next Up: WAFBA Virtual Conference, November 10 – 12
Virtual online and in-person events are still a significant part of WAFBA, NoCo Hemp Expo, and Colorado Hemp Company’s vision for keeping the community connected. Our next event will be focused on better alternatives for veterans (from cannabinoids to psychedelics to healthcare) and covering the best products and services that put Mother Earth and our health first in these times of challenges and rapid change.
WAFBA registration and details will be released soon at: https://nocohempexpo.com/experience-hemp/.
Event producers have also announced new dates for the NoCo7 Hemp Expo, which will now take place March 25-27, 2021. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, show organizers had to shift plans in 2020, though they remain optimistic for the industry.
Let’s Talk Hemp Sponsors
National brands are showing their support for Let’s Talk Hemp and include partnerships with established companies who support the hemp space. Sponsors of Let’s Talk Hemp include Patagonia, Nutrition Capital Network, New Holland Agriculture, and EcoGen BioSciences. Morris adds, “We’re grateful for these internationally well-known brands’ collaboration. The private sector is driving this industry and the more support we get from it, the better our odds of getting the government to regulate it properly."
For more information on advertising or to submit an article, email info@nocohempexpo.com or visit their media and sponsorship kit HERE.
About Let’s Talk Hemp Media
Let's Talk Hemp is a leading media platform that focuses on Hemp News, Lifestyle & Education.
We curate news, education, and information about hemp and cannabis to our podcast listeners, newsletter subscribers, and digital magazine readers to learn more about the industry and get tips and tricks on the latest technologies. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and learn about legal updates, farming, production, and new products entering the hemp and cannabis space. Let's Talk Hemp is a publication of the Colorado Hemp Company (a division of We Are For Better Alternatives WAFBA) focused specifically on industrial hemp and cannabis. Let’s Talk Hemp features news globally and shares the benefits of cannabis on health, energy, manufacturing, and the planet (HEMP). Subscribe to Let’s Talk Hemp’s weekly hemp and cannabis industry newsletter at www.letstalkhemp.com.
About Colorado Hemp Company
The Colorado Hemp Company, the producer of the 7th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo (NoCo7), is a leading organization for the advancement and advocacy of hemp farming, processing, production, innovation, education, and legalization in the USA. The entire team is committed to researching and developing alternatives so that hemp can once again thrive and help individuals and communities throughout America and around the globe.
Contact
Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, 303.807.1042, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com
Morris Beegle, Colorado Hemp Company, 970.541.0448, info@nocohempexpo.com
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Hemp Industry Call to Action: Vote Hemp Urges Community to Sign Petition Calling for Congress to Allow 1% THC Levels in Hemp
This article originally appeared in Let’s Talk Hemp’s July 9, 2020 newsletter edition.
By Steven Hoffman
Washington, DC-based advocacy group Vote Hemp is urging the hemp community to take advantage of a narrow window on Capitol Hill to sign and submit a petition telling Congress to change the legal definition of hemp to allow 1% THC. Arbitrarily set by Canadian cannabis researcher Dr. Ernest Small in the 1970s, the currently allowed 0.3% limit has proved to be problematic for growers, producers and manufacturers alike, and Vote Hemp and its supporters feel that action has to be taken now.
Even Dr. Small agrees, more than four decades later, that “a 0.3% level is very conservative,” he told Cannabis Now in December 2018. He stressed that the allowed 0.3% THC designation for hemp has had negative implications for biodiversity. “0.3% is proving a little problematical for those who wish to produce some cultivars,” he told Cannabis Now. “It’s an especially stringent criterion [for] those who want to produce CBD. Most of the varieties selected for that have in excess of 0.3%, which is kind of inconvenient.”
“We’ve been trying to think strategically; I don’t want to create false hope given that Congress is going on summer recess in a month, and may not get much done in the last few months of the general election year,” said Eric Steenstra, Executive Director of Vote Hemp. “However, farmers and producers are frustrated, and we need to start making some noise about this. We hope to submit as many signatures as we can in the next 30 days, and encourage all members of the hemp community to sign and share the petition with their friends, colleagues and co-workers.”
In changing the definition, “there would be very few cases of anybody getting their crop destroyed. While the industry continues to work on more stable varieties, people would still have to be careful, but if we moved to 1%, the number of samples that would test hot would be very limited,” Steenstra said.
“Vote Hemp had advocated for a higher level early on, but that did not make the cut in the final legislation,” Steenstra continued. “We had to work across the aisle and made a compromise to help make hemp legal back then, but now, it’s proven the standard doesn’t work for farmers. With both the Farm Bureau and the National Farmers Union having policies on the books supporting higher THC levels (1% for the Farm Bureau; 3% for the Farmers Union), that weighs in our favor.”
The petition, issued this week, beseeches Congress that “many farmers have had their crops destroyed due to the outdated definition of hemp. The hemp industry is creating good jobs in farming and manufacturing and we need to ensure the industry can continue to grow and compete with other countries that allow higher THC levels.”
“We are hoping there will be action; there’s a desperate need,” Steenstra said. “We need to get as many people involved and to recognize that this is critical to the future of the hemp industry. We need the community to step up in a big way…and quickly!”
Steenstra also emphasized that the most important thing is to get as many farmers as possible to sign the petition. “We are upset whenever we see a farmer lose their crop because of this. It’s not acceptable. We have to let Congress know that the industry is on the verge of taking off and this limit is hurting farmers and holding us back.”
Text of the Petition
Hemp is important to the future of farming in the U.S. and will create farming and manufacturing jobs for sustainable and healthy USA grown products. The 2018 Farm Bill authorized hemp production but used an outdated definition of hemp that does not work for farmers or the hemp industry. The current definition limiting hemp to 0.3% THC has proven unworkable forcing many farmers to destroy their crops because they were slightly over the limit. We need Congress to change the definition of hemp to allow up to 1% THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) so that farmers can grow hemp crops without fearing that they will later have to destroy them.
Please add your name to the petition urging Congress to redefine hemp as up to 1% THC and share this with your friends.
To Congress:
I support changing the definition of hemp to allow up to 1% THC in the plant. Many farmers have had their crops destroyed due to the outdated definition of hemp. The hemp industry is creating good jobs in farming and manufacturing and we need to ensure the industry can continue to grow and compete with other countries that allow higher THC levels. I urge Congress to change the definition of hemp now so that no more farmers will lose their crops.
Read and sign Vote Hemp’s 1% Petition here.