Seeks to provide information, resources to farmers
Source: journal-advocate.com
Members of the newly formed Northeastern Colorado Hemp Farmers Association board of directors: (front row, from left) David Roth, Mike Sullivan, Leonard Reskog, attorney David Bush, Mia Desmedt; (back row, from left) Mike Werner, Chad Pfitzer, David Serrano and Bethlene McCall. (Sara Waite / Sterling Journal-Advocate)
A group of individuals interested in the hemp industry came together Friday at the Sterling Public Library and made history, officially creating one of the first cooperatives in Colorado for hemp producers.
"We have this opportunity to really pave the way for future farmers in giving them a profitable crop, and that's our mission. That's our vision," said David Serrano, a hemp advocate from Sterling who brought the group together.
The bulk of the meeting was spent reviewing the initial draft of bylaws for the Northeastern Colorado Hemp Farmers Association. David Bush, an attorney based in Wheat Ridge who has experience with the industrial hemp laws, filed articles of incorporation and employer identification number. He also put together the rough bylaws based on his experience with other organizations; he said he opted to keep the bylaws fairly simple for now to "get the organization formed and operating." In the future, the coop can add to the bylaws to meet its needs.
Bush noted that one topic the draft bylaws just touched on was membership; he suggested using a membership agreement to set forth terms for joining and participating in the coop. One reason for that, he said, was that the bylaws are intended to be like a "constitution," or a stable document addressing how the organization is structured and how it's run. The membership agreement can be revised as needed, because "that's going to change all the time. The issues that we have this year are not going to be the issues we have next year," he said. "We don't know what Colorado is going to be good at — we don't know if we're going to be fiber farmers, or seed oil farmers or CBD farmers, or all of the above or two out of three.
It's just impossible to say right now."
The agreements can be redone annually to allow them to address the current market and climate conditions. He did put together a basic, draft membership agreement to start from.
Another, related topic he said the board will need to figure out is the capital structure for the coop. "Do you want the coop to basically be owned by stock, which means we have to issue some private stock, and we have to define what classes of stock would be appropriate for that, and we have to figure out how does someone own that stock, and what are their voting rights?" he said.
Bush reviewed each section of the bylaws to get input from the board. One item the board decided to change was to allow for voting and non-voting members, to keep it open to those who might want to support the coop but are not actively engaged in hemp or ag production. They will discuss at future meetings how to define membership, what the benefits to members will be, as well as the benefits to the board of directors.
"That is an extremely important topic and it's a huge topic," Bush said. "It deserves a lot of attention, by itself."
Serrano noted that the coop will be able to act as "a collective bargaining unit" on behalf of member farmers, to ensure they get the best price.
Bush also encouraged the board to define its service area, warning that he has had experience with two other coops that have been unsuccessful. "Both of them tried to do too much," he said.
His advice: "Pick the direction you want to go in and run in that direction. Don't pick 12 directions and go in all 12 at once."
After some discussion, the board decided to include the 15 counties in the Progressive 15 area — Adams, Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Douglas, Elbert, Kit Carson, Larimer, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld and Yuma — and add Denver, Boulder, Jefferson and Broomfield counties because they believe there is support in those communities for the hemp industry. They also talked about forming relationships with hemp coops that might form in other parts of the state, and eventually participating in a state association of hemp cooperatives, should the industry reach that point.
Serrano said the coop will have first right of refusal on buying the crop from its members. Their goal is to be able to negotiate the best price on behalf of the farmers. If a farmer does find a better price, he said, they can bring it to the board so the rest of the coop can take advantage.
One concern raised was that if the coop provides seed to its members, would the organization be liable if the crop goes "hot," or the THC level in the plant exceeds the 0.3 percent maximum set by the Colorado Department of Agriculture. The board discussed having safeguards in place to help prevent that problem, as well as contingencies to address if it does happen.
At this point, the board has nine members. In discussing the leadership of the coop, Serrano said he would like to serve as president for at least the first year, and then the board could elect a new leader if they felt someone could do a better job. He added that he would like to have a co-president who has an agriculture background to represent the farming community. He has appointed a vice president, Ashley Weber, who was unable to attend Friday's meeting. Serrano recommended naming his partner, Mia Desmedt, as treasurer, due to her experience with bookkeeping.
Also serving as members of the founding board are Chad Pfitzer, Mike Sullivan, David Roth, Mike Werner, Leonard Roskog and Bethlene McCall.
Anyone interested in more information about the Northeast Colorado Hemp Farmers Association can contact Serrano at 720-499-6219 or d.serr85@gmail.com.
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