SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL PLANS TO INTRODUCE HEMP IN SENATE

By Alex Voichoskie
Source: kticradio.com

Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced he intends to introduce a bill in the Senate that would legalize hemp as an agricultural commodity.

McConnell’s bill, known as the Hemp Farming Act of 2018, aims to remove the crop from the controlled substance list, resulting in legalization of the crop as an agricultural commodity. Hemp once thrived in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky, but the crop was included in the Controlled Substance Act of 1970, which regulated its production and distribution. The crop’s fiber was utilized for rope, clothing and mulch, and its seeds were utilized for hemp milk and cooking oil. Hemp was also used to produce soaps, lotions, building materials, animal bedding, and biofuels.

The cannabis species hemp, not to be confused with its cousin marijuana, contains a minuscule amount of THC which is the psychoactive component that makes marijuana users high. “I think we’ve worked our way through the education process of making sure everybody understands this is really a different plant,” the Republican leader said.

“The goal of this new bill, should it become law, is to simply remove the roadblocks altogether,” McConnell said. “It would encourage innovation and development and support to domestic production of hemp.”

As of 2017, there are 38 states that allow hemp to be grown for commercial or research programs.

 

What You Need to Know about the Hemp Farming Bill

By Steve Williams
Source: care2.com

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is backing a bill that would remove hemp farming from controlled substances bans and reclassify it as an “agricultural commodity”. This could be a boon to the industry and his chances of reelection.

“The Kentucky senator announced on Monday he will pursue a bill that would make states the primary regulators of hemp, in consultation with the Department of Agriculture,” reports Burgess Everett at Politico, ”Hemp growth was once outlawed in the United States, but McConnell worked in 2014 to write a new law allowing pilot programs for it. Since then, Kentucky has become the state with the third-most acres of hemp growth.”

Hemp is a variety of the cannabis plant that is specifically grown for industrial uses. Unlike the psychoactive effects of its sister, marijuana, hemp cannot produce an illicit high.

Indeed, studies have shown that the average amount of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis that produces the psychoactive effects, in hemp is so low that it would not even be detectable in a urine test if someone where to ingest it.

Many nations actively cultivate a hemp industry, including China, whose overall marijuana and hemp industry seems to be on the rise. Nevertheless, in the United States hemp is still classified as an illicit substance even though some states, like California, have legalized its production.

Part of the rationale for that ban is that hemp is indistinguishable from marijuana at first glance, making it difficult for law enforcement.

McConnell has a history of pushing for hemp de-regulation and has previously overseen policy changes to relax rules on hemp.

The proposed “Hemp Farm Act of 2018″ would go further than that and, under the wing of the omnibus farming bill currently waiting in Congress, would legalize hemp as an agricultural commodity. It would also allow researchers to apply for grants from the Department of Agriculture.

McConnell has also signaled that he wants this legislation to be a bipartisan effort, and with many Democrats on record as supporting hemp, this puts the legislation on good footing.

McConnell is up for re-election in 2020 and is hotly tipped to run again. Hemp legalization could be a significant economic boost for the senator’s home state, which is currently running a pilot hemp scheme into hemp production and its industrial applications.

It’s undeniable that hemp legalization would be a solid win for the senator if he does seek his seventh term in office.

Hemp, of course, is popular among environmentalists. They point to it as an efficient, easily-sourced and green industrial material that gives a lot of bang for its buck. As we previously explored at Care2, it generates, ”up to 25 tons of construction-grade hurd fiber per acre.” That’s a good yield for a relatively small amount of resources.

Hemp is also quite versatile in that it can be used to make rope, clothes, food, various papers, textiles and even plastics. While biofuels have fallen out of favor, often for legitimate reasons, hemp is also a candidate for a biodiesel.

The timing of this push toward legalization is interesting in another sense, though.

Prior to the Trump years and Jeff Sessions taking the reigns of the Justice Department, the Obama administration oversaw a gradual loosening of marijuana restrictions, which many campaigners saw as the groundwork for eventually declassifying marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug.

Sessions has revived the war on drugs and is now actively working to attack state laws that allow for marijuana production. That isn’t popular with most young people and, even Republicans now poll in favor of decriminalization.

That Kentucky’s Senator Mitch McConnell would quietly touch on this issue via hemp legalization is perhaps a small indication that even Republican lawmakers feel that reform is long past due.

Hemp legalization looks as though it will have a relatively easy time in Congress, and campaigners will no doubt be ready to lend their energy to this potentially important bit of legislation.

 

Hemp Industry Leaders to Gather at Upcoming 5th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo to Celebrate, Examine Mitch McConnell's Proposed Bill to Legalize Agricultural Hemp in the U.S.

Press Release
Source: digitaljournal.com

The 5th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo, presented by PureHemp Technology and produced by Colorado Hemp Company, is the leading exposition covering the rapidly growing industrial hemp market, including hemp food and fiber, dietary supplements, bio-plastics, building materials and more, April 6 - 7, 2018, at the Ranch Events Complex  in Loveland, CO.

 

As states ease regulations and the federal government considers a bill soon to be introduced by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that would legalize hemp as an agricultural product, demand for hemp products is surging in the United States – and on April 6-7, 2018, the industry's movers and shakers will gather in Loveland, CO, a center of the emerging hemp market, to network, share insights and plot their next moves in this thriving marketplace.

Nearly three-dozen states have passed legislation in recent years allowing research or commercial production of industrial hemp, the non-psychoactive cousin to marijuana. From hemp extract products now being sold online and in a growing number of natural products stores to food, fiber, cosmetics, textiles, paper, animal feed, construction materials and more, industrial hemp sales totaled $688 million in 2016, led by hemp food, body care and hemp extract rich in cannabinoid compounds, or "CBD" products.

As politicians watch the money grow, they're starting to take action. On March 26, Senator McConnell, along with Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rand Paul (R-KY), announced plans to introduce The Hemp Farming Act of 2018, which would remove hemp from the federal list of controlled substances and allow it to be sold as an agricultural commodity. "Hemp has played a foundational role in Kentucky's agriculture heritage, and I believe that it can be an important part of our future," McConnell said in a statement.

"Imagine, instead of pink fiberglass, we could use Kentucky-grown, environmentally sustainable hemp to insulate our houses," McConnell told CNN. "This represents just one of many uses that Kentuckians are finding for this versatile crop."

"The timing of this announcement couldn't be better for Colorado hemp," said Hunter Buffington, Executive Director of the Colorado Hemp Industries Association. "National recognition of hemp as an agricultural commodity will allow Colorado farmers to continue to expand production and support the development of new markets and technologies. Many of these are being led by farmers and innovators who will be featured at the NoCo Hemp Expo."

Morris Beegle, co-founder and co-producer of NoCo Hemp Expo, is cautiously optimistic about the pending legislation. "I'm waiting to read the final language and make sure that the DEA, DOJ and FDA are out of the equation and this proposed legislation actually legalizes all parts of the plant and puts it squarely under the USDA like corn and soy," Beegle said. "If that's the case, it's a win for states, a win for the country, a win for the plant, and a win for planet earth."

NoCo Hemp Expo presents an ideal opportunity to learn about the latest developments in this thriving and rapidly changing industry through exhibits, networking opportunities, presentations and workshops by pioneers, business leaders, and activists.

Keynote speakers include Nature's Path Foods co-founder Arran Stephens, who will discuss why he's been investing in organic farmland to cultivate hemp; Nutiva founder John Roulac, who will explore the benefits of hemp foods and the plant's potential as a regenerative crop; and Native American activist and hemp entrepreneur Winona LaDuke, who's helping to create a new economy for rural and Native American communities.

"There's never been a more exciting time in the hemp industry," Beegle said, "and the energy and momentum leading into the upcoming NoCo Hemp Expo event is palpable."

Media Sneak Peek Walk Through Tour

The 5th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo is hosting a special sneak peek Media Tour of the exploding industrial hemp marketplace on Friday, April 6, 8:45-9:45 am, at the Ranch Events Center in Loveland CO. The Media walk-through tour is open to qualified media only. To register, contact Evan Tompros, evan@compassnaturalmarketing.com, tel 410.852.2121.

Sponsors

PureHemp Technology, an innovator in the production, branding and marketing of industrial hemp products, is this year's NoCo5 Presenting Sponsor. PureHemp's sister company, Pure Kind Botanicals, also produces and markets a line of full spectrum, cannabinoid-infused products for the wellness industry. Additional sponsors for this year's Expo include Palmetto Harmony, Sub-Zero Extracts, Lilu's Garden, Nature's Love, ProVerde Laboratories and Vicente Sederberg. To learn more about all our Sponsor Partners, visit http://nocohempexpo.com/2018-sponsors/.

Tickets and Registration

Tickets for the NoCo Hemp Expo, Hemp Summit, Farm & Ag Symposium, Industry B2B Day, and General Admission are available at http://nocohempexpo.com/ticket-sales/.
About NoCo Hemp Expo

Now in its fifth year, NoCo Hemp Expo – NoCo5 – is produced by the Colorado Hemp Company, a division of WAFBA LLC (We Are For Better Alternatives), based in Loveland, CO. Established in 2012, WAFBA is also founder of TreeFreeHemp paper and printing services, and the Colorado Hemp Company, "supporting all things hemp." Areas of focus include product and brand development, marketing, printing, event production, consulting and advocacy. Learn more at NocoHempExpo.com, and find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Contact:

Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, tel 303-807-1042, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com
For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/hemp-industry-leaders-to-gather-at-upcoming-5th-annual-noco-hemp-expo-to-celebrate-examine-mitch-mcconnells-proposed-bill-to-legalize-agricultural-hemp-in-the-us-956604.htm

 

Mitch McConnell and hemp

Source: dailyindependent.com

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell gets our kudos this week for taking a long-overdue and wise step to reform the silliness of the federal government’s approach to hemp.

Four years after supporting a provision in the 2014 Farm Bill that allows state to authorize the growing of industrial hemp in supervised pilot programs, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell now says he wants to bring hemp production back into the national mainstream by removing it from the list of controlled substances.

This is of course a no-brainer and the fact that hemp -- with a negligible amount of THC in it -- is treated the way it is by the federal government is perhaps the best example possible of how misguided our federal policies can be when it comes to being smart about combatting drugs with increasingly scarce resources.

McConnell, the top Republican in the U.S. Senate Monday told Monday a group of hemp advocates in Kentucky that he will introduce legislation to legalize the crop as an agricultural commodity. Once top cash crop in Kentucky, exceeding even tobacco, hemp has been banned by federal law for decades, because the law does not distinguish industrial hemp from marijuana.

Former Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer was an outspoken advocate of lifting the ban on industrial hemp during his four years in office. Narrowly losing on Matt Bevin in the 2015 Republican gubernatorial primary, Comer was elected to Congress from Kentucky First District in 2016, where he has continued to be a strong advocate for hemp.

During Comer’s final year as agriculture commissioner, Kentucky used the new federal farm bill to approve a pilot program for the first legal raising of hemp in the state in decades. The pilot program has grown so rapidly that Kentucky agriculture officials recently approved about 12,000 acres to be grown in the state this year, and 57 Kentucky processors are turning the raw product into a multitude of products.

Hemp and marijuana are the same species, but hemp has a negligible amount of THC, the psychoactive compound that gives marijuana users a high. Law enforcement agencies have opposed the lifting of the ban on hemp because they say it is difficult to distinguish from marijuana, particularly from a distance. More than 30 other states have joined Kentucky in authorizing hemp research by approving pilot projects.

As we have said in this space previously, we still are not convinced hemp, if legalized, can again become a major cash crop in Kentucky but a growing number of Kentucky farmers are so convinced of hemp’s potential that they have signed up for the pilot program.

We believe the only true way for hemp to realize its potential as a cash crop is to let the free market determine its value and not some outdated federal ban that unfairly confuses hemp with pot.

 

Blue Moon's Creator Aims To Get Customers Mile-High On His New Brew

By Tara Nurin
Source: forbes.com


Colorado -- Keith and Jodi Villa will sell THC-infused beer through a company they call CERIA 

For a drug that makes so many users so sluggish, marijuana sure does send entrepreneurs racing to create financially lucrative legal ways to sell it. Just days after New Belgium Brewing announced The Hemperor Hemp Pale Ale, whose mixture of hops and hemp hearts imbues it with a strong whiff of weed, a more famous Colorado brewer is making public his plans for a non-alcoholic brew that actually gets drinkers high.

Keith Villa, who oversaw the Blue Moon Belgian White brand for 23 years after developing it for Coors Brewing in 1995, is crafting what he believes to be the first beer to actually contain THC, the chemical in cannabis that produces a buzz. Not only can buyers choose from among three levels of high, they’ll know exactly how much energy or euphoria to expect from each bottle or can.

“If they want to watch the Super Bowl and drink a six-pack and not get totally stoned they can just enjoy themselves with our light beer. That way they know they’ll be about as buzzed as they would have been if they’d drunk the equivalent in (alcoholic) beer with an ABV (alcohol by volume) between 4-4.5%.”

While other brewers experiment with hemp or a non-psychoactive version of the CBD compound contained in cannabis, “What we found is consumers of cannabis want the real deal,” he says. “Giving them a beer with hemp or CBD is almost like giving a craft beer drinker an alcohol-free Russian Imperial Stout and telling them, ‘This is good enough.’”

Two months after retiring from his three-decade Coors career, he’s still formulating the name of the product line, though he’s calling the company he founded with his wife CERIA BEVERAGES, after the Belgian brewing school where he earned his doctorate in brewing science. Famous for the beer that comes garnished with a slice of orange and continues to introduce millions of drinkers worldwide to Belgian-style ale, Villa says he expects to revolutionize yet another industry with this venture.

“Now we’re going to bring cannabis to the educated beer-drinking masses,” he says. “We’re at the same instance that craft beer was back in the ‘90s. If you think of a typical consumer who goes into a (marijuana) dispensary, they know very little other than this stuff is green and it gets you high.”

Working with partner dispensaries in Colorado then gradually other states where recreational pot is legal, Villa will brew beer, strip out the alcohol then transport it to the dispensaries to add in the THC and sell to consumers through their retail outlets. Villa has partnered with a company called ebbu that’s figured out how to dose each 12-ounce packaged serving of beer with the amount of THC that would compare to the ABV in a normal beer can or bottle. Like alcohol, a drinker’s metabolism, body mass, food consumption and the like will contribute to variations in sensation. But at least the majority of drinking-age users who don’t necessarily know what 10 mg of THC will do to them can more or less anticipate the effects by monitoring the amount of CERIA beer they drink.

Meaning, if a customer wants a sessionable high, she can buy a “light” beer. For more pound per punch, she can trade up to a “medium” -- equivalent to a beer that ranges between 5-6.5% -- or “heavy-duty” dose that Villa says has no theoretical limit. She’ll mix and match ratios of Sativa to Indica pot strains to customize her experience toward states like blissful, energetic or relaxed, and eventually she’ll be able to decide if she wants all of that in a Russian Imperial Stout or a familiar-tasting, Colorado-brewed Belgian-style wit.

Hemp Provides Opportunity for Ag Investors

By Anna Johansson
Source: gurufocus.com

Hemp could be a great investment for agriculture industry

 

Today’s agriculture industry is seeing a surprising growth trend in hemp. It’s something of a controversial crop among farmers, since it’s also the basis for marijuana, but the plant boasts a host of health and wellness benefits.

 

Its popularity makes it a hot commodity for professional cultivators. Hemp is a high-value crop due to its sustainability.

 

The plants grow very close together, so people who grow it can maximize acreage. Because of this tight-knit growing pattern, hemp also requires little to no application of pesticides and fertilizers. The hemp chokes out other plants as well as insects.

 

Overall, hemp offers a range of options for both farmers and investors. It’s worthwhile to study what drives the market, both in the positive and negative senses, before you dive into the business.

 

Hemp offers a variant market for farmers

 

You might not be aware of this, but hemp is a highly versatile and useful crop. It offers a great many opportunities to farmers, particularly in the Midwest where there’s plenty of flat and cultivatable land.

“Industrial hemp is used for all types of different things: fiber-based products like rope, fabrics, some resins and plastics. There are also opportunities for possible food products, and the oils can be used much like vegetable oils,” Bill Bodine, associate director of state legislation for the Bloomington-based IFB, told the Journal Gazette & Times Courier.

 

“It’s not that the market will materialize overnight, but there are a lot of opportunities for growth.” The profit potential for such a versatile plant that will grow in a compact space is huge. The potential to spread economic prosperity throughout the farming regions of the nation is massive.

 

“We already have markets like that established in West Virginia, which could create economic prosperity in areas where we have a lack of diversity or prosperity,” Mike Manypenny, a grower with the West Virginia Farmers Cooperative, said in an interview with the West Virginia State Journal. “It creates a new opportunity for farmers and the downstream industries that can come along with it.”

 

Processing challenges hinder the market

 

Unfortunately, hemp continues to face a few production challenges, which makes it an uncertain gamble for farmers and investors. “When you put fiber on a truck, when it goes any distance past 100 miles, any profit is gone,” Cory Sharp, CEO of HempLogic, in Moses Lake, Washington told Marijuana Business Daily. “That’s been the killer of the hemp market.”

 

Sharp has partnered with Power Zone, a Colorado-based farm equipment manufacturer that has experience producing decortication machines. Power Zone has designed a new machine that can produce 10 tons of hemp an hour, which can be transported on trucks thereafter.

 

“If you talk to anybody in the hemp industry they’ll tell you there’s a huge disconnect between the producer and the end user,” Corbett Hefner, VP of research and development of Power Zone, told Marijuana Business Daily. “We just don’t have the processing…. This is a game changer.”

 

This development won’t solve every processing problem in the hemp industry, but it’s a good start. With time, the price for the $2 million machine will likely fall, and more hemp end products will have been discovered.

 

Since the market appears to be moving in a positive direction, some investors are likely to bank on its potential.

 

Laws still prevent mass industrial hemp growth

 

A key challenge that faces the future prospects of the hemp industry is legislation. Many states, including Illinois, do not allow farmers to grow hemp industrially because of its association with marijuana.

 

“There is some concern from the medical marijuana community that some of the products made from industrial hemp might also be made from medical marijuana,” Bill Bodine of Illinois said. "Because of that gray area, it was tough to get it all defined.”

 

Perceptions about hemp will probably have to change before it becomes legal in states where it’s currently not sanctioned. The Midwest poses a particular challenge for conservative legislation that prohibits the cultivation of hemp.

 

“The first thing we’ve got to do is educate people that marijuana and hemp are not one and the same,” Eric Pollitt, president of the Hemp Industries Association branch in Illinois, told the Journal Gazette & Times Courier. “Hemp has no drug value at all. But it can be used for a lot of other things.”

 

Potentially high returns for early investors

 

The prospect may be slow going, but as growers in Illinois and other farming states resolve to band together and educate their legislatures on the benefits of growing hemp for industrial uses, the market could take off.

 

Hemp is a strong plant, and it’s easy to grow. The nation’s opinion of hemp has already shifted in a positive direction somewhat; it’s probably only a matter of time before hemp becomes a huge market through which early investors will profit the most.

 

Disclosure: I do not own any of the stocks mentioned in this article.

 

How might industrial hemp fit into your operation?

By David Bennett
Source: deltafarmpress.com


Some commonsense advice

Industrial hemp production is coming to Arkansas. So, might it fit into a row crop farmer’s plans?

Brian Madar, with Tree of Life Seeds (http://www.treeoflifeseeds.com/) has some answers. He spoke with Delta Farm Press in March. Among his comments:

On Madar’s farming background…

“I’m 50 years old and I’ve been farming since I was a kid. I grew up on the farm working with my dad and brother. I farmed with them and rented my own ground until around 2005.

“We farm in Lonoke in (Arkansas’) Prairie County and also in Lonoke County.

“At that time, I got into the oil and gas industry building water transfer companies. We were basically just sending water to a drilling rig versus a rice field. I was in that industry for about 10 years but was going back down and helping my dad and brother on the farm every chance I could. That’s still the case today — if I’m free, I’ll do whatever they need help with.

On questions from farmers regarding hemp…

“Well, the first question is ‘when are we going to be able to grow this plant?’ Our generation of farmers, pretty much as a whole, is excited about a new crop, a new style of revenue stream.

“There are also frequent questions about labor and innovations moving forward with this crop. There are questions on input costs, fertilization, harvesting methods, insect concerns — the same kinds of questions when they’re growing a typical row crop. They want to know about storage and processing of the crop.

“Arkansas is probably the most innovative state I’ve been in when it comes to putting together new resources in the ag industry. I was talking to a group of farmers the other night and they’re talking about everything from new designs on floats to levee squeezers. Arkansas always seems to be out front. We have a bunch of innovative farmers.

“Right now, with industrial hemp, a lot of it has to be harvested by hand. As the industry evolves, I believe we’ll see the many machinery advancements develop.”

On growing hemp…

“There are three crop types under the industrial hemp umbrella.

“In Arkansas, we’re first interested in growing a crop yielding the cannabinoid, CBD, also known as cannabidiol. It is a more specialized crop that requires a bit more hands-on attention. Our company specializes in high-CBD cultivars for oil production.

“So, the crop will be hand-harvested, air-dried in a barn, a shop, a hay house. From there, it’ll go to the processor. We hope to have a processing facility in central Arkansas soon.

“When a crop is ready for harvest, it will be tested for its cannabinoid profile and also to make sure the THC level stays below 0.3 percent. The THC level will be regulated by the state Plant Board and they’ll test before we harvest it, to assure it is below 0.3 percent THC and compliant with the 2014 farm bill.”

Does it have to be grown in a secure facility?

“No. The state Plant Board requires GPS coordinates for every field grown. As good stewards of the program, we’ll want to relay that information to local and county officials, as well. Signs will be up in every field saying ‘this is an industrial hemp research program.’

“To date, we’ve grown industrial hemp in six other states. We don’t see any activity around our crops. Occasionally, a couple of stalks are chopped but once everyone figures out it’s industrial hemp, they leave everything alone.”

On the second and third types of hemp…

“The second type of hemp is a plant grown for seed for hemp heart production. Right now, Walmart, Walgreen’s and Target carry hemp heart products because they’re a ‘super food.’ They’re high in omegas and proteins.

“Currently, all the hemp hearts are being imported from outside the country — Canada and Europe. The American farmer is missing the boat on that market and we need to be producing that crop right here.

“The third type is a plant grown for fiber production.

“Right now, the easiest to market is the high-CBD/low-THC crop. That will go to a facility for extraction and will yield crude CBD oil for marketable products.”

What kind of money are we talking about this industry generating in the future?

“We’d like to contract a farmer who grows this crop using our genetics. We want to contract that for $35 a pound paid to the farmer minus any deductions for moisture — just like with a corn crop. We typically see about a pound per plant and there are anywhere from 1,200 to 1,500 plants per acre. So, that means anywhere from $35,000 to $50,000 per acre.

“We’ve proposed to the state Plant Board to start this up as a pilot program on 1 to 3 acres — no more than 5 — because it’s such a labor-intensive crop. We want to be able to facilitate all the product coming back into an extraction or processing facility.

“It would be really nice if we could have 30 or 40 1-acre plots. We’ll start on a smaller level and, as resources become available along with processing facilities, the farmers who have been successful on 1- or 3-acre grows could go apply for more acres. We don’t want to grow crops out past the runway, so to speak.”