Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
SC hemp farming could top 3,000 acres as states scramble for a piece of the booming market
By Jessica Holdman
COLUMBIA — In just its second year growing hemp, South Carolina is projecting a 1,200% increase in acres of what many are hailing as the next big cash crop.
This heightened rate of growth is common around the country as states scramble for a piece of the budding market. Though the Palmetto State is years behind the regional hemp powerhouse of Kentucky, growers here now see opportunity to come into their own and catch up with neighboring states following law changes this spring.
“I think we’re in a really good position right now to be a solid hemp state,” said Vanessa Elsalah, hemp outreach specialist for the state Agriculture Department.
South Carolina has 113 permitted growers this year planning to plant about 3,300 acres total, Elsalah said, though the department did not provide the field locations and actual acres planted may change. This is up from 20 growers and 256 acres last year.
City Roots, a Columbia urban farm known for its organic greens, planted 80 acres of hemp in Columbia this year and plans to plant another 120 acres south of Charleston by the end of the month, said Eric McClam. And he does not expect excitement around the new crop to subside.
“We will increase acreage again next year,” he said, having joined forces with another grower and processor, Brackish Solutions.
With the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, limits on hemp cultivation and the plant’s status as a Schedule 1 drug were lifted at the federal level. Brackish founder Jason Eargle was among those pushing expansion of the state’s program in response.
“We’ll get left behind if we don’t open this up to more people,” Eargle said. “If federal law allows it, why should we cap it? We wanted to not hold back our state from competing.”
In the region, Kentucky’s hemp industry is about five years ahead of South Carolina and grew 6,700 acres last year. The Bluegrass State is now up to 1,035 approved growers.
North Carolina has one year on the Palmetto State, having grown 965 acres in 2017 and 3,184 acres in 2018. And Tennessee has 2,600 farmers licensed to grow this year. Last year, 226 farmers grew a combined 4,700 acres in the Volunteer State.
South Carolina farmers first planted hemp in 2018, when 20 permits were issued by the Agriculture Department and 256 acres were grown. The program was set to double in 2019 when a new law signed in March removed any limits. The agency then opened up planting to all who had applied earlier in the year.
The agriculture department’s hemp division fields multiple calls daily from potential new growers hoping to plant in 2020.
“Since that law has been passed, (state Agriculture Department officials) are really jumping in head first,” Eargle said. “If they keep doing that, I think we will very quickly catch up with and surpass our neighbors.”
Much of the current demand can be attributed to CBD oil.
Source: https://www.postandcourier.com/business/sc-hemp-farming-could-top-acres-as-states-scramble-for/article_0352043e-8895-11e9-a24f-9791a9ec5497.html
Nobody cares.....
About Xmas trees here. It's all hemp. All the farmers are doing it.
OBTW, approximately 80 MILLION hemp plants grew in 2018, and only takes a couples of months to grow (not 9-10 years like trees).
CHECK OUT THE FACTS:
2018 Hemp Crop Report – 78,176 acres grown
2017 Hemp Crop Report – 25,713 acres grown
2016 Hemp Crop Report – 9,770 acres grown
Please share the U.S. Hemp Crop Report widely.
Because nobody wants Balsams.
That's why.
High demand for hemp, though. MILLIONS of starts in the desert. All the experts doing it.
Any more brain busters?
SMART farmers growing in the desert.
It takes a really smart and experienced farmer to grow in the harsh climate of the desert, absolutely.
Fortunately, there are plenty of smart farmers that have been growing in the desert for CENTURIES.
How is it possible? SHADEHOUSES. Similar to a greenhouse, shadehouses provide adequate protection from the damaging sun. Shadehouses allowing seedlings to mature to sprouts, which then mature to flowering plants. With specialized strains, hemp can withstand any challenging climate. There are breeds specially formulated for desert conditions.
At the end of the day, hemp will most likely become the CASH CROP that regional farmers love. Much better than CORN. Much better than WHEAT. And massively bigger than HAY.
And where does all the water come from? THE GROUND. In HUGE wells. Anyone know where the COLORADO RIVER is? It brings millions of gallons through the desert, some of which is trapped in wells. Hemp Inc has access to a few of these wells. Water will be a non-issue.
Let's watch and learn as hemp grows in the desert, making companies MILLIONS and MILLIONS.
FLOODGATES
Glad we established that IHM (HEMP's subsidiary) owns the site in Spring Hope. Apparently, in such high demand and valuable enough for someone (Fife, Iliad) to commit serious money backing the project.
Hey guys, look, a real property has a deed! Oh boy! What an amazing thing.
Lolol.
Who is this Fife guy anyways? And what does he want from HEMP?
LOL.
Someone has to be asking the REAL questions... I know.
When I have more time, maybe I consider this an issue...
That's a deed. So what?
Fife, Iliad, If they want to back title, that is on them. Just shows more financial backing, or why would anyone grant title?
Hemp has the only one. Everyone wants it. It is high demand.
They are even interested in the entire property, not just the machines.
Obvious they had to finance - not a secret - and the SEC is only stalling HEMP's ability to perform.
Maybe Iliad or Fife would rather see transfer of ownership, but that hasn't happened (pure hedge bet, betting on someone else's loses). Bet they would like that, and probably would take extra care to see that it happens.
Where are the rest of the pages, cause I can't determine what kind of deed this is... the terms?
All real properties have deeds and title, and this only proves that it starts with IHM.
But thanks for the update. Nice looking deed.
Spill it....
Next Meeting:
Friday, June 28, 2019
10 a.m.
A public meeting will be held via telephone conference. Access to the conference call can be made at http://go.ncsu.edu/industrialhemp or by calling 1-929-205-6099 (U.S. toll) or 1-669-900-6833 (U.S. toll). The meeting ID is 909-020-732. Participants will be prompted to enter their name and email address to enter the meeting via the website, or prompted for a unique participant ID for the call. They should press # to access the call.
Purpose of this meeting: Approve research pilot program applications.
If you have questions about the meeting, please contact Beth Farrell at 919-707-3014.
HEMP INC REVENUES KEEP COMING!
BIRDIE FOR THE COURSE!
LOL!
No deeds, no liens, nothing substantiated.
One persons "belief", YIKES...
Where is any of the documentation that substantiates anything that is being claimed?
Just rumors... twisted, dirty rumors.
It's almost theatrical satire at this point. Maybe I just go get a copy of The Onion...
LOL!
Your opinion. Zero facts.
No one has a link. Fabrications should not be taken as sound investment advice.
I wonder if the HEMP defense team encounters the same conundrum when asking for proof of what SEC asserts in their claims, only to watch them meander on about the proceedings SANS ANY FACTUAL MATTER IN SUPPORT OF BASIS OF ORIGINAL CLAIMS.
There are some striking commonalities, its too ironic.
God, I would LOVE being called in for that jury duty, lol. But is a complete waste of time and resources. Sad for SEC... they were misled by disgruntled ex-affiliates. The counter suit will be fun.
All the while, HEMP stacking Revs in the MILLIONS, Q over Q.
FLOODGATES
Could you please share a link?
I would like to look into this a bit further so that I can make the best investment decision possible.
I came here for the serious investors who gather and share market insights in a dynamic environment using an advanced discussion platform.
Just looking to find astute market insight in a less-restrictive environment, and a far more civil level of discourse.
Since the link has been posted several multiple times, then I'm sure a link to mortgages and repairs won't be too hard to provide to the rest of us.
THANKS!
I've yet to see one verifiable link to any mortgage or broken equipment.
Link!?
Is today the day that we see the MUCH ANTICIPATED 1's?
Folklore galore! Looks like a line out the door for MORE HEMP!
LOL
What mortgage? Link?
WHO'S GONNA PROCESS ALL THE HEMP?
HEMP INC -- CBS NEWS
https://ktvl.com/features/in-the-weeds/hemp-university
https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news/nc-hemp-processing-facility-is-largest-in-western-hemisphere/1103849580
HEMP INC -- NBC NEWS
https://kobi5.com/news/top-stories/hemp-inc-holds-first-west-coast-educational-seminar-in-ashland-98655/
https://kobi5.com/news/hemp-the-burgeoning-industry-of-southern-oregon-92209/
HEMP INC -- ABC NEWS
https://www.abc15.com/news/state/farmers-could-plant-hemp-in-arizona-fields-this-summer-if-bill-passes
HEMP INC -- WASHINGTON TIMES
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/11/senate-passes-867-billion-farm-bill/
HEMP INC -- FORBES
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrebourque/2019/03/25/how-hemp-is-giving-renewed-life-to-americas-tobacco-farmers/#434da3f84726
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrebourque/2018/12/17/how-hemp-and-the-farm-bill-may-change-life-as-you-know-it/#4f98a6a8694c
HEMP INC -- CRAINS
http://www.crains.com/article/news/north-carolina-growers-are-betting-hemp
HEMP INC -- FOX BUSINESS
https://www.foxbusiness.com/small-business/hemp-ceo-thanks-to-farm-bill-the-hemp-revolution-will-now-be-made-in-america
HEMP INC -- THE BUSINESS JOURNAL
https://thebusinessjournal.com/farm-bill-talks-invigorate-hope-for-hemp-in-the-valley/
HEMP INC -- COLORADO SPRINGS INDEPENDENT
https://www.csindy.com/coloradosprings/hemp-incs-new-product-makes-oil-drilling-a-bit-more-eco-friendly/Content?oid=14668202
HEMP INC -- SPECTRUM NEWS
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/triangle-sandhills/news/2018/09/02/carolina-hemp-festival-educates-public-about-many-uses-of-hemp
HEMP INC -- ROCKY MOUNT TELEGRAM
http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/News/2018/07/28/Area-hemp-plant-inks-new-distribution-deal.html
HEMP INC -- THE WILSON TIMES
http://www.wilsontimes.com/stories/raising-hemp-a-lucrative-but-risky-business-endeavor,152622
http://wilsontimes.com/stories/carolinas-next-cash-crop,155136
HEMP INC -- CARRIBEAN BUSINESS
https://caribbeanbusiness.com/industrial-hemp-sustainable-economic-development-for-p-r/
HEMP INC -- KDKA RADIO
https://kdkaradio.radio.com/media/audio-channel/hemp-farming-act-2018
HEMP INC -- THE OREGONIAN
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2018/12/oregon-hemp-industry-poised-for-big-growth-after-feds-sign-off.html
HEMP INC -- MASS LIVE
https://www.masslive.com/news/2018/12/the-federal-government-is-about-to-legalize-hemp-what-does-it-mean-for-massachusetts.html
HEMP INC -- AGDAILY
https://www.agdaily.com/crops/america-hemp-farming/
HEMP INC -- TULSA WORLD
https://www.tulsaworld.com/business/industrial-hemp-has-potential-to-be-a-big-cash-crop/article_b6b1549a-b1bb-5059-8106-3e9be291bf7f.html
HEMP INC -- NEWS-HERALD
https://www.havasunews.com/news/mohave-county-hemp-farm-poised-to-plant-its-first-seeds/article_c230ef36-8c10-11e9-8cdd-e3d3ef91d891.html
WATCH---HEMP INC GROWING, PROCESSING, & SHIPPING HEMP
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10217430198723361/10217430198283350/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10217430198723361/10217430206603558/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10217128448259788/10217128456099984/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10217128448259788/10217128479380566/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10216944818829167/10216944817629137/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10216944818829167/10216944827509384/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10216944818829167/10216944846109849/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10216937472445512/10216937468805421/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10216937472445512/10216937479325684/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/10216341909436809/
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/10216335888526290/
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/10216330020819601/
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10216154785518828/10216154816239596/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10216102687736416/10216102686136376/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10216196627844860/10216196635405049/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10216040924112364/10216040917992211/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10215806930262664/10215806932622723/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10215568627025232/10215568648105759/?type=3&theater
TOURING POTENTIAL MASSIVE HEMP-HUB IN PUERTO RICO
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/10216757569348047/
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/10216757588108516/
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/10216476607324172/
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/10216469874395853/
TOURING POTENTIAL MASSIVE HEMP PROCESSING FACILITY IN CENTRAL FLORIDA
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/10216659709101602/
WORKING WITH DIFFERENT STRAINS OF HEMP
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10216047106466919/10216047136787677/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10216047106466919/10216047127107435/?type=3&theater
'HEMP UNIVERSITY', SATURDAY, MARCH 23RD, MEDFORD, OREGON
https://www.thehempuniversity.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10217141800193578/10217141853834919/?type=3&theater
'HEMP UNIVERSITY', SATURDAY, MAY 4TH, ASHELAND, OREGON
https://www.thehempuniversity.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10217439328511600/10217439303470974/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot/videos/pcb.10217447692080684/10217447683320465/?type=3&theater
NORTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIAL HEMP REGISTERED PROCESSORS (MAY 2019)
https://www.ncagr.gov/hemp/documents/5-23ProcessorListForWeb_000.pdf
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight....
MORE GREENHOUSES. MORE RETAIL. BIGGER EXTRACTOR. MORE JOBS.
24 MORE greenhouses, for a total of 32.
Larger extractor coming for next crop. Will dwarf what we had in NC.
Retail expansion is in the works, now with others national MAJORS like CVS, WALGREENS, RITE AID, WHOLEFOODS, TRADER JOES, WALMART, KROGER. Hemp will be on shelves EVERYWHERE. Great news for processors, with endless promise of customers.
MORE JOBS. Hemp Inc was employing HUNDREDS at the Medford facility, and a few more at Spring Hope. ARMY of EXPERIENCED FARMERS, and PHD EXPERTS continues to expand.
Have there been some expenses? Sure. Point to a company that is building their business for free. I'll laugh...
HEMP INC is a COAST to COAST, AMERICAN MADE hemp company, and the industry boo-hoos DO NOT like being a witness to the success. A market disruptor, and groups from Canada, China, big pharma, and big timber might have to concede to what's coming. There is no stopping it.
FLOODGATES
Hemp, Inc. Announces its Majority-Owned Oregon Hemp Company and Processing Center Begins Operations in Record Time
https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-announces-its-majority-owned-oregon-hemp-company-and-processing-center-begins-operations-in-record-time/
Was that BUY signal?
And ASSETS and REVENUES keep STACKING...
Oh, hey, look, googled Bruce Perlowin and apparently he was once king of BILLION DOLLAR cannabis distribution organization.
http://bruceperlowin1.com/kingofpot.html
A BILLION DOLLARS!!! WOWZERS! Can any of our local CFA's adjust for today's dollar value? A billion in the 70's is what, like, more than one billion today, at least... right?
Part of cannabis is legal now... ruht roh! Competition might need to take notes.
FLOODGATES
Other companies need the exposure more than HEMP.
Still fighting over market share.
HEMP is a national presence, and has better uses for the capital rather than huge booth expenses and exhibit fees.
Ironic, cause Bruce usually IS an attendee at about a half dozen or so of these trade shows as an individual spectator (if he isn't hosting an exhibit of his own), both domestic AND international, and most people are thrilled when he shows up.
Everyone except the competition, that is...
China, Canada, Big timber, all must be in a panic now that USA producing its own hemp...
Bruce is receiving front page press, tho... competition might not like seeing that either...
Oh B/D and friends...
Yup, hundreds and thousands, and MILLIONS in revenues.
Actually, MILLIONS in just one quarter, alone.... whoa, and that was BEFORE NATIONWIDE HEMP DEREGULATION, AKA FARM BILL.
Acres are in the thousands by now. Tens of thousands coming.
24 MORE GREENHOUSES?
When did HEMP get audited? You mean the FREE audit on behalf of SEC? That will fizzle to the wayside soon enough.... 3 years and nothing but a little petty sanction is all the prosicution has been able to ring out of this wet-rag of a hastley filed CIVIL COMPLAINT.
Worthless? Hahaha... yeah, millions in Mkt Cap and tangible assets now all of a sudden "worthless".
My Pontiac '69 also worthless...
Bwahahahaha... worthlesss, I've seen it all.
It's actually 10.5B AS, but who cares about facts....?
That's what they kept saying... but WRONG.
They were merely illusions...
Chart says OVERSOLD and still in 24Mo-UPTREND.
SQUEEZY SQUEEZY!
July 2015, and when else?
Annual farm bill clears NC Senate
By Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter
6/17/19
A wide-ranging bill to regulate North Carolina's growing hemp industry, which also allows more shooting ranges on farms and has hog farm language that environmentalists don't trust, cleared the state Senate Monday night.
Senate Bill 315 survived several attempts by Democrats to water it down, and one Democrat's attempt to add a ban to the bill on building new poultry farms in flood-prone areas. The Republican majority set each of those changes aside, including an attempt from state Sen. Mike Woodard, D-Durham, to split the 30-plus-page bill into four parts so legislators could take what they like and leave what they don't.
"Sometimes you have to have something good along with something that some folks don't think is so good," state Sen. Brent Jackson, the bill's primary sponsor, said as he asked senators to oppose the split. "I think that everything in this bill is good policy."
The vote was 31-14, a bipartisan decision to move the full bill over to the House, where it will go through more committees and is likely to change some more. Jackson, R-Sampson, said he expects one section dealing with odors from hog farms to morph substantially or be removed in the House, but negotiations weren't quite far along enough to handle that in the Senate.
Among other things the bill includes:
- A laundry list of regulations for the hemp industry, including a ban on smokable hemp that would be delayed until December 2020. This is to give law enforcement, which is worried that the largely THC-free hemp is visually indistinguishable from marijuana, time to talk with growers about a solution that allows sales of the hemp flower, which contain a medicinal oil, without de-facto legalizing marijuana.
- Several sections affecting the hog industry, including one the North Carolina Pork Council says will help farmers cover hog waste lagoons to collect biogas that can be burned for energy. Environmentalists worry the language is an end-around on the state's ban on expanding the lagoon system.
- Language that exempts soil and water records from the state's public records act. Jackson said the measure simply lines up with federal disclosure rules, but attorneys in the environmental sector say this change protects documents that could expose environmental problems on farms.
- A change in the state's definition of agritourism that would allow farmers to add rifle ranges, skeet shooting and other shooting sports on their property without being blocked by county zoning laws.
- Plans to trademark and advertise the North Carolina sweet potato
Source: https://www.wral.com/annual-farm-bill-clears-nc-senate/18457864/
North Carolina Senate passes bill expanding hemp industry
By : AMANDA MORRIS
JUNE 17, 2019 6:10 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RALEIGH, N.C. — Legislation designed to further develop North Carolina’s fast-growing hemp industry, increase agritourism and make it easier for industrial-scale hog farms to overhaul their open-air waste storage systems has cleared the state Senate.
The legislature’s annual “Farm Act” passed on Monday after floor debate by a 31-14 vote. It now goes to the House.
The bill’s proposed ban on smokable hemp in December 2020 has received a lot of attention during committee debates.
Smokable hemp doesn’t produce a high, but it looks and smells a lot like marijuana, which law enforcement says is a problem. Many hemp farmers in the state have previously spoken up against the ban and say smokable hemp can sell for as much as $1,000 per pound.
Source: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/sns-bc-nc-xgr--farm-act-smokable-hemp-20190618-story.html
Farm Bill could make N.C. pioneer in industrial hemp
June 17, 2019 Laurinburg Exchange Agriculture
By: Kari Travis - Carolina Journal
RALEIGH — Andrew Ross, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Afghanistan, in January was working private security for a cross-country delivery of hemp. Ross’s task was simple: Guard a truckload of state-approved industrial hemp, grown in Kentucky, and bound for Colorado.
Ross was pulled over by police in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, after the delivery truck he was trailing ran a stoplight. The Associated Press reported in March that Ross showed the officers his Kentucky-issued hemp license, the license for the Colorado lab that bought the hemp, and the paperwork proving all 60 bags of hemp were low in THC — the psychoactive compound found in marijuana.
That didn’t satisfy officers, whose tests showed unknown levels of THC. They arrested Ross and his three co-workers.
The charges, which could’ve put Ross in prison for 18 years to life if he were convicted, were dropped. But the 18,000 pounds of hemp he was hired to deliver are still locked away.
Ross’ case — one of several recorded over months — reflects concerns of policymakers and law enforcers who are debating the future of hemp farming and manufacturing in North Carolina. Senate Bill 315, “North Carolina Farm Act of 2019,” would among other things expand a 2014 hemp pilot project, turning it into a statewide program with broad regulations. S.B. 315’s primary sponsor, Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, would like to see hemp farming become a viable industry — especially as North Carolina’s tobacco farms decline.
Adopting a law for statewide hemp farming would make North Carolina a pioneer in the field, said Geoffrey Lawrence, a senior researcher at the libertarian Reason Foundation. Lawrence, a former policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation, studies cannabis policy and is a consultant on the topic to lawmakers around the country.
Hemp wasn’t always taboo in the United States. It was widely used since the early 1600s to make cloth, paper, and rope. Betsy Ross even used hemp fabric to sew the very first American flag.
But the plant was criminalized in 1938 under the Marihuana Tax Act, which ended legal production of hemp because of its relation to the psychoactive marijuana plant.
In 2013, the federal government passed a law permitting hemp farming only for research at specific institutions. Last year, the plant — lauded for health benefits derived from its non-psychoactive cannabidiol (CBD) compounds — was completely removed from the federal government’s Controlled Substances Act.
The declassification created a big, gray area between state and federal law. Practically speaking, Jackson said, hemp is legal nationwide, unless states individually rule otherwise. That’s how a myriad of stores selling hemp products — such as CBD infused oils, lotions, and edibles — have popped up around North Carolina. Multiple reports from the News and Observer scrutinized the legality of these retailers, since the declassification and legalization of hemp ultimately is subject to a state plan, or a plan established by the United States Department of Agriculture.
No such plan exists yet.
If North Carolina passes S.B. 315 into law, it will set the national tone for hemp farming, Lawrence said. Regulations included in the bill may seem cumbersome, but are required for compliance with federal law, he added.
North Carolina’s 2014 pilot program kick-started hemp production (for research purposes) around the state. S.B. 315 would rename the Industrial Hemp Commission as the North Carolina Hemp Commission. The body would transition from research, to regulation, overseeing licensing and compliance for growers and processors.
Jackson said he expects a smooth transition for growers and manufacturers, but law enforcers are concerned that a statewide program would be too much to handle.
It’s impossible for officers to visually differentiate between hemp and marijuana, Lawrence said. If more farmers are allowed to grow and transport hemp, stories like Ross’ — where people are arrested for possessing a legal plant that looks like a criminal one — may become far more common.
One solution — proposed by the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation — is to ban all hemp and CBD oil products, making them legal only for people with epilepsy, according to reports from the Raleigh News & Observer.
Ideally, the federal government would completely remove marijuana from its list of controlled substances and allow states to regulate it however they choose — though that isn’t likely in any case, Lawrence said.
Nobody is trying to legalize marijuana, and the General Assembly is working with law enforcement on a plan to test for accurate THC levels during roadside stops, Jackson told Carolina Journal.
S.B. 315 would establish a task force to resolve concerns of law enforcement. The hemp industry is encouraged to work with law enforcement and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture to develop best practices, Jackson added.
Source: https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/news/26537/farm-bill-could-make-n-c-pioneer-in-industrial-hemp
STATELINE-SOUTHERN FARMERS RECKON WITH PUSH TO RAISE TOBACCO-BUYING AGE
6/17/2019
By Max and Blau
June 17(Stateline) - Burley tobacco once lined nearly every road in Shelby County, Kentucky. But when Paul Hornback drives through his hometown, the 62-year-old tobacco farmer rarely sees the leafy crop.
Despite his fears about tobacco farming, long the lifeblood of his community, Hornback supports the push to ban teenagers from buying cigarettes.
Last month, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who co-sponsored a bill to raise the purchasing age limit for traditional and e-cigarettes from 18 to 21, said the changes were “not a zero-sum choice” between health and agriculture.
Hornback, who serves as a Republican state lawmaker in Kentucky, agrees.
“I believe public health can win — and farmers can win,” Hornback said. He thinks tobacco growers could diversify their crops, improving their long-term economic outlook, while seeing a potential improvement in teen health.
Faced with declining U.S. cigarette consumption, along with an increasingly competitive international market, tobacco farmers in states such as Kentucky, North Carolina and Virginia are bracing for the potential impact of a federal Tobacco 21, or “T-21,” bill. Since the mid-2000s, more than a dozen states and nearly 500 cities have passed similar legislation. But it wasn’t until the past year that T-21 gained traction in Southern states including Arkansas, Virginia and Texas.
Large tobacco companies, once opposed to raising the minimum tobacco-buying age, now support state and federal T-21 legislation. That about-face has worried some activists, who fear industry lobbying efforts behind such laws are intended to gut stronger local tobacco regulations.
Beyond the U.S. Capitol and statehouses, however, Southern farmers are left to figure out what comes next. Some tobacco farmers wary of T-21 think the legislation is the latest threat to one of the region’s legacy crops. Others, like Hornback, voiced support for legislation designed to reduce teen smoking.
Tony Banks, a commodity-marketing specialist for the Virginia Farm Bureau, thinks it’s only a matter of time before T-21 passes on a federal level. But as the country moves closer to that point, agricultural experts worry that the public health initiative could force farmers to grow less tobacco or push them out of the business.
“T-21 is probably inevitable,” Banks said. “But it’s another step in the direction of hastening declines in cigarette consumption. And it’s another cut to [tobacco farmers’] production and income.”
A Healthier Tobacco Country
Tobacco farmers helped drive the economies of Southern states for centuries. Two kinds of tobacco — burley and flue-cured — fueled U.S. export markets well into the 1970s.
But growing awareness from Americans of smoking’s link to cancer, along with the rise of international markets, sent domestic tobacco production in reverse.
Following the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, federal lawmakers passed a tobacco buyout as part of the Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act in 2004.
It forced tobacco companies to pay billions of dollars to growers as part of the government’s deregulation of the industry, and allowed some farmers to relinquish their tobacco production quotas.
The legislation was intended to help growers compete against international competitors. But China’s tariffs on American tobacco have in part offset those gains.
Despite Southern tobacco farmers’ economic presence across the region, they also have witnessed long-term health consequences.
North Carolina, which produces more tobacco than any other state, ranks eighth in youth cigarette smoking rates. The second-highest tobacco producer, Kentucky, is nearly tied for the highest level of youth cigarette use.
Behind those states comes Virginia, which has lower smoking rates that mirror the national average, but has faced criticism from the American Lung Association for its inadequate policies for cessation funding and smoke-free air. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not have statewide data for 11 states.)
McConnell thinks his T-21 bill would help combat rising vaping rates among teens, while also addressing Kentucky’s nation-leading cancer rates. That’s a mission that tobacco farmers can rally behind — without feeling like they’re left behind, he said.
“I haven’t met a tobacco farmer yet who didn’t think this was a good idea,” McConnell said in a recent radio interview with WKYX. (His spokesperson did not make McConnell available for an interview with Stateline.) “Tobacco has been an important part of our culture. That doesn’t mean that people who grow tobacco think youngsters ought to use.”
While some public health advocates have aligned with Big Tobacco to advance hundreds of laws nationwide, other groups remain suspicious of those companies’ intentions.
A recent investigation from the Center for Public Integrity found that tobacco lobbyists have funded a “blitzkrieg” in which hundreds of lobbyists have sought to advance state-level bills.
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat who co-sponsored the federal bill, thinks conservative tobacco farmers and progressive health activists can support T-21 to “keep tobacco products out of schools and away from our children.”
Virginia is home to one of the world’s largest tobacco companies, Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris Companies.
William Paterson University economics professor Rahi Abouk said his research on local T-21 laws nationwide has found only limited reductions in smoking rates. But in a recent op-ed in the Courier Journal, McConnell further pitched Kentuckians on the idea of T-21.
“When it comes to tobacco, Kentuckians acknowledge our past and the role the historic crop still plays for a number of farmers today,” McConnell wrote. “But we must also recognize the growing public health crisis of teenage vaping. Kentucky farmers don’t want their children developing unhealthy addictions any more than any other parent.”
‘Tobacco Is Still King’ Steve Pratt, the manager of a co-op with tobacco growers in five states, said he supports policies that keep kids away from cigarettes. But he doesn’t share the same rosy outlook as McConnell or Hornback, in part because such legislation would lower tobacco demand.
“Obviously, anything that’s going to cause people to stop smoking is going to cause a decline in demand for burley tobacco,” Pratt said. “From that perspective, it’s definitely not going to help the tobacco farming industry.”
Blake Brown, an economics professor at North Carolina State University’s cooperative extension, said T-21 marks the latest in a long line of threats that have chiseled into the once vibrant trade.
For decades, tobacco farmers have been hit by the confluence of a 3% annual drop in U.S. cigarette consumption and the rise of tobacco production in Brazil, China and Zimbabwe.
Most recently, President Donald Trump’s trade war has pummeled North Carolina tobacco farmers who have temporarily lost business with some of their biggest clients.
If McConnell’s bill is successful, “you’ll have fewer young people start smoking,” Brown said. “In the scheme of things — tariffs and other regulations — T-21 is fairly small. It might accelerate the trend of declined cigarette consumption.”
In February, Kentucky tobacco farmer and Republican state Sen. Stan Humphries pushed back against Kentucky’s state-level T-21 bill.
During a Kentucky Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, a lawmaker proposed a bill that would have raised the smoking age to 21, arguing that Kentucky footed a $2 billion bill annually for tobacco-related sicknesses, and attendees offered a standing ovation.
But Humphries argued that the regulation posed a threat to the already-shrinking tobacco industry. The Republican-controlled committee voted against the bill.
“Where I come from, tobacco is still king,” Humphries said.
But since 2004, the year of the tobacco buyout, Pratt estimates the number of burley tobacco farmers in the states he represents — Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri and West Virginia — has dropped from 175,000 to 3,000.
Last year, burley tobacco farmers planned to grow the fewest acres on record, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Because of that data, Pratt can’t see a silver lining for additional regulations like T-21.
“That’s not going to be a win-win for tobacco farmers,” Pratt said.
Uncertain Road Forward
As T-21 spreads across the country, many tobacco experts think it will further push tobacco farmers toward crop diversification.
Banks said Virginia tobacco farmers are growing more wheat, soybeans and industrial hemp. And farmers in eastern North Carolina have increasingly shifted toward a mix of sweet potatoes, hogs, poultry and tobacco.
But Brown worries the move away from the profitable crop of tobacco means farmers will no longer have a strong safety net during harsher economic times.
“If nothing else was OK, tobacco would get them through it,” Brown said. “In east North Carolina, farmers now don’t talk about being a ‘tobacco farmer.’ They’re a farmer — an astute businessman — who grows a diverse mix.”
While Banks has concerns about the negative economic impact of Virginia’s T-21 — in Virginia and beyond — he fears that it’s a sign of things to come.
Pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposals to lower addictive substances in cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products could create an “unfeasible” environment for tobacco growers, Banks said.
Having spent nearly all his life in tobacco, Hornback has accepted the inevitable shift. Tobacco once made up 60% of his business. Now it accounts for 15%.
At this point, he doesn’t just grow a larger variety of crops — he’s even taken on construction work, too. Despite the constant threat to tobacco growers, Hornback thinks tobacco farming will survive, even if it’s serving a niche market.
“Tobacco farmers have adapted and adjusted before,” Hornback said. “But tobacco is not going away.”
Source: https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/stateline-southern-farmers-reckon-with-push-to-raise-tobacco-buying-age
North Carolina Tobacco Farms Switch to Hemp as Changing Tides Put Cash Crop at Center of Attention
Published June 17, 2019 By Michael R
Followers of the most up-to-date CBD and cannabis news might remember the major predictions last year from some analysts that the CBD/hemp industry is likely to surpass the medical marijuana industry in terms of total value by the year 2022. But even more surprisingly, new trends are starting to show that hemp farms may be replacing tobacco, an age-old industry worth trillions globally. While the industry certainly is not projected to completely pass tobacco in the near future, one pro-hemp alliance in North Carolina is pushing tobacco farmers to adopt hemp, as well as all the new avenues that come with the expanding hemp industry.
A new partnership between Root Bioscience and Greenfield Agronomics is forming. The intention? To create a massive hemp facility, the biggest one in North Carolina. The facility will handle processing, extraction, and storage of the hemp plant. Additionally, the organization is working to extend access to processing resources and additional markets to farmers all over the state. Working with an extremely limited existing farmer-to-farmer support framework in their part of the country, these North Carolina companies are partnering to make the hemp industry more accessible to traditional tobacco farmers.
The cornerstone of the coalition’s philosophy has always been that the building of a centralized and accessible extraction and processing facility will make it easier for farmers who might not have their own resources to enter the highly-profitable hemp farming industry. The limited access that many NC farmers have to national hemp markets hampers their efforts to join in the expanding sector, Greenfield Agronomics Manager Fen Rascoe elaborated.
From Tobacco to Hemp
One hopeful example for the project is Taylor Carson. A farmer from the tiny town of Bethel, he and a few other local farmers joined a hemp co-op partnership back in 2017. To their disdain, however, the co-op was sponsored by a University which was unable to acquire enough hemp seeds for the growers to continue to participate when the season came upon them.
Fast-forward to 2018, Carson turned his attention to the extraction of hemp oil, a booming industry in the NC hemp market. Having grown traditional crops like tobacco and soybeans for several decades before, Carson switched to the hemp industry following a number of economic problems stemming from several reasons.
Despite his work, Carson still faces a few obstacles in making his new hemp farm work financially. For one, he has issues finding a suitable market for the crops that he is able to grow. A substantive infrastructure for the hemp market does not yet really exist in the state. However, GRES, as well as other organizations seeking to establish a coalition of shared resources and expand access to national markets for hemp, might be able to help farmers like Carson make everything work effectively.
Source: https://timesofcbd.com/north-carolina-tobacco-farms-switch-to-hemp/
However, because the defendants’ discovery violations do not threaten the rightful decision of the case on the merits, the court will not recommend terminating sanctions.
Where will the next WILD GOOSE fly from once the SEC thing disappears?
Like playing Duck Hunt with RUMORS, from left to right.
No biggie, HEMP just keeps building on TANGIBLE ASSETS and QUARTERLY REVENUES.
Q2 arrives mid-to-late August, with harvest right around the corner. Wonder how many HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF POUNDS Hemp will be processing this year...
FLOODGATES
OTC is a SUBSCRIPTION-BASED - PAY-TO-PLAY - Service.
Nothing more than that.
OTC Markets hold ZERO jurisdiction or regulatory authority over OTC Pink reporting or non-reporting. Companies PAY a regular membership FEE in exchange for PRESTIGE or AUTHENTICITY. HEMP is under NO REQUIREMENT to be a member of OTC Markets (obviously, or they would have been shutdown YEARS ago.)
HEMP would be a member if OTC hadn't voluntarily opted not to renew their services during open SEC civil "complaint" - a FORMALITY. Bruce has publicly stated such, and expressed willingness to continue as a PAYING MEMBER if OTC had different approach on own SELF IMPOSED policies.
As long as a company makes their disclosures available to the public as outlined under SEC and FINRA regulations, even WITHOUT SEC reporting, said company is in compliance.
HEMP IS IN COMPLIANCE ACCORDING TO SEC GUIDELINES.
How do people so closely involved FAIL to remember that?
"Alleged" losses....
Unaudited right?
HOW'S THE Q-OVER-Q REVENUE GENERATING GOING?
Over a MILLION in one quarter?
Consistently HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS per quarter?
Assets STACKING every quarter, by the TENS of MILLIONS?
I'd say things are looking bright!
FLOODGATES
Hemp legislation goes to Florida governor
by CAPITOL NEWS SERVICE
Friday, June 14th 2019
(WEAR-TV) — Hemp could soon be a 20 billion dollar industry in Florida, but it depends on the Governor signing legislation he received today legalizing industrial hemp, and the state’s Agriculture Commissioner wants you to encourage the Governor to sign the legislation.
Hemp is marijuana’s second cousinmade illegal in 1957. But perhaps no longer in Florida.
Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried wants you help to make that happen.
“The bill was actually sent to the Governor this morning, so if anyone has an ear of the Governor, encourage him to sign the hemp bill” Fried told the Capitol Tiger Bay Club.
Fried sees hemp as a possible savior for panhandle families who lost a 20 yer old crop of pine trees during Hurricane Michael.
“It is going to be something thats going to replace all of our styrofoam, our plastic, out paper. Hemp creeps. It is gong to be what I call an industrial revolution across our state and the country, and it’s all biodegradable” says Fried.
Elected as an advocate for Medical marijuana, Fried says big changes are needed before patients will really benefit.
“Stronger competition means it becomes more affordable. Getting them out of the black market and into our licensed dispensaries.and we need to fight for health care for medical marijuana patients.”
Asked if marijuana would ever be legal in Flordia, the Commissioner said its going to take time.
“And I do see that happening as more and more states legalize it and get into the marijuana space, you’re going to see more movement in DC.”
11 States have already legalized recreational marijuana. An initiative trying to get on the 2020 ballot would to add Flordia to that list faces an uphill battle.
The legislation requires hemp and CBD products meet testing standards for food safety.
Fried says consumers should be careful buying the products until the state has developed testing standards.
Source: https://weartv.com/news/local/hemp-legislation-goes-to-florida-governor