Hemp, Inc. Reports Oklahoma Next to Allow Commercial Production of Industrial Hemp

GlobeNewswire - finance.yahoo.com Posted 5 years ago

SPRING HOPE, NC, April 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE – Hemp, Inc. (OTC PINK: HEMP), a global leader in the industrial hemp industry with bi-coastal processing centers including the 85,000 square-foot multipurpose industrial hemp processing facility in Spring Hope, North Carolina, a state of the art processing center in Medford, Oregon, and a 500-acre hemp growing Eco-Village in Golden Valley, Arizona, announced today that after unanimous approval by the house, Senate Bill 868 has proceeded to the desk of Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, which would allow for the commercial production of industrial hemp. According to the bill legislature, SB 868 “authorizes the state Department of Agriculture to take develop and administer a production program under the 2018 federal farm bill.”

State Sen. Lonnie Paxton, one of the authors of the bill, said [SB 868] accomplishes a critical step Oklahoma needs to take as it moves from its current pilot program authorized a year ago into a new era.  Bruce Perlowin, CEO of Hemp, Inc. (HEMP) commented, “The bill, according to many news sources, was written to mimic the United States Department of Agriculture’s rules with the help of Republican State Senator Lonnie Paxton.  The reasoning for Oklahoma mimicking the USDA rules is because they want to ensure the farmers who are interested in growing industrial hemp can hit the ground running and start making money off of this lucrative crop.”

As noted in Ganjapreneur, “The measure expands the current state program, which only allows hemp research by universities or colleges in conjunction with the state Department of Agriculture.”  This bill, however, will not only create opportunities for farmers to raise another cash crop, it will also open the door for processors to move into the state, according to Sen. Paxton.

This is yet another huge opportunity for Hemp, Inc.  As a global leader in the industrial hemp industry with bi-coastal processing centers including the 85,000 square-foot multipurpose industrial hemp processing facility in Spring Hope, North Carolina, a state of the art processing center in Medford, Oregon, and a 500-acre hemp growing Eco-Village in Golden Valley, Arizona, Hemp, Inc. executives are already looking to partner with Oklahoma locals to have a local processing center in Oklahoma.  Furthermore, every state growing hemp provides fertile ground for Hemp, Inc.’s Hemp University to train the farmers on what they need to successfully grow hemp.

Tobacco farmers have long been looking to hemp as their new cash crop pushing public officials to seek ways to invigorate local agricultural programs. “I’ve noticed the shift with the farmers over the past few years, from tobacco to hemp, vegetables to hemp, etcetera, etcetera,” added Perlowin. “I’m sure farmers in Oklahoma are excited for this breakthrough in the farming industry, as it can bring new life into the farms and provide the American people with an exceptional and versatile crop.”

Perlowin continued, “I’ve already talked to a very large extraction company who said he has one customer in Oklahoma who plans on growing 10,000 acres of hemp in order to sell him all the biomass that 10,000 acres will produce.” As more states like Oklahoma get on board, Hemp, Inc. will naturally expand its Hemp University and local processing centers into that state.

The next, or second, Hemp University in Oregon is a Pre-Planting Support Workshop that will be held from 12:00pm to 6:00pm PST on May 4, 2019 and will feature a keynote speaker and three 90-minute master classes followed by a question and answer session. The workshop will focus on how farmers can begin planting hemp. In addition to the keynote presentation and master classes, a seed, clones, soils and nutrients vendor market will be held for attendees to select specific products for farming hemp just in time for the planting season.

At the Hemp University workshop, keynote speaker, Edgar Winters, the CEO of WinterFox Farms who is a hemp activist and researcher, will discuss hemp’s important role in the sustainability model on superior genetics for farmers, processors and investors. 

Master class instructors for the Hemp University Oregon “Pre-Planting Support Workshop” include:

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  • “Growing Plans and Greenhouses” by Farmer Tom Lauerman
    With decades of experience, Farmer Tom Lauerman will provide farmers with key advice that is needed regarding the basics of growing. This includes methods of set-up, sun orientation and watering. Additionally, Lauerman will discuss the importance of greenhouses, which he affirms are essential to run a good hemp farm.

  • “Working Protocols for Soil Health” by Woody Thorpe 
    Certified crop advisor and sustainability specialist Woody Thorpe will focus on the soil ecosystem and how to improve it without the use of chemicals. Thorpe will discuss the simplicity and complexity of the soil system and lead farmers through its basic design.

  • “The Essentials on Seeds and Nutrients” by Paul Kodydek
    Paul Kodydek comes from Rattlesnake Hemp as a Rogue Valley Master Grower. Kodydek is well-known for providing problem-solving consultations for local farmers and will teach farmers how to best get started by sharing his unique knowledge about seeds and nutrients.
  • Many vendors in attendance will give a 5-10 minute presentation describing their products and how they can help your hemp farming needs this year.

Buy your tickets online now because the last Hemp University was completely sold out and people had to be turned away at the door.  We expect the upcoming Pre-Planting Workshop to be filled to capacity as well. 

In addition to the Hemp University in Oregon, Hemp, Inc. also plans to expand their education reach to Arizona and Puerto Rico as well as continuing the seminars in North Carolina. Arizona is a location where Hemp, Inc. has multiple ventures which include retail store Hemp Healthcare in Dolan Springs, Arizona that sells high-end CBD and hemp-based products and its strategic growing partner’s 500-acre hemp growing eco-village (Veteran Village Kins Communities) in Golden Valley, Arizona. Puerto Rico is an area where Hemp, Inc. is scouting new locations for a local processing center and scouting acres to grow high CBD hemp.

For those interested in presenting or showcasing at this workshop, please contact Sophia Blanton at [email protected]. To purchase tickets, please visit the Hemp University website at www.thehempuniversity.com. 

To see short videos of The Hemp University educational seminar held last month, go to Bruce Perlowin’s Facebook page starting with the March 23rd post and those following that date.

After the federal legalization of hemp as part of the 2018 Farm Bill, the state’s proposal for industrial hemp would allow the Department of Agriculture to cultivate and manage a hemp production program. Used to make paper, cosmetics, rope, bricks and more, hemp has been called America’s next cash crop, with CBD leading the charge as the fastest growing industry on earth growing by 700% per year.

Currently, according to Farm Journal, 48 percent of farmers are interested in growing hemp, but only two percent do. With the growing demand for hemp-based products, such as cannabidiol (CBD), and the legalization through the Farm Bill, Hemp Industry Daily estimates that hemp-derived CBD retail sales can reach $1.1 billion in 2019.

To see 1-minute videos of Hemp, Inc.’s current activities, go to Bruce Perlowin’s personal Facebook page where he posts daily on all of Hemp, Inc.’s activities around the country.

THE GREAT AMERICAN HEMP GROW-OFF

According to Perlowin, we hope to have 50 “master hemp growers” working on their first Veteran Village Kins Community in Arizona. To date, we have growers from Oregon, Colorado, California, Kentucky, North Carolina, Nevada, Florida, and Arizona who have expressed an interest in pursuing a joint venture with Hemp, Inc. to each grow industrial hemp on 5 of the 300 fenced acres in Arizona. Perlowin says he’ll call this “The Great American Hemp Grow-Off.”  Any grower having an interest in pursuing a joint venture on 5 of the 300 fenced in acres in Arizona should contact Project Manager Dwight Jory. Or, anyone interested in attending the 2-7-day hands-on hempcrete house building should contact Dwight Jory ([email protected]) as well. The Grow-Off starts June 1, 2019 (the first day hemp will be legal to grow in Arizona) and also includes a Hemp University, up to every weekend, for the entire growing season. The Hemp University (in Arizona)  will be held in a 60-foot geodesic dome that can seat up to 225 people.

At the Great American Hemp Grow-Off, 2 Manifest Studios will be filming and interviewing all of the master growers and their grows on the Docuseries on the Modern Day History of Hemp. “No wonder most of the growers I talk to want to come and be a part of this. They want to be a part of the Docuseries on the Modern Day History of Hemp because if they’re not there, history will pass them by,” said Perlowin. The weekend Hemp University course, that will be taking place in the 60-ft geodesic dome, will now also include field trips out to the all the 5-acre hemp grows that are growing just 100 yards away. This hands on interactive educational experience is the chance of a lifetime for anyone to really learn about this new emerging multi-billion dollar hemp industry from hemp industry experts all over America.

A 44-ft geodesic dome will be set up as a vendor area selling a wide variety of products needed to grow industrial hemp.  A 36-ft geodesic dome will be set up as a movie room to show movies, documentaries and courses on everything from bio-dynamic farming, permaculture, organic farming practices to bees, predator pest control, soil amendments, cloning, grafting and other peripheral agricultural course materials.

Lastly, the entire operation will have live streaming video capabilities so the whole world can tap in and see The Great American Hemp Grow-Off in real time.  The winners of the Great American Hemp Grow-Off will share in the $100,000 prize money, in a variety of categories.

Perlowin stated, “I run into so many growers who claim to be the best master grower around, with 15, 25 or 45 years of experience.  So, I thought it would be a great idea to have a ‘grow off’ to see just who is the best.  On the flip side, I run into literally dozens of people who are planning to grow between 50 and 10,000 acres of hemp this year but lack much of the experience to do it successfully. In this case, the best course of action would be to start with growing 5 acres in Arizona where you’ll be surrounded by some of the top growers in the US and attending Hemp, Inc.’s Hemp University every weekend beginning in June.  It costs $50,000 to participate in the Grow-Off and based on our experiences in Oregon, 5 acres can produce up to a million dollars or more of net profit. It costs about $100,000 for 5 acres to plant, grow, harvest, and process, based on our experiences with our growers from Oregon last year.  The joint venture arrangement would be a 50/50 revenue split with Hemp, Inc. creating the probability that the grower could generate half a million dollars and Hemp, Inc. would also receive that same amount.  This will not only generate a substantial revenue stream for Hemp, Inc. and its shareholders, it will also generate a nice return on investment (ROI) for the grow-off participants while they learn from industry experts all over America, over a four to six month period.”