Ready for 2019?....Hemp Yeah!: New Hemp Harvest and Extraction Agreements for 2019 and Beyond

POINT ROBERTS, Wash. and DELTA, British Columbia, March 12, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Investorideas.com, a leading investor news resource covering hemp and cannabis stocks releases a snapshot looking at the new extraction and cultivation agreements in the works in preparation for the burgeoning hemp/CBD industry.

Hemp and CBD continues to be the buzz words of 2019 and this means companies in the sector are working diligently to reach cultivation and extraction agreements capable of keeping up with the expected market demand.

At the start of the month, Tilray, Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY) reported the closing of a previously announced definitive agreement in which Tilray had acquired all of the issued and outstanding securities of FHF Holdings Ltd. from Compass Group Diversified Holdings, LLC and other shareholders of Manitoba Harvest. Tilray acquired Manitoba Harvest on a cash and debt-free basis, for an aggregate maximum purchase price of C$419 million, pending the achievement of certain milestones after the closing of the Transaction.

Manitoba Harvest is the world’s largest hemp food manufacturer and a leader in the natural foods industry. It produces, manufactures, markets and distributes a broad-based portfolio of hemp-based consumer products which are sold in over 16,000 stores at major retailers across the US and Canada. Manitoba Harvest has plans to launch a line of CBD containing Broad Spectrum Hemp Extracts as well as a line-up of Hemp Yeah! wellness bars this summer.

Larger companies like Tilray, Aurora and Canopy Growth aren’t the only ones targeting this market, as EVITRADE Health Systems Corp. (CSE: EVA) (OTCQB: EVAHF) recently announced that the Company's subsidiary, Western Agri Supply Solutions Corp. has entered into a joint venture with Belt Energy and Biomass, a Nevada hemp focused operator.

Belt Energy and Biomass is focused on the accumulation of relationships with farm bill compliant hemp producers and processors in the United States. Recently, BEB applied to the State for a Hemp Handlers License to receive and extract hemp for resale. The Hemp Handlers Certificate enables BEB the authority to buy and process industrial hemp in the state of Nevada.

The acquisition of the Hemp Handlers License in Nevada would be the start of the commercial hemp processing strategy for Nevada. With BEB as partners, the Company will have source and processing elements of its CBD strategy completed. This is an opportunity to supply Farm Bill compliant hemp based products for the burgeoning market in the state of Nevada.

SOL Global Investments Corp. (CSE: SOL) (OTCQB: SOLCF) had similar news announcing it signed a binding letter of intent to acquire three tracts of agricultural property totaling 568 acres of land in the States of Tennessee and Kentucky for the cultivation and production of raw hemp biomass. The Company will assign the agricultural property to its hemp/CBD-focused subsidiary, Heavenly Rx Ltd. The properties will be directly managed by Heavenly portfolio company Blühen Botanicals LLC, an industry-leading hemp biomass processing and extraction company headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Heavenly will acquire a total of 420 acres of agricultural property in McMinn County, Tennessee, and 148 acres of agricultural property in Whitley County, Kentucky. The properties were specifically selected in areas prized for their temperate climates and ideal environmental conditions for both greenhouse and outdoor growing. Blühen will manage the farms pursuant to a farm management agreement to ensure that the highest quality standards are met while also maintaining EuGMP certification protocols.

Village Farms International, Inc. (TSX:VFF) (NASDAQ: VFF) is following the trend, having announced that it has entered into an agreement with Nature Crisp, LLC to form a joint venture for the outdoor cultivation of high-cannabidiol (CBD) hemp and CBD extraction in multiple states throughout the US. The joint venture, Village Fields Hemp, will be 65% owned by Village Farms and 35% owned by Nature Crisp. Nature Crisp is a private, Georgia-based farming operation and part of the Jennings Agricultural Group of Companies, which grows a diverse range of food and other crops, including hemp, on more than 6,000 acres in the US and Canada.

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