
As this incredibly tumultuous year comes to a close, so does another year of hemp features and b2b journalism at Hemp Grower. Here, HG editors take a look back on their favorite stories of 2020.
Stephen Langel, Editor
10 Hemp Cultivation Tips to Start Next Season Off Right, November/December 2020
While I have only been at Hemp Grower for a short time, I have heard repeatedly about the daunting financial challenges growers face and understand how essential it is to avoid costly missteps. That is why this article by Marguerite Bolt, the hemp extension specialist at Purdue University’s Department of Agronomy, is a favorite of mine. Bolt provides tips on essential cultivation issues to give you the best chance of success during the growing season. She shares her expert recommendations on topics such as what fields to choose, how best to prepare them for cultivation, along with tips on developing the best management plans to avoid problems such as weeds, diseases, and pests. These recommendations and others in the article help save you trouble and put you in the position to have a successful, prosperous harvest. Read more
Eric Sandy, Digital Editor
Hemp’s Potential in the Animal Feed Market - Hemp Watch, July/August 2020
It’s been fun to learn about the dynamic end uses for the hemp plant and its seeds, especially as American farmers work to find new markets for their crops—a particularly vital theme this year. Over the summer, Alexander Rados of PanXchange provided a close look at the research behind hemp as an animal feed alternative. It’s a complicated conversation, and Rados points out that the chemical (and regulatory) hurdles of this market are many and varied: “Due to the similarities between the corn ethanol extraction process and the hemp cannabidiol (CBD) extraction process, initial research is in the works to assess the viability of extracted biomass as an additional animal feed source. Questions remain about residual solvents and contaminants, which would differ in nature from one extraction method to the next (i.e., ethanol v. hexane).” As with so much in the hemp industry, stay tuned! Read more
Brian MacIver, Senior Editor
A Swarm of Grasshoppers Is Invading Montana Hemp Fields – Feature, September 2020
As if 2020 wasn’t rife with enough challenges, Montana hemp growers saw their fields swarmed with hungry grasshopppers that destroyed large swaths of their crops. Theresa Bennett, Hemp Grower’s associate editor, took a deep-dive into the issue, interviewing farmers across the state and entomologists to understand how these voracious vexations move through and decimate the fields on which they prey. One farmer estimated that she would lose close to $500,000 from the damage. Bennett brings the story to life with incredible images and videos of what grasshoppers have done while still offering actionable intel to growers on how grasshopper swarms are formed and how they can protect their crops. Read more
Theresa Bennett, Associate Editor
CBD Marketing Do’s and Don’ts - Hemp Law, May/June 2020
A lack of CBD regulations from the FDA has both hindered the market and made for broad confusion among consumers and even CBD companies themselves. But as Rodman Group attorneys Dave Rodman and Nadav Aschner point out in this column, aside from Epidiolex, all forms of CBD are federally illegal to sell. “This comes as a surprise to many companies that come to The Rodman Law Group seeking legal advice. Many people believe that because hemp is now legal in the U.S., all products derived from hemp are legal too,” Rodman and Aschner write. “This is simply not the case.” And yet, CBD continues inundating store shelves with, for the most part, little consequence. Here, Rodman and Aschner delve deep into how companies are able to market CBD despite its technical illegality, why it’s considered illegal and, most importantly, how to mitigate potential FDA blowback should the agency decide to take action. Read more
Patrick Williams, Senior Editor
How Charlotte's Web is Navigating an Evolving Industry – Cover Story, November/December 2020
Charlotte’s Web, named after Charlotte Figi, a girl who had Dravet syndrome, helped reinvigorate the practice of human consumption of low-THC hemp-derived products—and spark a movement. In Hemp Grower’s November/December 2020 cover story, Associate Editor Theresa Bennett provided a comprehensive look at where the company stands and its plans for the future. Bennett gathered information and insights from company executives, including this from Deanie Elsner, who joined Charlotte’s Web as CEO in May 2019 after working at Kellogg’s and Kraft Foods: “I kept thinking, ‘Am I the person who wants to go out of my career having marketed Cheez-Its, or am I the person who wants to exit my career having democratized something wonderfully natural like this botanic to the world?’ It was a pretty easy answer for me.” The story provides, among other things, a glimpse into the passion people have working in the industry. Read more