Two large-scale Kentucky hemp companies have expanded their strategic alliance by adding a toll processing and drying technology swap to the deal. GenCanna Acquisition Corp., formerly GenCanna Global, a seed-to-sale hemp and CBD company based in Winchester, Kentucky, and Vertical Wellness, a Cadiz, Kentucky-based vertically integrated hemp and cannabinoid... Read more
The Good Ole Hemp farm in St. Cloud, Minnesota. (Photo courtesy of Josh Helberg, owner of Good Ole Hemp) Federal agriculture officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture signed off on hemp production plans for two states and a U.S. territory this week. Minnesota, which has been a hemp... Read more
A Massachusetts investment fund is suing a Florida hemp company, saying investors were scammed of $350,000. Auctus Fund is accusing Hemp Naturals Inc. of: breach of contract. unjust enrichment. fraud and deceit. negligent representation. The Auctus lawsuit filed Monday in Massachusetts federal court says Hemp Naturals has failed to... Read more
The Hemp Industries Association is closing its 13 affiliates nationwide and forming a group to recommend a new structure for the nonprofit advocacy organization. The HIA board’s decision announced Thursday comes during a time of great tumult for the organization, with departures from high-profile leaders over the last year... Read more
National hemp groups are organizing a campaign to establish a checkoff program – a sometimes-acrimonious system designed to raise money for industry research and promotion by taxing those who profit from the plant. Checkoffs exist for nearly a dozen U.S. commodities, and in the case of the dairy industry,... Read more
Neptune Wellness Solutions, a Laval, Quebec-based CBD extractor and manufacturer, has named former Clorox product development lead Eric Gharakhanian as the director of product development for its Health & Wellness Innovations division. Gharakhanian will lead the development of Neptune’s portfolio of health and wellness products across the personal care... Read more
The University of Illinois and the University of Wisconsin are recruiting Midwestern farmers to plant and test different varieties of hemp this year in exchange for discounted cannabinoid sampling. Project participants must agree to at least two sampling dates per plant variety for collection into the Midwestern Hemp Database.... Read more
(Editor’s note: This story is part of a recurring series of commentaries from professionals connected to the hemp industry. Andrea Steel is co-chairwoman of the Cannabis Business Law Group at Coats Rose, a Houston law firm.) By deeming hemp an agricultural commodity and removing it from the definition of... Read more
One of the last hemp holdout states, Mississippi, is directing farmers interested in growing the crop to apply for an individual producer license through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The state passed the Mississippi Hemp Cultivation Act into law late last month, legalizing hemp cultivation and directing the Commissioner... Read more
The Michigan Legislature passed a bill to largely align the state’s hemp industry with federal standards, including total THC testing. The measure also raises licensing fees more than 10 times. The bill has been waiting on action from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer since July 2, according to the Grand Rapids... Read more
