Phytoremediation of Urban…

Phytoremediation of Urban Brownfields: a Case for Industrial Hemp

Brownfield land , Phytoremediation , Environmental remediation

• By qwerty1337
• Sep 6, 2012
• 2819 Words
• 26 Views

Phytoremediation of Urban Brownfields:
A Case for Industrial Hemp
By: Jeff Lemon Thursday, June 21, 2012
Brownfields
Brownfield Phytoremediation
Page 2 Page 4
A Case for Industrial Hemp?
Page 5
Executive Summary
There are a number of reasons why we should care about brownfields. From encouraging urban sprawl through the ‘development’ of greenfields to their environmental impacts on soil, air and ground water, these properties are a drain upon the urban environment. Redevelopment of brownfields are complicated by the potential contamination of hazardous waste, heavy metals and pollution that has been left behind in the soil. Although this land can be used once the soil has been cleaned, landowners are not financially incentivized to do so and inevitably ‘sit’ on these properties due to the current tax policies. The last decade has spawned a number of methods of remediating these potentially contaminated properties. One approach that has been gaining a lot of press of late, is phytoremediation. This approach to brownfield remediation works in favour for all the stakeholders involved. For the landowner, bioremediation not only offers a cheap solution to the decontamination of their land, but it also allows them to continue to utilize current tax incentives by creating a ‘green space’. For the urban farmer, phytoremediation gives the urban farmer access to valuable land, while allowing for the potential cultivation of certain cash crops. With the number of brownfields in Metro Vancouver growing, it is imperative to understand how increasing awareness and responsible redevelopment can transform environmentally damaged properties into productive lands, which can result in environmental, economic and social community benefits.
Purpose of Research
The purpose of this report is to examine the benefits of using industrial hemp as a potential cash crop in the practices of phytoremediation for the reclamation of Vancouver’s urban brownfields. Through…

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Topics in this document

Brownfield land , Phytoremediation , Environmental remediation , Bioremediation , Urban agriculture , Hemp , Groundwater , Pollution , Urban sprawl , Affordable housing , Ministry of Environment (South Korea) , Wetland , Soil , Water resources , Heavy metal (chemistry)

The Washington Times reported on 6/26/15 that the Federal Government is “fast tracking” Pharma research for a Marijuana addiction drug. The research gets $3 million grant as Obama encourages legalization of Cannabis.

This is just too much! We do not need a “drug” to detoxify us from Cannabis! We need more Hemp and Cannabis Oil for Medical use,

Stop the funding effective immediately and give that $3 Million to a better cause.

Fact: GW Pharma has concluded that “Cannabis is not addictive” according to their ad for SATIVEX (which has not been approved for marketing in the U.S. as of yet — And SHOULD BE!). It additionally states that it does not appear to have withdrawal effects when stopped suddenly”…

Stop the INSANITY NOW! Stop the funding for an addiction drug for Cannabis!

Published Date: Jun 26, 2015

Issues: Civil Rights and Liberties, Disabilities, Health Care

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/immediately-stop-federal-funding-pharmaceutical-drug-treat-marijuana-addiction-preposterous

PLEASE SIGN PETITION ABOVE!!!

The Washington Times reported on 6/26/15 that the Federal Government is “fast tracking” Pharma research for a Marijuana addiction drug. The research gets $3 million grant as Obama encourages legalization of Cannabis.

This is just too much! We do not need a “drug” to detoxify us from Cannabis! We need more Hemp and Cannabis Oil for Medical use,

Stop the funding effective immediately and give that $3 Million to a better cause.

Fact: GW Pharma has concluded that “Cannabis is not addictive” according to their ad for SATIVEX (which has not been approved for marketing in the U.S. as of yet — And SHOULD BE!). It additionally states that it does not appear to have withdrawal effects when stopped suddenly”…

Stop the INSANITY NOW! Stop the funding for an addiction drug for Cannabis!

Published Date: Jun 26, 2015

Issues: Civil Rights and Liberties, Disabilities, Health Care

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/immediately-stop-federal-funding-pharmaceutical-drug-treat-marijuana-addiction-preposterous

PLEASE SIGN PETITION ABOVE!!!

CARSON CITY, NV–(Marketwired – Jun 22, 2015) –  Rapid Fire Marketing (OTC PINK: RFMK), a developer and reseller of herbal vaporizers, announced today that the Company has acquired assets, including equipment as well as a land lease, to begin Industrial Hemp farming in California.

In addition to the Company’s vaporizers, including the PocketPuffer™ Dry Herbal Vaporizer, this acquisition of equipment and land lease represents a second division of Rapid Fire Marketing’s business — Industrial Hemp Farming. It is the Company’s plan to set up multiple business divisions to diversify income streams and to get the Company to cash flow positive as soon as possible.

All of the equipment needed for the Company’s industrial hemp farm, including a skip loader tractor, 2,000 gallon capacity water truck, water storage tank which holds 25,000 gallons and harvesting equipment, was purchased by the Company through an asset purchase agreement for $90,000.

Within the next 30 days, the Company will begin preparation of farmland for industrial hemp farming. The land will be cleared of rocks and debris and plowed to enable the Company to begin planting immediately upon receiving a permit from the State of California Department of Agriculture.

The 66-acre farm is located in the Inland Empire section of California. All capital equipment is operational and ready to commence preparing land for industrial hemp farming. Four crops per year can be harvested on the available land. Net profits for an acre of hemp range from $200-400 per acre, which makes hemp one of the most valuable crops in the world. Therefore, the Company expects around $80,000 in net profits the first year once the permit is received and planting begins. As crops are sold, the profits generated will be used to obtain additional acreage for expansion of the business available for lease.

Industrial Hemp Industry

Industrial Hemp is currently legal to grow in more than 30 countries including Canada, Germany, England, France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, China, Hungary and Romania. The United States currently imports all hemp products.

California is one of fifteen states (the others are Arkansas, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, North Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia) that have passed pro-hemp laws or resolutions. An additional thirteen states have considered pro-hemp legislation or resolutions.

On February 7, 2014, President Obama signed the Farm Bill of 2013 into law. Section 7606 of the act, “Legitimacy of Industrial Hemp Research”, defines Industrial Hemp as distinct from marijuana and, in states where hemp is legal to grow, authorizes institutions of higher education or State departments of agriculture to grow hemp for research or agricultural pilot programs. Since industrial hemp has not been grown in the United States since 1957, there is a strong need for research to develop new varieties of industrial hemp that grow well in various states and meet current market demands. Every state where industrial hemp is legal to grow will provide their own licensing requirements, which is currently underway in the majority of states that have legalized the cultivation of industrial hemp including California.

The Permit Process

California is currently putting the infrastructure in place to facilitate the aforementioned permit process. As of now, it is unknown how long the process will take. In the meantime, the Company is actively executing employment contracts into place as well as the infrastructure to begin industrial hemp farming as soon as it is possible.

Why Industrial Hemp?

Rapid Fire Marketing’s new business plan is the production of industrial hemp to benefit from the recent deregulation of Industrial Hemp throughout the United States. Once harvesting begins, Industrial Hemp will then be sold to processors of the fibrous plant. Industrial Hemp has no psychoactive properties in any part of the plant and is cultivated as an agricultural field crop. The plant grows as a stalk to a height of 4 to 15 feet within 90-110 days. Industrial Hemp produces more fiber, food and oil than any other plant on the planet.

Tom Allinder, CEO of Rapid Fire Marketing, said, “This has been in process for a long time, but we are expanding our business from just vaporizers to the industrial hemp industry. It is important for our shareholders to understand that the industrial hemp farming is an addition to our business; it does not represent a change or switch in our business.”

Allinder continued, “I have visited the farm and we have plenty of work to do prior to getting a permit. We are going to use a bulldozer to remove some of the rocks and level the land to make it easier to plant and harvest. At first, I was hesitant about any sort of farming in California due to the water shortage but this property has two deep productive water wells on it. The equipment is all in good working order and we are looking forward to getting to work.”

Allinder went on to say, “We are in the process of setting up a new website for Rapid Fire Marketing which will cover our Vaporizer division and our Industrial Hemp Farming division in comprehensive detail. After years of work organizing the public side of this Company, I am excited about getting the business side going.”

Investor Signup future Press Release Distribution by e-Mail

Shareholders and interested investors are invited to be added to the corporate e-mail database for future press releases and industry updates by signing up on the website or by sending an e-mail with “RFMK” in the subject line to investorrelations@mindspring.com.

About Rapid Fire Marketing, Inc.

Rapid Fire Marketing, Inc. is a developer and reseller of herbal vaporizers. The core strategy is to maximize revenues in the rapidly expanding vaporizer industry. The Company has also acquired assets in connection with the development of a new business division in Industrial Hemp farming. Rapid Fire Marketing also looks to invest and do joint ventures with companies with established revenue streams that are looking to grow their businesses. Rapid Fire Marketing is also looking to grow through acquisitions of companies or technologies that are synergistic with our business plan.

Safe Harbor:
From time to time, the Company may issue news releases that contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. This material may contain statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. For those statements, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statement provisions contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and any amendments thereto. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, goals, assumptions, or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be “forward-looking statements.” “Forward-looking statements” are based upon expectations, estimates and projections at the time the statements are made that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated.

CONTACTS:
INVESTORS:
Rapid Fire Marketing, Inc.
Investor Relations
775-461-5127
investors@rapid-fire-marketing.com

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2591229#ixzz3dpFpdIK8

FYI…

The following was copied from a Google news search for “Marijuana” on 6.16.15 at 11:48pm CST.  The link to the story has been “deleted”.

Monsanto Develops First Genetically Modified Strain of Marijuana

Wisconsin Ag Connection
– ‎17 hours ago‎

Monsanto has announced it has patented the first genetically modified strain of marijuana. Global Ag Investing reports that the news has been welcomed by scientists and leaders of the agriculture business alike as a move forward towards the industrial …

DEA to Allow Huge Increase in Marijuana Production to Meet Research DemandsRegulatory Focus

DEA Wants the Feds to Grow More Marijuana (Again)Marijuana.com

See realtime coverage »

I also found this information, dated June 7, 2014 which states the following:

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread1016482/pg1

Link

U.S. corporation Monsanto plans to launch production of genetically modified marijuana, and companies such as Drug Policy Alliance y Open Society Foundation are going to create our own brand, which will be produced under cannabis, information portal La Red 21.
Organization of Open Society Foundation is under the control of the shareholder Monsanto, billionaire George Soros. Company Drug Policy Alliance y Open Society Foundation, funded by Monsanto will be responsible for market development of transgenic seeds of marijuana, particularly in Uruguay.

Oddly enough, the “Link” above goes to another “Page not found (404)” error…

When I searched Google for “Monsanto Develops First Genetically Modified Strain of Marijuana” I found the following:

http://www.drugpolicycentral.com/bot/article/wisconsinagconnection6559.htm

A “BOT” picked up the story on the DPA site rendering this screen shot:

My question is this:  Who is trying to hide what from whom and why?  The story has been picked up by numerous blog sites:

Google search:

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Monsanto+Develops+First+Genetically+Modified+Strain+of+Marijuana

Whatever the reason for the secrecy or attempt thereof, this is a story that should be closely watched as the “Billionaire Cannabis Club” is “Now Open”….

More, bigger plots coming, advocate says

• By Eli Pace, New Era editor

If last year’s industrial hemp planting was a trial run, this year Christian County hemp farmers are going all out with what’s expected to be 85 total acres of the crop spread across four local pilot projects.

The first pilot went into the ground Friday at Jeff Davis’ Pembroke farm, said Katie Moyer, a local hemp advocate who’s been heavily involved in the push to legalize the crop, which can be used to make everything from paper to plastics.

“It was actually done in record time,” Moyer said of Davis’ second hemp planting. “He got the seed Friday and planted Friday evening.”

Winner of the chamber’s 2015 Famer of the Year award, Davis planted a half-acre of hemp last year on his 1,300-acre farm. This time, according to Moyer, he put down about five acres’ worth of seeds on a different strip of land.

That’s a small chunk of the roughly 85 acres that’s expected to be planted across the four local pilots, but depending on how far the seed goes, Moyer said, the actual acreage could be a little more or a little less.

Compared to the two half-acre pilots planted last year in Christian County, that’s quite the step up.

“Yeah, big time,” Moyer said.

If everything goes according to plan, seed for the largest of the Christian County hemp pilots could be planted as early as Tuesday. When the seeds sprout, the crop should be visible from the Pennyrile Parkway at the Crofton interchange.

“This one is going to be very big and very visible,” Moyer said, adding that, because of media coverage and increased hemp awareness, more and more Kentucky farmers are showing interest in the crop.

“People really had an opportunity to see what was going on (last year). It’s like a snowball effect. We’re definitely a lot busier now than we were last year.”

In line with that growth, Moyer and a handful of individuals have formed a new company called “Legacy Hemp.”

Reached over the phone Monday, Moyer said she was working on filing the necessary paperwork with the Kentucky Secretary of State for what is to be a certified seed breeder that’s being created to sell hemp seed to Kentucky farmers and facilitate some of the processing that’s involved with taking the crop to market. A company website is in the works.

“Because everything is so new, we’re really feeling things out,” she said.

Moyer explained that, more than anything, she hopes people realize industrial hemp is not marijuana.

The two are related plant species, but hemp contains only trace amounts of THC, the chemical that can register as high as 30 percent or more in marijuana and produces intoxicating effects in humans.

Because of the high visibility of this year’s crops, Moyer also said she hopes any would-be pot users don’t make the mistake of thinking hemp is an illicit crop, try to smoke it or steal any of the hemp plants to sell for a profit.

Reach Eli Pace at 270-887-3235 or epace@kentuckynewera.com.

CONTINUE READING…

Dave Kolpack, Associated Press

Published 6:13 am, Saturday, June 13, 2015

Photo: CHET BROKAW, AP

ADVANCE FOR SUNDAY, JUNE 14 — FILE – This June 26, 2007 file photo shows Alex White Plume sitting near some hemp plants growing at his house near Manderson, S.D. White Plume thought his decade-long wait to produce industrial hemp on a South Dakota Indian reservation was ending when the federal government softened its stance on marijuana enforcement and lawmakers expanded the development of hemp under certain circumstances. But federal prosecutors in South Dakota refuse to lift an injunction against White Plume that prevents the enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Nation from growing the crop.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Alex White Plume thought his decade-long wait to produce industrial hemp on a South Dakota Indian reservation was ending when the federal government softened its stance on marijuana enforcement and lawmakers expanded the development of hemp under certain circumstances.

But federal prosecutors in South Dakota refuse to lift an injunction against White Plume that prevents the enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Nation from growing the crop.

“One thing that really hurts my feelings is to get treated as minorities,” White Plume told The Associated Press. “We have always been here. We have superior standing.”

ADVERTISING

Hemp can be used to make clothing, lotion and many other products, but growing it has been illegal under federal law because it is a type of cannabis plant and looks like marijuana. Hemp, though, doesn’t make people high.

The so-called “Cole memo” issued by the Department of Justice in August 2013 essentially says the federal government is going to concentrate on pot cases involving drug cartels, sales to minors, the use of firearms, and areas where the drugs are being sent from states where marijuana is legal to states where it is not. A subsequent DOJ guidance memo in October 2014 expressly made the Cole memo’s priorities applicable on Indian reservations.

White Plume figured he had more momentum when the federal farm bill signed last year had a provision allowing hemp to be grown through state agriculture departments and college research stations, which is happening in several states.

White Plume’s attorney, former U.S. Attorney Timothy Purdon, wrote in April to Randolph Seiler, acting U.S. attorney in South Dakota, asking Seiler to reconsider the injunction. Seiler rejected the request.

Purdon said he’s disappointed with the DOJ’s position and says he plans to take legal action against the government.

“We don’t understand the idea that they would prioritize and then spend resources dealing with an injunction that is a relic from another era of marijuana enforcement,” said Purdon, an attorney for Minneapolis-based Robins Kaplan.

Seiler declined to comment to the AP, but said in a letter to Purdon that White Plume does not meet the definition under the federal farm bill that would allow him to cultivate hemp. Purdon counters that the injunction does not allow White Plume to approach college or state researchers in the first place to talk about growing hemp.

“As a result of this decision, they are treating this hemp farmer in Pine Ridge completely different than hemp farmers in Kentucky and Oregon,” Purdon said.

Seiler said another factor is that South Dakota law does not allow the production of hemp and there is not an exception in the farm bill where industrial hemp is authorized under tribal law and not state law. White Plume said that violates treaties dating back 160 years.

“They should recognize our tribal sovereignty,” he said.

The White Plume family, including Alex and his brother, Percy, planted hemp for three years from 2000 through 2002, but they never harvested a crop. Federal agents conducted raids and cut down the plants each year. The injunction was ordered in December 2004.

John Yellow Bird Steele, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said in a letter to Seiler that lifting the injunction would be an important step in supporting economic development on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He said the White Plumes and other tribal members could produce products such as soaps, oils, animal feed, ropes, fabrics, rugs, furniture covers, tablecloths, building materials, insulation and fuel.

“Several of these uses have been demonstrated by Alexander and Percy White Plume, who have built a nice home out of ‘hemp-crete’ made of imported hemp fiber that they obtained lawfully in order to prove their point,” Yellow Bird Steele said.

CONTINUE READING…

By Sheldon Compton scompton@civitasmedia.com

HIPPO – Hippo resident Todd Howard had never been employed in his adult life when he was laid off as an engineer for the coal industry in 2010. He had also never farmed a day in his life. All that was about to change.

After Howard lost his job as an engineer, the Hippo resident said a key aspect of his personality was revealed in the best way possible.

“They had to make the decision to lay folks off, and I’ve just never been one to sit around and do nothing,” he said.

Howard lost his job in December and by Feb. 10 he had constructed a green house. Construction on that green house led to a crop of 10,000 tomato plants the first year. By the third year, Howard was overseeing the Floyd County Farmer’s Market and closing in on $50,000 in gross sales. But the time required with the market became difficult to manage.

“The farmer’s market was taking up a lot of my time and last year we decided to to try a sixteen-week program with Community Supported Agriculture,” Howard said.

This move launched Howard’s work as a full-time farmer, and now he is at the forefront of the movement to grow hemp in Kentucky in an effort to see Eastern Kentucky’s economy improved through ready resources not always popular throughout the state and nation.

Shortly after his efforts with the farmer’s market got underway, Howard soon became a board member for a statewide community farm alliance, testifying before senate and house agriculture committees, supporting the hemp bill introduced roughly three years ago.

“After getting to know some of the folks who helped get this legislation passed, I made a few acquaintances in that regard,” he said. “Mike Lewis and I got close.”

Lewis, who is a Kentucky farmer and COO with the organization Freedom Seed and Feed, a company with offices in Lexington, reached out to Howard, along with University of Pikeville’s Eric Mathis, visiting lecturer of applied sustainability at UPike.

The organization is a subsidiary of Mountain High Acquisitions Corporation, a Colorado-based company who advocate the legalization of marijuana and industrial hemp.

“He (Mathis) got in touch with me and asked if I’d be interested in growing some hemp, saying Mike had recommended me,” Howard said. “I’m a person notorious for diving in head-first without realizing sometimes I’m diving into the kiddie pool, but in we got a site located, got seed in the ground. So we have crop in the ground. It’s sprouted, it’s coming up, and it’s growing.”

The site is located along what was once strip mine land at the Pikville-Pike County Regional Airport, a section of land difficult to farm, to say the least, according to Howard.

“Growing on these mine sites is like a crap shoot,” he added. “You don’t know what you’re going to get. To date, no one I know has had any success growing at these places. The land is compacted soil and has huge rocks. It’s nothing like a standard agricultural piece of land you’d normally work with.”

Howard said the general goal is to create smaller cooperative models for growing industrial hemp on a larger scale.

“Obviously Eastern Kentucky has a brand right now and has some potential for this,” Howard said. “It’s sort of the elephant in the room to a player on a larger scale with all of this acreage. Let’s find a use for it.”

Sheldon Compton is a staff writer for the Floyd County Times. He can be reached at 886-8506.

CONTINUE READING…

Sheldon S. Shafer, The Courier-Journal 10:10 p.m. EDT June 5, 2015

“Today hemp is grown mostly in Canada. and the seeds and oil are imported for culinary purposes, but historically hemp was cultivated mainly for use in canvas and rope.”

Locust Grove will have a hemp festival on Aug. 9. It will include a hemp village where products can be purchased, a hemp café with foods made from hemp oil and seeds, rope and paper making demonstrations, and talks by experts on hemp.

Also at the festival two films will be shown — “Hemp for Victory,” a World War II-era short documentary, and “Bringing It Home,” a film about the modern benefits of hemp.

Sponsors of the festival include Rainbow Blossom, Caudill Seed & New Earth. Admission to the festival is $5 per person.

Locust Grove is a 55-acre, 18th-century farm site and National Historic Landmark at 561 Blankenbaker Lane, just off River Road. The site has a mansion that was the home of the Croghan family. It served as a gathering place for George Rogers Clark and his associates and was visited by several presidents.

The property has a welcome center with a gift shop, museum and meeting space.

Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at (502) 582-7089. Follow him on Twitter at @sheldonshafer.

CONTINUE READING…

On May 5th 2015, James Comer, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA), held a press conference in a Lexington-based tobacco facility belonging to G.F. Vaughan, the last remaining tobacco processor in Kentucky.

His message was historic, his location symbolic: the first year of state-sanctioned industrial hemp farming under the Farm Bill succeeded, and the pilot program’s second year promises to be bigger and better, with the potential to elevate the entire state economy by restoring industrial hemp as the new “cash crop.”

Specifically, Commissioner Comer announced that KDA had approved 121 total participants, including seven universities, over 1,724 acres — a significant increase from last year.   Additionally, millions of dollars have been invested in the state’s emerging industrial hemp production and processing industries.

The revival of industrial hemp means that Kentucky is creating a new agricultural commodity market, attracting an infusion of private-sector money from both inside and outside the state.  By giving farmers, suppliers and processors the ability to hire additional staff and join the vanguard of the global resurgence in industrial hemp, Kentucky is empowering a return to its past agricultural leadership.

Kentucky is once again the American heartland of industrial hemp culture, a title it proudly held throughout history before Prohibition. But it wouldn’t have gotten here if not for the determination of its political leadership, starting with Comer himself.  He was an early advocate of legalizing industrial hemp and worked with thought leaders from both parties to win support, joining with the rich Kentucky leadership of Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, Thomas Massie, Paul Hornback, John Yarmouth, and Andy Barr to move to action.

In 2014, these pilot programs were legitimized under the Farm Bill (aka The Agricultural Act of 2014).  Given the tough economic times, and particularly the economic plight of farmers, Comer’s Kentucky Proud strategy for a sustainable crop made perfect sense.  But politics intervened, and as the first 250-pound shipment of certified industrial hemp seeds from Italy arrived at the Louisville airport, the DEA seized them as if they were contraband, in direct violation of the new law.

Where others may have cowered before the federal authorities, Comer filed suit against the DEA, asserting his state’s rights to carry out its industrial hemp program. Realizing that they overstepped their bounds, the DEA released the seeds in time for planting: Jamie Comer’s quick action saved the 2014 industrial hemp growing season, setting the stage for the dramatic increase in the 2015 planting season.

GenCanna Global: Setting the Industry Standard

Hemp Project

“Young hemp plant; Source GenCanna Global”

All pilot programs in Kentucky seek to move industrial hemp farming forward, but one in particular has lead the way: GenCanna Global and its Hemp Kentucky Project.

GenCanna, working with its strategic local partners, immediately distinguished themselves by establishing the state’s first dedicated analytical laboratory in Lexington.  Since compliance with potency levels is vitally important, regulators from KDA and scientists from universities were invited into the lab to observe and confer.  The Hemp Kentucky Project is compiling significant internal data for use in future agricultural production decisions.

The Hemp Kentucky Project now employs over 40 people at facilities in Jackson and Garrard Counties.  Close working relationships with nursery and farming families have led to high expectations for the 2015 outdoor season.  Because GenCanna specializes in industrial hemp with high CBD (Cannabidiol), it is necessary to have defined protocols at all stages of the growth and processing cycle.  This new-aged approach to the ancient industrial hemp cultivation and production techniques has been enabled by the quick adoption of modern standards at both locations.

CEO Matty Mangone-Miranda quoted “ between our strategic partners with local nurseries and farms, our scientific research, and breeding and seed development at our Hemp Campus, we are literally seeding this agricultural revolution in Kentucky.  The ability to produce large amounts of CBD will fundamentally alter the supply available for both the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries.  This Hemp Kentucky Proud effort will catapult locals into the forefront of industrial hemp production nationally.”

GenCanna is drawing on the great availability of different farming techniques to properly understand all aspects of repurposing existing farm assets to its unique high CBD industrial hemp.  As Chris Stubbs, GenCanna’s Chief Scientific Officer, puts it “the GenCanna Production Platform (GPP) assures the standardized, repeatable quality from nursery to field to processing to formulation.”  Additionally, Chris adds “the GPP ensures our mutual responsibilities with respect to staying within the letter and intent of the laws under which we operate.  We couldn’t be more pleased with the leadership and understanding that the Kentucky Department of Agriculture has shown.”

GenCanna is not alone in its efforts.  Their strategic partner, Atalo Holdings, is the largest growing cultivation in the entire pilot program with over 30 farming partners.  Atalo and GenCanna are teaming up to repurpose a former tobacco seed development facility, conveniently located in the midst of the traditional industrial hemp heartland.  This new facility, a Hemp Campus, will be a research center that will attract companies and scientists from around the world to develop knowledge of CBD and create a vast inventory of Kentucky-developed, American-certified hemp seed cultivars.

As the industrial hemp production of large amounts of CBD becomes a probability, globally renowned research scientists are noticing.  Dr. Mark Rosenfeld, CEO of ISA Scientific, an American-based group of medical experts and cannabinoid scientists with direct ties to Israel and China talked about the partnering with GenCanna and the Hemp Kentucky Project as it “paves the way for substantial improvements in treating chronic, debilitating, and life-threatening health conditions that not only afflict many Kentuckians, but hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Part of the reason why we have a global scale of what we do.”

ISA Scientific’s Dr. Perry Fine (whose roots are in Lexington) spoke of how the GenCanna-ISA partnership will immediately work on treating diabetes and chronic pain with pharmaceutical-grade CBD therapies that are affordable and accessible.

Through its Hemp Kentucky Project, GenCanna and its strategic partners are working collaboratively to produce large quantities of CBD diversified over multiple farms in Kentucky.  COO Steve Bevan, recognizing the sizable capital investments in nurseries and farms, insists that empowering farmers to “help commoditize the production of CBD such that a sustainable agricultural industry can develop to literally produce for both the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical markets.  We are creating jobs, research, facility development, and industry leadership, all which require the human capital necessary to make this happen,  Steve suggests that “we’re going to need workers, technicians, accountants, support staff, scientists, everybody. And we’re going to find each of those people right here in Kentucky.”

CONTINUE READING…