In our May financial edition of the Texas Hemp Reporter Magazine. This issue profiles aspects of the banking industry as it relates to merchant processing, finance, compliance and lending. Our recap of the NOCO 7 Expo, we also preview the Lucky Leaf Expo, discuss Delta 8 after the Hemp market boom, and many new changes in Texas law in the 87th Legislature are also covered. Tips on indoor versus outdoor growing, our possible new radio show, and Hemp oil taste as well as the hemp oil business.
The Magazine will be available on the streets of Austin May 6-7 at all smoke shops and CBD stores as well as All Austin Area HEB & Randal’s. If you hold a permit in Texas you will receive one the following week by mail like usual. Stay tuned for upcoming alerts on our Radio Show the Texas Hemp Show and the next issue will be out July 1st 2021.
As a new generation of hemp farmers and entrepreneurs take root across the country there are a multitude of risks that can take a new business down in the first years of establishment. Even the most seasoned farmer and savvy business person will encounter unforeseen obstacles in any stage of the process. These can become valuable lessons or fatal blows, and a well-developed business plan is the best defense against the latter.
Employing credentialed consultants to address potential problems, solutions, and make projections based on research and the valuable experience of others is the best way to forecast for success. Fortunately, Texas is home to a variety of advisors to guide you through every part of the process from seed to sale.
Assistance with business compliance and formation can be found with lawyers and accountants who specialize in hemp and marijuana law. Here in Texas, Ritter Spencer is known for their expertise in compliance and Cannabis Business Law Group-Coats Rose brings significant experience from across the supply chain in multiple jurisdictions that focus on commercial litigation. Carr Riggs and Ingram CPAs can help with tax questions, business set up, insurance and employee benefits packages. Navigating the nuances of regulatory compliance, government tax requirements, hemp/medical marijuana licensing, product labeling/marketing, and real estate issues in a rapidly changing landscape is tricky. Choosing a firm that specializes in this heavily regulated niche industry will provide guidance from the outset and insure compliance for your endeavor.
Consider the benefits of growing indoors in a greenhouse, or a land lease. The Texas Hemp Ranch in Webberville leases 10 acre pre-fertilized plots with two grow cycles and well water access or irrigation from the Colorado river. Avery Barksdale at Texas Greenland Development Company offers 5-400 acres to lease monthly or seasonally in several areas of Texas. Using greenhouses provides protection from the elements as well as pests. Customize the configuration to meet the needs of the landscape for the best outcome of your product by speaking with the experts at Reef Industries. They source a variety of laminates and provide fabrication options to suit every need.
With so many companies to choose from that offer seeds and starts getting a cross section of information about suitable varietals and methods is important. Factors to consider are latitude, soil PH, end use and certification. Uniseeds, Hydroshack, Riverside Hemp, and Garcia Bros Organics provide consultation services along with products to help farmers best determine which processes and products are best for their conditions.
Scientific analysis of soil, water, and fertilizers is the most effective way to determine what kind of additives to use for a successful harvest. TPS agricultural provides data analysis, DIY kits, lab consulting and solutions along with products to repair, stimulate, and improve production.
Identifying THC levels throughout the grow process is recommended, and certified lab tests are required at harvest time. Any laboratory testing hemp for THC concentration under the U.S. Domestic Hemp Production Program must be registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration to handle controlled substances. Zosi Analytical, and AFL Texas are both DEA approved and can identify toxins and provide cannabinoid and THC profiles. Some labs also offer manufacturing and consulting, labeling and R&D, shelf life studies and work with a variety of products from gummies to body products.
When it comes to harvesting, Texas Premium Hemp Producers LP in Ulm, TX are the experts in bucking and drying. Inpak Systems manufactures bag fillers and closers for seeds, flowers, dried pellets or chopped leaves and Hempsac manufactures the bags to protect and preserve the product during storage and transportation. Transporting the product poses a unique set of challenges where only experts should be employed like JW Transport Services.
All of these vendor contacts can be found in the Texas Hemp Reporter as well as here:
California’s wine industry is quite the behemoth, a staple in the American economy.
If it were its own country, the state would be the fourth largest wine producer in the world. California makes 81 percent of all U.S. wine, and three out of every five bottles sold in the country comes from the Golden State.
Just look at last year’s numbers for more proof: In 2019, 241.5 million nine-liter cases of California wine were sold within the U.S., amassing an estimated $43.6 billion in sales. Also in 2019, American wine exports totalled $1.63 billion, with 95 percent coming from California wineries.
California wine sales in the U.S. grew 6 percent in 2019, despite the state legalizing adult-use cannabis in January 2018, which some feared would eat into the state’s wine market.
But 2020 may tell a vastly different story for the industry, says Robert P. Koch, president and CEO of the San Francisco-based Wine Institute. “This year will be more challenging, especially for small- and medium-sized wineries, because of the closure of tasting rooms and restaurants,” he says in a wineinstitute.orgarticle.
These changes have emerged because of COVID-19, of course, and while it is too early in the year to predict a drop in the California’s total revenue from wine, we can surely expect a noticeable dip based on the recession alone: People with a slash in their disposable incomes are less likely to buy a $50 bottle of Cabernet Franc from the Napa Valley, perhaps opting instead for $8 bottle from Argentina.
So considering this inevitable dip, should California vineyards, each with hundreds of acres perfect for agriculture (bountiful sun and cool air from the Pacific Ocean), consider pivoting to a crop with perhaps an even more promising future? Such as hemp?
After all, according to the Brightfield Group, the market for hemp-derived CBD is expected to reach $23.7 billion by 2023, thanks in part to the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill. And this doesn’t even include the market for hemp alone, which can be grown for construction, textiles, clothing, food, paper, bioplastics, insulation and biofuel.
And so the hemp market doesn’t rely on a selective niche of consumers that use its product for recreational purposes only (such as wine drinkers and cannabis users). Just about everyone could benefit from hemp in one way or another.
Also, unlike wine grapes which take several months to grow and several months to ferment before they ever become drinkable wine, hemp plants can mature in just a few months.
But, say, a commercial vineyard in a place like the Sonoma Valley wants to reserve a few acres of its property for growing hemp. Does the growing of either crop affect the other’s final product?
A Wine Spectator article titled “Can Cannabis and Wine Coexist?” tells how the drift of fungicides (used by many California winemakers to prevent mildew) have been known to render a cannabis harvest unsaleable when the crop is tested for regulation. And one can speculate the same would apply to hemp plants, especially if they’re used for CBD products.
The opposite occurs, too. “On the flip side, cannabis can release organic compounds called terpenes,” the article’s author Aaron Romano writers, “one of which is eucalyptol, known for tainting the flavor of grapes.” It should be known that hemp plants also have terpenes.
Corey Beck, CEO of Francis Ford Coppola Winery and former president of the Sonoma County Vintners, was quoted in the article, saying, “If cannabis can co-exist with the right regulations, and not be intrusive to our neighbors, then it should be available to a farmer who needs to put food on the table for their family.” He added that the wine industry is changing because of consumers drinking less and, therefore, wineries growing few grapes.
“I’m not suggesting the trend is here to stay, but if you are a grapegrower and can’t find a buyer in the short term, your choice in agricultural crops which provide a return such as grapes are limited.”
We have been growing ornamental landscaping plants since 1992 and started growing Hemp in April 2020.
Is hemp your primary crop? And what do you produce (pulp, CBD, textiles)?
No, hemp is not our primary crop. Riverside Hemp is currently growing hemp seedlings for indoor and outdoor farmers with a focus on CBD varieties.
Do you offer any specialty products you would like to talk about (organic body care, construction materials)?
We are not producing any specialty hemp products at this time, but we are researching all possible outlets.
Can you describe your growing/processing operation?
The growing processes at Riverside Hemp are organic methods and indoor greenhouses for the highest quality consumable CBD products.
What are your hopes or expectations for the future of hemp farming?
Our roots run deep in Texas Agriculture. We want to see additional avenues that will help our local ag families thrive.
How have the challenges you encounter every day helped you become a better farmer?
We have been growing for 28 years. You learn from your mistakes and you grow everything with a scientific and methodical approach. Look for the best varieties in your region and through trial and error you figure out what doesn’t work. The Hemp industry isn’t any different. Always set yourself up for success.
Has growing hemp presented any special challenges?
There haven’t been any unique challenges in growing our hemp seedlings, but there is always something to learn when producing a new crop.
Do you find hemp farming a more rewarding endeavor than your ornamental landscaping business?
It is not more or less rewarding than our ornamental plants for landscaping. It is definitely different. It is exciting and an honor to be making history with Texas.
What were the major steps involved in adding hemp farming to your operation?
The major step was updating greenhouses to be better suited for hemp plants, as well as additional security. We are also very strict on sanitation stations before entering to keep the most sterile environment for our plants.
Texas was not exempt from the hemp propaganda of the early 30’s and leave it to hemp historian and grower, Les Stark, to unearth the truths of one Rio Grande Valley man whose story was lost to the times, a pioneer in the crop lost too soon – the story of George Trout.
Recognizing the golden properties of the sandy loom soil of South Texas and that synergy of the Gulf current breezeway that spun into what had the potential to be the new Indus River Valley, Trout invested a great deal of his own money into a major grow operation and plans for a decortication plant outside Raymondville with campaigns to grow heavy and hard in the area once production began. While the potential of this new crop excited many farmers and citizens who shared Trout’s innovative views of the industry for the lone star state, it didn’t come without resistance.
At the foot of an agricultural and industrial revolution the naysayers – those buying into the widespread hysteria fabricated for it’s demise, born from the threats the mass potential of hemp was having on other industries – did everything in their power to put a cap on it’s growth and sweep the truths under the rug along with the individuals trailblazing it’s way and this absolutely included the endeavors of this Texas man.
The introduction of this quick-to-thrive cash crop was met by immediate demonization and media misrepresentation, pushing all of Trout’s endeavors into the flames with falsely reporting it as a mass marijuana growing operation. Mass resistance began mirroring the mass excitement Trout had worked so hard to build with not only his grow experiments but his conventions with other innovative minds in the use of this wonder crop. With the headlines quickly changing minds outside these circles, a gubernatorial-led ban on hemp immediately followed leading to Trout and other Texas growers having to destroy their crop under the new narcotics laws.
The history of 1930’s cannabis propaganda is nothing new but why do we not know George Trout by name? His identity seemed to quickly disappear with the crop itself and this is where Les Stark’s research into the life of this Texas pioneer has uncovered another plot within.
Underlying systemic issues were brought to light in the firsthand accounts Stark was able to cross reference uncovered news articles with. Alongside Trout’s $100k investment into his endeavors he also invested in educating immigrant and ethnic minority workers in the trade, an action that challenged the racism of the time and most likely aided as a catalyst in the demise of his investment. Personal accounts told much milder truths to what was reported in the media surrounding the seizure of the crop by Texas Rangers and sadly Trout died just a short time after that occurrence, on his way to plead his case to federal legislature and ironically on the same day the Marijuana Tax Act was put into effect, never having had his story truly told. His name briefly resurrected in 1942, when hemp was revisited in Texas following the Japanese invasion of the Philippines – the US’s overseas supply house – but still not to the level of recognition that his efforts deserved in Texas history.
Les Stark pieced together the past to tell George Trout’s story for the future – the future of the industry he began nurturing far before it’s time to shine and as we embark on this new generation of growth he reminds us to take this account and learn from it, embrace the truths and draw out the same visions that this pioneer brought to light nearly 100 years ago. Take the time to further honor George Trout as he planted the first seeds for this state’s hemp efforts and thank Les Stark for his in not letting this story fade into the historical misrepresentation of this crop.
The inaugural edition of The Texas Hemp Reporter is here. Mailed to all Texas Hemp Growers and industry insiders in Texas. Texan’s have now had seeds in the ground for 1 month growing hemp legally. We will report on the financial impact from this healthy economic change in Texas agricultural law. We invite you to join us in our coverage of Texas rapid Hemp market and have some fun while we all experience this time of industry growth. Thank You for visiting us online at TexasHempReporter.com
This edition is mailed out for free to Hemp Industry insiders and all licensed hemp farmers in Texas. We are also made available completely free in Austin Texas in over 400 locations .
We are currently working on the inaugural edition of The Texas Hemp Reporter to hit the streets of Austin Texas this June. This full color magazine that will profile Hemp News in Texas.
May 2020 is here and Texan’s will now be able to grow hemp legally and reap the many financial benefits from this healthy economic change in Texas agricultural law.
Many of you in this space know the health benefits and are already aware of the coming trends with the Hemp Industry in the U.S. This May edition will release in late April in time for the Austin Reggae Festival and all things 420. The Texas legislature as of May 1st has allowed our Texas Farmers to grow organic hemp for CBD, medicinal benefits, textiles and industry for the first time since the reefer madness Era. The Texas Hemp Reporter will cover the latest news, business development , medicinal breakthroughs, industry culture, and the economics of planet earths greatest healing flower.
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