AWARD WINNER – Best CBD Farmer 2018 Nationwide – INDO EXPO – Colorado Hemp Farms

WINNER – BEST CBD FARMER NATIONWIDE 2018 – INDO EXPO

Colorado Hemp Farms

Shaun Crawford

 

Colorado Hemp Farms is extremely excited about the new markets opening up to us this year. Although we will still retain and are expanding our operations in Colorado, In 2019 we are also working on CBD projects in California, Minnesota and Maryland with a few possible other projects in neighboring states. If things go as planned (which they seem to be lining up) we are looking to farm as much as 1000 acres of CBD this year which even by our standards is quite a feat.

 Regenerative, organic practices are a big part of Colorado Hemp Farms . We have always used OMRI organic fertilizers and pesticides. If I wouldn’t want it on my crop that I intend to give to my family then I wouldn’t want it used on anyone else’s. I think it’s important to be hyper conscious about what we put in our bodies and how we treat the land that grows our crops. Rotation crops like beans that replenish the nitrogen that’s stripped away from the soil while growing hemp are another way we cut down on agricultural runoff and mitigate the amount of liquid nitrogen used at our farms. Although we use a combination of plastic mulch and cover crop to combat weeds and conserve water, we are exploring hemp derived plastic as a future alternative. We are relying on the hemp fiber industry to make these products available to us moving forward. Currently the biodegradable plastic available doesn’t hold up to a full season of farming. When we got involved in CBD hemp it was under the pretense that we were changing the world to a better place. If hemp is going to be our planets “savior crop” it’s important to develop practices that reinforce this rather than exploit only its monetary advantages. Hemp will answer many problems for us if we commit to the infrastructure that’s necessary to realize greener practices at the farm level.

 While we are under no delusion that Colorado Hemp Farms is the only hemp company gearing up to service the nations largest companies we are most likely it’s most formidable. For us, everything starts on the genetic level. We’ve spent quite a bit of time and henceforth money developing our own proprietary strains that are answering the most important and basic needs of the American Hemp Farmer in each climate zone or the various microclimates around the US. For instance, our grows in Minnesota require faster finishing times than the ones we intend to grow in California. In our breeding program, we’ve tested and selected from thousands of plants to refine our genetics to meet these requirements on a level I haven’t seen in the industry to date. Not just in finishing times but CBD content, structure, yield, mechanical growability as well as drought and pest resistance. Just a 2% increase in CBD content (which we achieve at a minimum each year) means tens of thousands of dollars per acre or even millions over the course of a hundred acres. Addressing the basic needs of the farmer allows us to grow more CBD with them and feed our supply chain which is growing at an unprecedented rate each quarter. One on one relationships with the farmer, clear and easy to follow SOP’s, head grower access and support from a proven CBD company gives farmers peace of mind as well as results they can count on. It’s a big jump from growing corn to growing CBD and the smartest farmers know this. Mitigating the risk surrounding that is what we do best. It also doesn’t hurt that we’ve partnered up with some of the largest distributors in the nation. This gives our farmers an actual business to run rather than just growing it and hoping for the best. Because of this we can accommodate larger companies knowing our supply chain is secure. This coming year we also hope to offer harvest services where we harvest, process and even potentially buy or distribute the final products.

 GLOBALLY, CBD will only become more popular as more countries develop their own hemp programs. The evidence is there to support CBD’s positive effect on the immune system, nervous system and as a result, the other systems in the body. I receive phone calls from other countries governments every week to help kickstart their hemp programs. I think the writing is on the wall so to speak. The largest hurdles facing the global hemp business is quality in genetics and final products. For example, both Mexico and Columbia have been noted for their ability to produce inexpensive cannabis but unfortunately it’s poor quality will keep it from becoming a formidable competitor. In CBD hemp we are not flower farmers as much as resin farmers. If you’ve ever seen a pound of Mexican brick weed I don’t have to tell you everything it lacks. Most notably is its resin/crystal content. The other issues are based around its processing and genetics. Where it would be of great interest for these countries to acquire genetics and techniques that would increase their CBD content, companies like ours have little interest in developing a new market but rather are concentrated on our operations here in the United States. Much the same as Silicon Valley was necessary for the explosion in personal home computing, the United States is the Mecca for CBD, THC and will solely be responsible for setting the standards as well as pushing the advances that forge the future of the global cannabis/hemp economy.

 

* Content provided by: Shaun Crawford (Colorado Hemp Farms) & Kat King (Cannamahila)