Margaret MacKenzie's family realized hemp was a way to revitalize their western Colorado farm. She talks to Joy Beckerman about using traditional growing techniques to improve their crops quality and yield. Methods like rotating their cattle herd through their fields to fertilize and till the soil and welcoming the naturally occurring ecosystem of crop cover to protect their crops are just some of the things they do to ensure that their harvests are abundant. She also talks about managing their two brands; Salt Creek Hemp and Eleven Acres Hemp. Produced by PodCONX https://podconx.com/guests/margaret-mackenzie
Margaret MacKenzie's family realized hemp was a way to revitalize their western Colorado farm. She talks to Joy Beckerman about using traditional growing techniques to improve their crops quality and yield. Methods like rotating their cattle herd through their fields to fertilize and till the soil and welcoming the naturally occurring ecosystem of crop cover to protect their crops are just some of the things they do to ensure that their harvests are abundant. She also talks about managing their two brands; Salt Creek Hemp and Eleven Acres Hemp.
https://podconx.com/guests/margaret-mackenzie
Dan Humiston: [00:00:08] Welcome to another episode of Hemp Barons. I'm Dan Humiston and today's Baron made her decision to start growing Hemp on their western Colorado farm. Back in 2014 and since then has reintroduced traditional growing techniques, taking advantage of nature's own natural ecosystem to help them expand their growing acreage. Let's join Joy's conversation with Margaret Mackenzie from Salt Creek Hemp and 11:00 a.m..
Joy Beckerman: [00:00:39] Well, hello, Margaret. Thank you for being on Hemp Barons with us today.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:00:44] Hi, Joy. Thank you for having me.
Joy Beckerman: [00:00:47] Such a pleasure. We've known each other for some years now and really got to bond during the Hemp Industries Association, European Hemp or last year where we got to do technical visits and various ambassador type visits with Germany and Holland and Belgium. And it was just so fantastic.
Joy Beckerman: [00:01:05] And I know we both learned so much and it's great to have you on today to talk about the two brands that you're managing of really fantastic Hemp exact products, 11 acres as well as Salt Creek Hemp Company. But before we talk about those brands, let's talk for a second about how you got interested in Hemp. How did you come to learn about Hemp?
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:01:30] Well, thank you, Joy. And yes, it was such a fun trip that we had together exploring Europe and seeing the industry that as already established itself over there at the fiber and and that was it was it just a just a phenomenal trip. And so much appreciate the HIPAA for putting that on. So we were introduced into the Hemp industry in late 2014. My mom and my aunt had a ranch that they were raising cattle and horses on together. And then my aunt suddenly passed away in 2012 and my mom didn't really want to take care of the whole place by herself. She wanted to relocate back to the front range to be close to me and the kids. And really, you know, we're trying to sell the property at that point. And then there was a big landslide. Anyway, long story short. The property wasn't selling. And so it just started becoming, you know, a huge drain on on finances, obviously, for. For taxes, insurance and everything else. Maintenance of the property. So we looked into how are we going to make this land, cover its costs, cover its expenses. And that's what you know. That's what introduced us to Hemp that the 2004 14 farm bill had been signed. And and yeah, we just started going to all of the events we could to educate ourselves. Meet the other people that were doing the same thing, looking into Hemp as well and growing it and really just fell in love with the people, the industry, the revolution, the community, the revolution.
Joy Beckerman: [00:03:20] . One test gets up in. Yeah, it's in you. As I like to say to folks, that literally gets into your DNA. And then it has you and you just dug for its re-emergence. Absolutely. And boy, did it get you. And aren't we lucky that it did. So you ended up performing Salt Creek Hemp Company with with several partners who include your mother, your brother, and other very talented and skilled folks close to you. So tell us about Bryce. I'm curious. Is it difficult managing the two brands? Tell us about the difference between or what you want, you know, to to show the consumer in terms of the difference between 11 acres in and Salt Creek and then for the entrepreneurs out there and so many other folks looking to get into the industry. Tell us your experience managing to brand.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:04:14] Well, we really started Salt Creek in 2000, late 2014 to the 15, and we really didn't have any intention of of, you know, going to full retail and, you know, creating creating a brand.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:04:31] We really just wanted to farm. We wanted to grow Hemp and that we wanted to see it drive away in a truck at the end of the season and. You know, as we learned, that was not the case, you know what? That was not really happening at that point in time. We were really at the beginning of, you know, just starting to form or reform the supply chain. And so, you know, there wasn't really that option for selling off the crop and it driven away at the end of the year.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:05:01] So we just we were learning we were taking our time, really kind of dialing in what our goals as a company were.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:05:11] And and that's over the first couple of years is when we really decided that because our acreage is fairly small, that taking our Hemp that we grew and then harvested all the way through processing into a retail product was the best return on investment for us. And and also we could own then every part of it and really maintain the quality and be, you know, be in control of the quality all the way through. And so that was really important to us just starting. And you had an internal structure.
Joy Beckerman: [00:05:46] You had and you had infrastructure there that because you don't do your own processing. But the blessing was you were there in Colorado at the nexus of the reemergence of the crop and as well as basically the the cutting edge of the discovery of, oh, my goodness, we can extract these valuable, not intoxicating, beneficial cannabinoids from the Hemp plant. And you had infrastructure there to help me with the processing app that because as you think many farmers, you will know that they want to grow the crop and then never see it again until the next year when they're replanting and and and vertical integration can be difficult. But there you had sort of the the magic combination ready for you to move forward to build this to an end consumer product.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:06:34] Yes. We were very lucky in that in that aspect, whereas we didn't do the job. We didn't have the infrastructure onsite for the processing. But we did have we do have a partner in the Grand Junction that did the extraction for us and then contract manufacturing. Right. Pretty much right next door to that. So everything that we do is is done in the same county. It's done in Mesa County. It's all local and it's all within our are pretty tight circle of friends. So. Oh, that's really, really.
Joy Beckerman: [00:07:08] I was just going to say exactly what a blessing that you have that and that you can and that you can create that. So tell us a little bit about the two different brands or how you decided to add eleven acres to your offerings as a partnership.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:07:22] Well, we saw the benefit of having a retail line and we had developed Sal Creek and we all absolutely, you know, are in love with the Silk Creek brand. But we realized that in the marketplace right now, there's just a lot of very generic products to our branding and labeling.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:07:46] So we thought we would take a stab at developing a more targeted marketing strategy and and take the brand and really, you know, aim it towards a specific demographic. So the Eleven Acres is really a more female oriented, feminine looking label.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:08:06] And, you know, it's two water colors and all the labels are water colors of our ranch and different from different angles and different perspectives of the land that we grow the Hemp on. So really fun. The area was really excited to take that on.
Joy Beckerman: [00:08:21] So beautiful. And I love the fact that it's different aspects of your land. I got to be with you as I offered them at a conference last week and and admire and inspect them all. It's very beautiful.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:08:31] Thank you very much. Thank you. We're all we're all pretty proud of it.
Joy Beckerman: [00:08:37] Indeed, and and so and so you created the more the more feminine brand and now you've got your operating both of the sites. And how are you finding that as a business owner? Is it a model that you might recommend to other entrepreneurs?
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:08:52] Well, it is a model that I would definitely recommend people considering. And it's tough because I really don't know where we're kind of we're kind of new into this. Your second retail line, we really only launched it about two, three months ago.
Joy Beckerman: [00:09:11] Right. Actually. So you're really.
Joy Beckerman: [00:09:14] So you're and you're basically doing your own R and D as it is.
Joy Beckerman: [00:09:19] And maybe we maybe we'll have you want to get in the future and you can let us know because it is challenging, very challenging even for, you know, very well-funded companies to manage to brand. So I'll just be excited to see how all of that unfolds and and just hoping for the greatest success for both of those brands because they're such great products. And and those products include soft Stitcher solves bombs, some bath products and of course, deodorants. And I noticed you like like many folks, because, of course, we're navigating we as in the Hemp extract industry, I belong to multiple aspects of the Hemp industry. But of course, I I also work with Alex and all. So when I say we, I mean, you're trying to navigate this gauntlet of of FDA compliance in this untenable situation that we're we're currently in. And the FDA is, of course, trying desperately. It claims to come on board to help create a regulatory framework for us. But for example, in your 42 mg capsules, which you gave me some samples of. Thank you. Last week, there was a CBD. Thank you, ma'am. How much CBD are in the 42 milligrams of Hemp extract?
Joy Beckerman: [00:10:32] How much is Cannabis all of the actual cannabinoid CBD in there? Do you do you folks know?
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:10:40] So absolutely. And we know because we do third party testing on every single one of our products. That's on the market right now. So we do. And we went with the 42 mg on the label because that's what we feel we are. That is what we're describing, what's in our product. We do know that there are 25 milligrams. So 25 of those 42 milligrams are actual cannabidiol. So.
Joy Beckerman: [00:11:07] But we we chose the very potent, very potent bad plastic, 20, 25 milligrams of CBD out of a 42 milligram Hemp extract product.
Joy Beckerman: [00:11:20] This is fantastic that for many folks, that's a one soft gel or one serving for their daily their daily allowance for whatever they're seeking temporary relief of or to improve their general wellness.
Joy Beckerman: [00:11:34] So that's a potent little capsule. Thank you. So now I know that's what I've got. This is great.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:11:41] I we grow when we grow some great oil. You sure do.
Joy Beckerman: [00:11:47] Thank you. What is a perfect Segway?
Joy Beckerman: [00:11:49] And where I was absolutely headed is one of the many things that impresses me about your family, about the way you do business, about the products you create and about the plants you grow in the land you keep. And steward is the use of regenerative agricultural techniques. And as we know, this versatile, valuable plant that has so much promise to build the soil, heals the biosphere, you know, heal the planet and increase the increase health in the human population and animal population. But we know that in order for that to happen with Hemp, because it is a hungry plant, we're going to have to employ regenerative agricultural techniques and that the stewards here, those of us leading the industry and you're such a valuable part of that, Margaret, are absolutely determined that we're not going to let this valuable, versatile crop go the way of big ag. Same old, same old. Celebrate the soil over fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides. So tell us a little bit about some of the regenerative agricultural techniques that you employ. And you know, I'm a big fan of cover crops, so please try to hit that to Miss Margaret.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:12:59] Absolutely. Yeah. We so Hemp is definitely not the only thing that we produce on this on our farm. We grow everything from our own vegetables to our own beef. And and so we and and the hay. So we also raise hay for our cattle and our horses for the wintertime so that we know that they're what they're eating was raised here, was grown here with our practices.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:13:30] And and, you know, and it's not been, you know, sprayed with with anything, any pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. So everything that comes from our farm here is is very clean and very much the quality is definitely controlled by. But by our inputs.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:13:50] And so we do we use our cattle to we rotational graze our cattle. And so they are constantly moving from one area to the other. Stirring up the ground, grazing it and fertilizing it as they go. So it's you know, it's it's a challenge sometimes because we have old fencing around the property. So sometimes they end up where they're not necessarily supposed to be. But for the most part, it's it's know we're all learning, but it's working out pretty well.
Joy Beckerman: [00:14:25] And so, yeah, we use our addiction today and that's a practice pad again. Am I correct?
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:14:32] Well, it's it's rotational grazing weed.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:14:35] We don't use a well, we use electric fence in some areas for them, but mostly we're using existing fence and then just pushing them through to the different to different areas.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:14:47] So and making sure we're utilizing all of the land we have. We have a lot of about half of our property is dry land.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:14:54] And so it's which is non irrigated. And so to take advantage of all of the land on our property. They you know, in the springtime when everything is wet from the snowmelt and and the early rains, they go up high up on our property and and utilize the food that's available for them, you know, up in those areas and all the while keeping the low brush, taking care of and which is great for fire suppression and and and really letting you know the the terrain open up, if you will. So keeping that keeping that good bio diversity alive in the soil as the cows move so important.
Joy Beckerman: [00:15:40] So, you know, important to keep that to build that soil.
Joy Beckerman: [00:15:44] All of that organic matter. And they were for bio diversity.
Dan Humiston: [00:15:51] I want to take a quick break. Thank you for listening to today's show and to invite you to check out all of our other Cannabis podcast as the industry's number one Cannabis podcast network. We are constantly adding new shows to go to MJBulls.com, to see our new shows and to become part of the Cannabis podcast network.
Joy Beckerman: [00:16:13] And that brings us right into cover crops.
Joy Beckerman: [00:16:16] Tell us a little bit how you use cover crops for a weed suppression or building of this soil moisture conservation and even integrated pest management.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:16:28] Yeah, well, you know, we don't do a lot of weed suppression. We we do a lot of weed management. So and now, mind you, weeds, weeds are just plants that are growing where you don't want them to. That's what we call weeds. But I am a huge fan of a lot of weeds, actually, because a lot of weeds do a lot of of the the the groundwork for you. We do a minimal till unique or a minimal tool technique for growing our Hemp weed. We usually we typically just tell in the in the rose we're gonna plant our plants. And then between the plants we leave a cover crop, which is a mixture of hay, grass, hay, alfalfa, clover, dandelions. Oh, we've got all kinds of plant material and and weeds as well. You know what you would call weeds as well. And a lot of those we come any well and I use those and I use those words.
Joy Beckerman: [00:17:36] But the reality is, you're you're you're planting those particular cover crops very intentionally as their nitrogen fixers.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:17:43] So I guess when we say depression, we would prefer to have nitrogen fixing intentionally played to sort of cover crops as opposed to weeds that might be taking from the soil as opposed to as opposed to replenishing them with alfalfa and clover, as you say.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:17:59] Definitely. Definitely. And yes. So we we leave those we leave that cover crop in between the rows for several reasons. It's it's green material. And green material reflects heat instead of absorbing heat as Bryant Brown dry dirt does.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:18:21] It allows any moisture that comes onto the ground to be absorbed and to hold onto that moisture more than, you know, your. Your brown bear dirt. And also, it provides a food source for your typical pests like your grasshoppers and and other, you know, leaf eaters that come through. And I mean, the last year. Holy cow, let me tell you, we had grasshoppers like you would not believe. You couldn't even walk through the field without getting just got bombed with with grasshoppers. You got hit, you know, Des, you walked through and. And so I truly believe that if we had not had the cover crop as as we did, as thick as we did, that there would not have been another food source for those grasshoppers and they would have eaten our Hemp. And as it was, we saw little to no no pest pressure from the grasshoppers on the plants. So we're very glazing.
Joy Beckerman: [00:19:20] Isn't that just incredible? Cover crops, all of the benefit of a cover crop, including this integrated pest management, because you know very well, as I do, that many growers had grasshopper damage last year in Colorado. They were hungry and they went right for the green on the basket.
Joy Beckerman: [00:19:39] Right on the green, a bit of the stock. Obviously, the bath fiber attracted them and they would eat right through. So incredible. So employing these techniques, yes.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:19:50] We really don't have another option at this point. We really have to start going back to these practices. And it's not this is not new. This is not a new in a brand new farming method.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:20:05] This was farming and this was land management long, long before traditional agriculture came along. So we need to just remember.
Joy Beckerman: [00:20:12] So. And, you know, you started to say earlier and it's probably a great time for us to discuss that. The different aspects of Hemp. Right. We have we're talking about human and animal nutrition, body care, new pursuits, goals, pharmaceuticals in general wellness. And we're also talking about paper, textiles, building materials, bio plastics, bio composites, industrial sequencing coatings, energy, fuel, nanotechnology.
Joy Beckerman: [00:20:39] Oh, my lord, somebody stopped me.
Joy Beckerman: [00:20:41] But what we talked about growing this crop for human or animal consumption, we're talking about needing to use our best soil because as you well know, it's a. I don't remediated Hemp will absorb an uptake contaminants and heavy metals in the soil, and it is used for that purpose in various industrial sludge type areas and even, you know, Fukushima and Chernobyl to clean up the soils there. But we certainly can't have those types of plants in our food supply or in our new pursuit, local or pharmaceutical general wellness supply. So tell us a little bit about your feelings, your feelings with regard to cleanest, best soil and how important that is for first things that are going into our mouths.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:21:30] Oh, I know who are Oh, yes, absolutely. I mean, our skin is our largest organ and we absorb you know, we absorb things that touch our skin, you know, into our bodies. And yes, that is that is one of my biggest educational passions right now is is is bringing that point to these farmers that are that are interested in growing Hemp and wanting to integrate into their into their rotation and not necessarily understand ending that that part of the Hemp plant and what it does. And not only Fido or mediator, but it's a bio accumulator.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:22:14] So that means that it takes up those heavy metals and residual pesticides and toxins that are or can be present in soil and not necessarily just from previous agriculture, but also from the rain that maybe was, you know, that had, you know, that the clouds were formed over an area that was very, very toxic or anything.
Joy Beckerman: [00:22:42] There's all acid rain.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:22:45] Acid rain can get. Yeah. There's all sorts of ways that toxins can get into the soil. There's the pesticide drift issue. There's. All right. So. Yeah, just not knowing that that is that is a characteristic of this plant. And people need to understand that because it can translate into a finished commodity, a finished product. And if you're trying to create a product that is going to be helping people and knowing that that can translate into a product that was good is going to be ingested. It's going to be consumed. That is a very important thing to know and had is a very important consideration to have. That is why we all do.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:23:32] That is why we always sorry.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:23:35] That well, that is why we always do soil testing before we even start planting in in areas that, you know, when how well we're helping farmers out, we always say, what's the first thing we do?
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:23:47] We test our soils and we not only to test our soils for our P.H. or our nitrogen phosphate potassium levels. We test it for heavy metals, residual pesticides and other kinds of contaminants. That way we know what we're starting off with. You don't want to get down the line and be harvesting your crop and find out that it's got, you know, unsafe levels of heavy metals in it. And so it's really it's it's so important for not only the end consumer of that product, but also for the farmer, because, you know, a lot of people that are are starting to grow, can't afford to have a total loss on a crop because it's got pesticide contamination. Let's try to avoid some of these these, you know, catastrophic issues that are going to come up if we if we end up with with heavy metals and pesticides in our end product. So that so it's a passion production issue.
Joy Beckerman: [00:24:46] Absolutely. And so important for the consumer to know these things. And we have such a shared responsibility to work very hard. The Hemp Industry Association, of course, you do such great work. And you're you're on the board of directors for the Colorado chapter of the ACA. And thank you for that. As you know, I have the privilege and honor of being the president of the Hemp Industries Association formed in 1994. And we have such a shared responsibility here, the industry, the trade associations, the advocacy organizations to teach consumers what they need to know. They know that they want this thing called CBD or hemp extract. They just are faced with a whole bunch of different products out there on the market and and not knowing even the first questions to ask. And of course, one of the most basic questions to ask is where was this plant grown and how was it grown then? How is it processed? And so on and so forth. It's just so important.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:25:45] Well, I want you to know and love it. How was it made? Where, you know, where was it made? Was that was that manufacturer compliant with their local health department? All of those things, all of those things are so important.
Joy Beckerman: [00:26:05] Very, very much so. And. And all I can tell you is that your single origin, small batch, basically hand harvested products that you delivered to the world.
Joy Beckerman: [00:26:21] Thank you for being such a great leader in this space and setting such wonderful standards for everybody and for being such a voice on stewarding, stewarding this crop up in these things.
Joy Beckerman: [00:26:32] They do managed to come with this for the HIV, a European tour next year. We're going to do, I think, France and Italy next year thinking about it.
Joy Beckerman: [00:26:40] Margaret, I know.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:26:41] I am so excited. Definitely. Definitely.
Joy Beckerman: [00:26:46] Oh, we learned so much. Really. The world is getting smaller and smaller thanks to the Internet. Thanks to people and thanks to Hemp.
Joy Beckerman: [00:26:56] It's just incredible being able to look at the world through the Hemp eyes that we that we are so privileged to look at it through. And it sure is a privilege to look at it with you, sister. So thank you for everything you do for Hemp and for the industry and for the Hemp community.
Margaret Mackenzie: [00:27:11] Well, and thank you for being such an inspiration to us. So we appreciate you and all you do.
Joy Beckerman: [00:27:17] You know, we you know, we couldn't have it any other way. Once that plate gets you as we said, it gets you.
Joy Beckerman: [00:27:23] So it's such a pleasure, sweetheart. Thank you so much for being with us. Margaret.
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