Ethan Vorhes is a sixth generation Iowa farmer who joins Joy Beckerman to talk about using hemp as a rotational crop. Ethan explains the process and illustrates all the natural benefits hemp provides to the soil, the other crops and the livestock. He also discusses the work he's doing to get hemp approved as food for animals. Produced by PodCONX https://podconx.com/guests/ethan-vorhes
Ethan Vorhes is a sixth generation Iowa farmer who joins Joy Beckerman to talk about using hemp as a rotational crop. Ethan explains the process and illustrates all the natural benefits hemp provides to the soil, the other crops and the livestock. He also discusses the work he's doing to get hemp approved as food for animals.
https://podconx.com/guests/ethan-vorhes
Dan Humiston: [00:00:08] Welcome to another episode of Hemp Barons, I'm Dan Humiston. And on today's show, Joy speaks with a sixth generation Iowa farmer about natural crop management by using Hemp as a rotational crop. They also discuss the work they're doing and the challenges that they're facing, getting Hemp approved as a feed for animals. Let's join Joy's conversation with Ethan Forehands.
Joy Beckerman: [00:00:39] Well, Ethan Vorhees, thank you so much for being with us on Hemp Barons today. Well, thanks for having me. Always a pleasure and a privilege. Ethan, the amount of advocacy work that you do, just hardcore, hard working farmer, how many generations, by the way, has the Voorhees family been farming in Iowa?
Ethan Vorhes: [00:00:57] I'm six generations and so my kids will be seven and the kids will be seven.
Joy Beckerman: [00:01:01] Wow. And I know that you've been raising beef, pork and poultry on a non GMO grain farm in northern Iowa for many, many years. And that you have long since now recognized the power of Hemp in the ag feed system, in the Regenesis agricultural system, and that you work very diligently on these efforts. Speaking all over the country and in fact in multiple countries and as a steering committee member of the Hemp Sikh Coalition, you've served on the board of directors of the Friends of Hemp and the board of directors of the Iowa Hemp Association. And before we get into some of that work and what we really want the listeners to know about the status of Hemp as ag feed and what it would mean to the American farmer and frankly to the agenda of agriculture system. Let's talk for a second of how you got into Hemp. How on earth did you learn about Hemp?
Ethan Vorhes: [00:01:53] And what brought you as a gift to this movement is to go back to when I first learned of Hemp, my family had grown for the war effort. The remnants of those plants are still evident in the ditches and the fence lines here. It wasn't till later that I started to associate it with marijuana, you know, and look at it as kind of a taboo thing. You know, it was the Iowa Hemp Association that was hosting a tour of an ethanol plant. And I believe talking about cellulose to makeup and Hemp and stability be grown easily organic. I have seen that I was unable to go that day, but I had reached out to the association and they were bringing in Rick Trudgen and the Hemp Road trip to Iowa. So we got together and met face to face that day and been friends with the guys we traveled to. noko Later that ring just became better friends. They really got me to the point where I met many of the industry people out there and felt their passion and the energy that was in the industry and in Colorado in general. It drew me to it like, I guess a moth through a light bulb. All this brilliant people and so much energy and doing a great thing. You know, when you listen to the way that all these people talk about how they grow and what they expect in the future, it's all organic people out using Hemp to make an impact. And so that's another reason why this industry so attracted to me and driven further.
Joy Beckerman: [00:03:17] Yes, soil health, as we often say, if it weren't for the top six inches of soil rainfall and farmers, we would all be dead. So healing the soil, building the soil and taking back the land that we have damaged, not necessarily on the Voorhies farm, which has been utilizing these genitive agricultural practices for quite some time, but by and large, across the planet. And just to fill in for some of the listeners, you know, when Ethan says that there are sort of volunteer or feral Hemp still growing in Iowa from the war effort, he's talking about World War 2. So we had the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937, which effectively taxed and regulated Hemp out of existence as we began to go through our better living through chemistry stage here in the United States. And patents were being made for synthetic polymer petroleum based fuels and plastics. Cotton gin had been invented in the late eighteen hundreds. That would be cellulose paper making process. Whole process had been invented. So we regulated and taxed Hemp out of existence in 1937. But what happened, of course, is World War Two and Japan invaded Manila very strategically and effectively to cut off the United States Navy supply of Hemp, which it needed for all of its rigging sales, rope parachutes, uniforms, laces in the boots, all of backpacks. And so the USDA and in conjunction with 4 8 had to quickly make this pop, this film Hemp for victory. And folks listening. You get on YouTube tonight or when you have some time here, get on YouTube and type in Hemp for victory.
Joy Beckerman: [00:04:51] Take the one that's about thirteen and a half minutes long so you can actually see the USDA film begging the farmers to grow Hemp for the war effort, which the farmers did in fact grow forty two thousand tons of Hemp I believe each year through 1946. Then we successfully won the war and went back to this state of taxation and regulation for Hemp and then noko that you discussed. Rick Trojan, of course, as the vice president of the Hemp Industries Association, a very dear friend of mine and treasured colleagues on the president, the Hemp Industries Association with his traveling show The Hemp Road Trip. I did not realize, Ethan, that it was the Hemp Road trip, sort of was that catalyst that brought you to noko, the northern Colorado Hemp Expo Greatest Hemp trade show so far. Amazing stuff. I remember meeting you. I had tremendous energy exchange, you really know when you meet somebody who that Hemp bug has bitten because the exchange of energy is just so intense. And I very much remember meeting you a few years ago and recognizing you as my brother in arms here that just could not stop talking and doing for the plant. And you won't and you don't. And I thank you for that. You became a stakeholder in Colorado and Feasibility Study Group. Is that stakeholder groups still growing or has that work been done for that particular work group?
Ethan Vorhes: [00:06:12] Yeah, that work group lasted little less than a year. We broke into three groups. We had a couple of big group discussions and then we had a couple of kind of our individual regulator nutrition feasibility group and then a couple of conclusions where we worked out our recommendation, which at the end of the day looks like the Hemp coalition. You know, it was work together as an industry and bring everybody together, work with the FDA. You can do these other routes, but the fastest is going to be a food additive petition. And so to kind of break it down a little bit, you have generally recognized as safe. You have an ASCO route and you have a food additive petition, food and a petition goes straight to the FDA. It's very specific. That's the fastest way is to say we want to use that for this animal, for for this life stage, for this purpose. This is how we're going to do it. You know, this is what it is and work with the FDA to at this point build some research so that we can kind of prove safety, because right now there's no species that have a dataset from anywhere in the world that has enough information to kind of show safety. We've got to go back and fill those gaps in the data with research.
Ethan Vorhes: [00:07:26] So that's what we're doing. Coalition right now has been to identify what Hemp Seed Cake and Neil are only. What's the range of proteins? What's the range of processes that it took to get there? And so that when we apply for chickens, let's say we can say that we're adding Hemp seed meal to the ration. And this is what meal is. And then right now, we've got to go back and do some studies with chicken. So there's a lot of interest around poultry. And so they seem like a good starting point in the eyes of the coalition because they have a short lifecycle. So this means that we can do studies in a shorter period time with less cost and get species approved where we can really start to open up a market for Hemp teacake that people are presson this fall or next fall. And the beauty of it is this can be federally legal. Once we go through this process with company and follow all the way through all these different steps, because that's the coalition, we don't necessarily petition the FDA. We're facilitating all the information and helping other companies go through the process. We're trying to be a hub of information and just kind of facilitate the research that everybody working together.
Joy Beckerman: [00:08:41] You are a catalyst, a lightning rod really serving you and 100 Blessington and Annie Rulesand and other folks, obviously. Margaret McKenzie, other folks serving are really the catalyst. And thank you for unpacking that and to unpack it further for the listeners, even though we're well aware of the tremendous nutritional benefit of the Hemp, did it truly does the food superfood that deserves a super cake. It's the highest digestible form of protein in the entire plant and animal kingdom. So more digestible protein than the NBA or beef or chicken or soy is incredible. Omega 3s and six essential fatty acid profile and minerals and vitamins and Cybele and insoluble dietary fiber. But none of that is approved for any form of add feed or even Pepsi. It's simply just not approved yet in order to get things approved here in the developed countries. We have to go through studies and show research to get it approved and that is a purse. So when you hear even talking about species, these testees applications, which are not cheap, they're actually quite expensive and the research needs to be conducted for each hour on a per species basis. So one for swine, one for cattle, one for horses, one for livestock, as are chickens, as it were. And so the only ones that we can combine are cats and dogs, because those are pets and not consumed by humans. The FDA allows that one to be combined. So not only per species, but per ingredient. So a hemp seed oil study per species Hemp seed case study per species, Hemp silage study per species. And that's before we would even get into the cannabinoids, as it were. We're really just talking about the grain at this point. So it's an incredible process and it will improve the health of the animal. It will improve the health in the end consumer. But this needs to be proven through data and science and research in order to make it through the.
Joy Beckerman: [00:10:37] Process in this developed country, and so that is some of the incredible work that Ethan does and that these groups that he's involved in. Also do.
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Joy Beckerman: [00:11:33] you then tell the listeners a bit, Ethan, about what you have personally witnessed for your animals feeding them, because certainly it does go on. That despite the fact that it isn't approved, these animals are still being fed this very valuable nutrient. In fact, it's very popular certainly in the equestrian industry. Lots of Hemp seed cakes and pellets and pumps and supplements and things being given to them just from the grain alone. I'd like to hear what you've noticed with your own animals and then be if we could go in to how Hemp fits in to the regenerative cycle of your farming operation and then typical of others.
Ethan Vorhes: [00:12:11] My cattle avoid browsed on wild Hemp and so I've never actually said them the grain that we're proposing to do. I have felt that it's been important to work through all these proper channels with the FDA. And I met with Iowa State here last week trying to get them on board for helping me work towards my goals here. We've got a number of studies proposed and some that are already FDA approved case of the one out and CSU. I feel we're very, very close. But what I can say is, is that I've talked to a number of producers who have. And what we are seeing is, for example, there is a case in Pennsylvania. Farmer named Bill Roberts said a number of heifers, Hemp teacake and a conventional pellet that was going into like a eight week study. They the Cavs that were fed Hemp are a little lighter. At the end of the study, they were 20 pounds heavier. They out gained the competition drastically. And so that's why I always expected that when I seen other farmers have done it. It's just kind of what we expect. I'm really looking forward to getting the scientific data to pass the anecdotal and really started to break down where the fiber gets to plan, how much is digestible, where in the catalyst's digested, you know, whether it's the rubiner, the intestine, the real science of it being able to say this is what Hemp is and this is what it can do, because I think we all know that the high folie nature of the plant in the product is going to give us a better system. And that's what we're looking for, is to replace the whole system, not just one component, it's in the soil. Regenerative part of our farm in operation is as much as it is creating a healthier animal and a better product than our meat.
Joy Beckerman: [00:13:50] Indeed. And I did not realize I thought for some reason that there were some of the animals on Voorhies farm were involved in that study, and I did not realize. Sorry for misspeaking there, brother. And indeed, some of the concern is on bio accumulation of THC because I remember several sessions ago in the state of Washington. And you know, I moved back recently to the great state of New York, the Empire State. A couple of years ago, that was in Washington for twenty one years before that. And I think it was around the 2015 legislative session where a law was passed for the Washington State Department of AG to do a study on hemp seed and the lying hen or the lane hen. And a year later and 40 pages later on that study, the issue in the end was we need more research on the bio accumulation of THC because of a perception concern that folks would want to buy eggs from Washington State or milk from Washington cows if they thought that the milk and the eggs were going to get them high. Talk about this for a second and then I do want to absolutely get into the regenerative agriculture and more that the way that Hemp fits in to basically permaculture in general, the agricultural schemes, the business of agriculture and all of that. But how about what you've noticed about concerns around bio accumulation and perception being a challenge here?
Ethan Vorhes: [00:15:13] I think the perception has changed. You know, there was a poll that Farm Journal put out about producers and how many of them would be willing to feed Hemp to their animals. And I think the number was in the upper 40s that would feed him to the animal. There's a number that said they needed to know more stuff. Some said I don't know. But the overwhelming majority was. Yes. I think that kind of shocked me and gave me a perception of where our country is, that there are fears. I don't think that at the end of the world, like the FDA saying this is going to work. You know, they're they're saying, hey, bring us some research. Absolutely willing to hear what you have to say. And the only reason you don't. Peterson Nobody's ever brought us this information or tried to pursue this path before. At this point in time, it's hard to understand the feasibility of it. But when you start to think big picture of we're gonna go out and raise it for fiber or one of these other products, eventuality or inevitable, that you're going to have grain to go with it and with all this grain. I mean, we've already got enough producers around the world to produce in the food market to the point where we do have some S.K.
Ethan Vorhes: [00:16:13] stockpiles. We need more markets. And this is a great market for it, certainly. So in a matter of time, before we kind of line that all up that are able to access that food, it goes back to the cumulation part of it. I don't think that you could find a model where having some residues in there would be bad for a person. You know, I don't think that you find anything where it'd be bad for the animals. I have heard of through my work at the coalition that there are accumulation of THC in the brains of dogs, for example. And so I think that it does need to be studied. But I think if you were to apply Hemp as an animal feed to like the cattle industry, for example, with these terminal animals, you'll never notice so much cannabinoids built into them that would be harmful to him or even some kind of a setback. You know, if anything I ever imagined, it would be that some accumulation would be beneficial. They're going to be out there standing in a feedlot and their joints are going to hurt, of course.
Joy Beckerman: [00:17:11] And it was quite such a huge part of animal feed in our nation's history and throughout the world historically. So it did play Dena. gets frustrating. Obviously, we're in a developed country song Feelings and they used to do this all the time is not enough to get something approved and into our agricultural system here, but I'm very excited. Prohibition, of course, was put quite a damper on the ability to perform this research. And now that those barriers are being lifted and the movement is on steroids and so much interest now, I'm very excited to see that research. And by the way, you know, as I often say, I am very privileged and pleased to be part owner of Colorado, Hemp Hemp Barons, which is a Hemp brain processing facility in Longmont, Colorado. And when you say there are stockpiles of Teacake, why, yes, there there certainly is. I can attest to that. Bursting at the seams with stockpiles as he take because the Hemp oil prices are gone seven days a week, 24 hours a day, and then producing that incredibly nutrient and protein rich and valuable seat take that needs to then be either milled into protein powder or made into other products, but could most absolutely be sent off for animal feed, the most valuable, nutritious animal feed available. And yet it's being stockpiled because of these legal issues. So the work that you're doing is so important not only for the health of animals and the health of humanity, the health of the Hemp economy. And now we talk about the health of the soil. I've heard you make this discussion and several of your presentations and about how Hemp in your rotation and as an ad seed, how that improves your farm and even your farm's bottom line. Could you talk to the listeners about that a little bit?
Ethan Vorhes: [00:18:51] I like to compare Hemp to soy because it's oilseed nature. I think of my operation here in the cattle, for example, where we want corn as part of our rations, but we need a rotational crop. You just don't grow corn year on year without having compound problems. Same with beans or a lot of these other crops. We're going to find multiple years. You're going to have some mold or corn or attack your plant. So if you just rotate that, usually help prevent those problems. I think that's where the beauty of Hemp comes in. We want to have Hemp follow corn in our rotation and we think corn is a decent companion crop. So we've got the animal manure. The corn has a good canopy, for example, looking out my window today. There's probably not many weeds in the corn field and the sun doesn't get to get down to the soil and heat it up as we get cooler. But the soybeans across the road, they've dropped their canopy weeks ago and the sun's beating down on the ground. And it's warm here and there's perennials starting to germinate all over the field and then they'll be there next spring and they'll be big and we'll have to fight them. Typically, a farmer has two choices. He has tillage or he has spray.
Ethan Vorhes: [00:19:58] And in both of those cases, we're kind of inhibiting the food web. Were Haman, the soil microbiology were inhibited. And beyond that is just that being there dead and there's no sugars being sequestered in the ground for the microbes. It Hemp these green and living kind of deeper into the fall. There's a number different models that a farmer can use, but that crop has a strong canopy in keif live and you've seen those sugars. So I think it's great for the soil and a number of different ways. Once you start taking your corn in your Hemp out and you have livestock, typically you can utilize cover crops. So that's the additional thing that needs to be part of the farm system working with the other cover crops. What happens then is, is that you have a system where you don't let weeds back in your rotation. So then you couple precision ag with crop choices and. It isn't long and you're really doing a ton of great things that soil with what's happened with the roots. What's happening with not having weeds and not having to tilling and spray because you just have a good clean system set up. So in that mechanism, I think we fight climate change and we see the world at the same time.
Joy Beckerman: [00:21:07] Indeed. And I think probably many listeners don't realize when we talk about chill disrupting the soil food web or that incredible eco system that lives in the soil, that feeds the roots, that feed the plant, that creates the quality of that plant in terms not only, of course, of yield. Bottom line for farmers, but also in its nutritional profile, or if you're going for fiber to potentially even increase its surface area or tensile strength so that microbe proby old environment is so important. And when we tell it's like Hurricane Katrina going through a town, it just completely disrupts all of that beautiful ecosystem that actually is lived in that soil. It's literally a tornado that comes through. And then, of course, spraying. Same thing only it's not a tornado. It's chemicals. So, so very important. And did you mention something there about integrated pest management in terms of just crop rotation and that it's beneficial for your crop rotation in that respect as well?
Ethan Vorhes: [00:22:13] Yeah. Yeah. A good example is the in the corn. We use soils to sequester some nitrogen, but also to give a buffer a year for the corn laws and all the insect pressure that goes in to the corn crop and a holdover from year to year. So that's just a good way to utilize Hemp then to kind of get in the middle there and see that buffer for that management. There's another number. Things a person can do on farm to farm is to have a buffer around the field with pollinators and attract the beneficial path around the perimeter field to kind of ward off invasion.
Joy Beckerman: [00:22:48] And let me ask you this, this incredible work that you do on the farm. You also produce an incredible product, because I know every time the Hemp crowd now or the Hemp tribe knows that Ethan's showing up, they all say, oh, I hope he brought his sausages. I hope he brought this and his that. What are the products that you're making right now and how some people support the work that you're doing and support as a sixth generation farmer? The incredible contribution that you make to this country and certainly to this movement. How some people support you by buying those products.
Ethan Vorhes: [00:23:20] My family raises wagyu cattle to the Japanese word for our cattle. They're famed for Kobe beef. A high value product that around the world sells for about 10x the grocery store prices. And so we've been selling it at farmer's markets and to individuals, you know, because I want to know who hangs on to this as little of as I have today. I want to make sure that the right people are getting it. I'm looking to build relationships and we want to partner with other people that are like minded, people that care about saving the planet and want to help farmers one foot in front of the other and working in tandem.
Joy Beckerman: [00:23:53] We are doing it, brother, with this. And obviously we want a solid foundation for farmers who are really being heroes, who are really taking the risk. There is no Hemp economy, the United States. And there is no Hemp in the United States. If the farmers aren't growing it in the United States and they've been doing it now for since 2014 under the agricultural pilot programs from the 2014 Farm Bill with no crop insurance. And they did it this year. Still, even though with the 2018 farm bill, which of course legalized, said as an agricultural commodity, but because with the USDA is creating its regulations as it was directed to do by Congress, we're still operating under those programs and still without federal crop insurance. So the farmers are the heroes here and we've got to support them. And this evolving infrastructure that gives the farmer a place for their biomass and for their crops to be processed into these 25000 products that feed every single industry needed by humanity from nutrition and body care to nutraceuticals pharmaceuticals, paper, textile, building materials, nanotechnology, bio composites, industrial fields, encodings, energy and fuel. Oh, my God, somebody. Scotney, we're going to get this done, though. We need those investors to invest in the infrastructure and we need those farmers to plant those seeds. And together we're doing it and we're certainly doing it because of hard work from people like you, brother. I just appreciate the work you do so much. I look forward to seeing you at every event. And it sounds like you can reach Ethan Vorhees and that's b o r h e s his last name. Ethan. E t h and the o r h e s on Facebook and LinkedIn and talk to him directly. Ethan, thank you so, so much for being on Hemp Barons. We can't wait to have you back.
Joy Beckerman: [00:25:43] And again, thank you for everything you do for Hemp and for the planet, brother.
Ethan Vorhes: [00:25:45] Thank you.
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