The opportunities that hemp provides are well documented but years of prohibition have nearly eliminated US hemp farming. Doug Edge the Vice Chair, U.S. Hemp Growers Association Board of Directors and Sr. Vice President of Business Solutions, Farm Journal joins Joy Beckerman to talk about the challenges of reintroducing hemp and how the Association is providing a unified voice for America's hemp farmers. Produced by PodCONX https://podconx.com/guests/doug-edge
The opportunities that hemp provides are well documented but years of prohibition have nearly eliminated US hemp farming. Doug Edge the Vice Chair, U.S. Hemp Growers Association Board of Directors and Sr. Vice President of Business Solutions, Farm Journal joins Joy Beckerman to talk about the challenges of reintroducing hemp and how the Association is providing a unified voice for America's hemp farmers.
https://podconx.com/guests/doug-edge
[00:00:08] Joy Beckerman
Welcome to today's Hemp Barons podcast, everyone. I'm host Joy Beckerman, and we have a great guest on the show today, Doug Edge, the vice chair of the U.S. Hemp Growers Association board of directors, and he's also senior vice president of business solutions for Farm Journal.
[00:00:23] Joy Beckerman
Farm Journal has been around since 1877, 142 years of being the nation's leading business information and media company, serving the agricultural market, serving farmers. So it's absolutely key that this infrastructure, this existing infrastructure, this hundred and forty two years of service to farming in the United States has embraced and taken on Hemp in the form of the U.S. Hemp Growers Association.
[00:00:51] Joy Beckerman
Well, in any event, folks, get ready for a really great interview with Doug Edge. And in the meantime, I'm sending my highest vibrations in wishing everyone in the family's good health an inspiration.
[00:01:10] Joy Beckerman
We'll welcome Doug. Thank you so much for being with us on Hemp Barons today.
[00:01:14] Doug Edge
Well, thanks for having me, Joy. It's a pleasure to be with you.
[00:01:17] Joy Beckerman
You're doing such amazing work. First of all, of course, you have this foundation with this long career with the Farm Journal, Farm Journal, which is ag web and served so many thousands, hundreds of thousands of farmers across the United States and beyond, and have also formed with some other founding members, the U.S. Hemp Growers Association, to serve farmers in the reestablishment of the versatile, valuable Hemp plant, which has finally reclaimed its place in the broad light of day with all of America's other agricultural commodities. So first, tell us about your experience and career with Farm Journal and what Farm Journal does. And then I'd love to move right into U.S. hemp growers.
[00:02:04] Doug Edge
Sure. It's really an interesting journey that I've been on myself. So I'm a farmer at core.
[00:02:10] Doug Edge
We have a farm in Indiana, just northeast of Indianapolis, and it's been primarily over the years, a green corn soybean farm. And we've raised livestock over the years. Had a few horses and those kind of things. So, you know, my roots are in Agriculture and Joint Farm Journal six years ago. And since then, I know help today leader our research and data division that we have at Farm Journal. And a lot of people know the name or maybe you've heard the name Farm Journal, but it's actually a hundred forty three year old company with roots delivering a a newspaper to anyone on horseback within a day's ride of Philadelphia.
[00:02:53] Doug Edge
That's kind of how it started. And today, it's really a multimedia data research company. And we really don't get into association building or management association. But with a group of of Hemp industry leaders came to us and asked for help and really felt like with our brand and the heritage it has rooted in agriculture, we could help you really legitimize the industry and then bring farmers some good education and content that they need to really navigate. Getting back into, as you describe, the rebirth of a very old crop for us here in the US. So we decided to
START OF TRANSCRIPT
embrace that. And I was kind of in the middle of all that, I guess, and then helping us go down that path. We were looking at the Hemp industry from really purely a content and data standpoint. This group came together, asked, ask us if we would help build the association. I got to be honest, we thought long and hard about it and whether or not it was the right thing for us to do as an organization. And then we just felt like, you know, in our core we advocate for farmers. And if this can be a viable crop that they can put in rotation and then create profitability for their farming operation, we need to advocate for that. And so we decide to embrace it.
[00:04:14] Joy Beckerman
What a blessing to have. Farm Journal and ag web participation in this, because what we're talking about is from we as in and you're a part of this now, obviously right smack dab in the middle of it, that we meaning the the Hemp industries, the. Those of us who are so much rooting for and invested in the success and delivering on the promise of this of this crop. And the blessing here is that we're talking about leveraging Farm Journal ag webs, existing legacy networks, an infrastructure that communicates with so many hundreds, tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of farmers saying this infrastructure is already in place. These communication mechanisms are already in place. Let's take it and infuse Hemp into it. The best that we can. And we started to see obviously already great articles in Farm Journal and through all of those various platforms. And now, of course, you have the Hemp College, which I'm excited to talk about. But what an amazing shot for almost a shot of steroids for lack of a more appropriate term here for Hemp, for farmers looking to take advantage of adding this incredible crop into its rotation, especially now. And I think the timing is so perfect.
[00:05:40] Joy Beckerman
Had you come in in 2014 under so much great area, we may have already burnt you out or exhausted Farm Journal and so on and so forth. And you may have decided, no way are we going into an association sort of model here. But with the 2018 farm bill, with a complete removal of Hemp and even THC derived from Hemp from the controlled substances and its. In in the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, legalized agricultural commodity that I think has helped are a real help for U.S. Hemp Growers Association to not have to deal with the more exhausting, tedious nature of all of the gray areas and complexity that existed between the 2014 and 2018. Find out and just get this information out to that huge network of farmers, farmers being the heroes here. We've got nothing to produce. If the farmers are not putting the seeds in the ground and as you know, God, because you've had to come up to speed quite a bit on all manners of of Hemp it it's a wide spectrum of knowledge to sort of undertake and everyone, including myself. After 30 years, is learning all the time.
[00:07:01] Joy Beckerman
But but you see that we just need to get information out there. So tell us a little bit about how the US Hemp Growers Association formed your partners that exist on the founding board now.
[00:07:17] Doug Edge
Sure, Joy. And to your point, you know, you're exactly right. We wouldn't have been to the place we're at if it really was for the work that you and a number of other do. I really consider trailblazers in the industry helped get us to and by by changing the laws, by getting state regulatory issues pushed through, really has opened the door to this being a great viable crop again for American farmers. So my my thanks go to you, you and the many others that you've worked for tirelessly for years to get this work done. And and with those folks that I know, you know very well. Michael Bowman and Michael was actually one of the first people that I spoke with. We ran into each other at the National Farm Broadcasters Association conference and where Michael was actually speaking about.
[00:08:11] Doug Edge
About Hemp and and the possibility of this. This is prior to the passage of the farm bill, which changed everything. And he was speaking of the possibility of this being a good rotational crop for farmers to integrate into their operations. And so I made a connection with Michael at that point. And that's where really the dialog started with, you know, wanting to form an association. There are a number of associations out there and there still are today a number of great what I would consider really industry associations. So they're covering all aspects of the Hemp industry. They have many folks involved in the supply chain and product, you know, manufacturers to farmers as well. And so when we looked at the landscape of the associations out there, one of the things that became evident to Michael and many others and myself and then folks involved in production agriculture was that there was really no grower centric organization that was really solely focused on the farmer. And when you look at other crops and other production agriculture in terms of livestock and whether it be cattle or swine or poultry or whatever, they all have their own farmer centric trade organizations to help kind of advocate and support and educate members and provide that working opportunities and all that. And so Hemp really we didn't feel like and many others felt like it didn't have that there was solely focused on the farmer.
[00:09:45] Doug Edge
And so that's when Michael introduced me to John Buddy of Bob Hoban law., which for those that don't know them. Sure, a lot of people listening probably know who that is. But, you know, Bob is an attorney and as a law firm that has done a tremendous amount of legal work for the industry. And that also has been the seed, an international Hemp solutions and has his hands on a lot of other Hemp organizations. And it's just built up a great business, not only here in the US, but across the globe and in the industry. And so Bob and his team got behind what we were doing. And then from there it really just started a spiral. I mean, we we got introduced at the Hemp Industry
Association event to the folks from High-Low Seed, and they wanted to join in what we're doing. And then then they introduced us to a group called Flex Mod, which was working more with farmers on the processing side of creating these modular processing units that they could drop into a farming location and help help farmers that way. And so they they joined in and then it just continued to snowball from there. More folks that want to join us, Hemp Farming Alliance group came on board with.
[00:11:09] Doug Edge
And they were an offshoot of the U.S. Hemp roundtable, and they were very former focus group, and they felt like they they won the line with us to really get to the next level they wanted to go. So those leaders from that group came in and got involved. And those folks are now members of the U.S. Employers Association. And it's just really grown from there.
[00:11:30]
The names that you are saying, I mean, my heart just warms, warms, warm. You start with Michael Bowman, a
hero in the Hemp space and agricultural space. Bob Hoban law., one of my favorite human beings, not just as an activist, as a person. And the same is true, by the way, for all of these folks in particular, Michael, and we just interviewed Bob just this week and and did a switch and he interviewed me for his podcast. But Bob is just amazing. International Hemp Solutions, Hoban law. group bija high-low seed it. Incredible team. But the first name that comes to mind for me is Christine Gray, just one of the finest human humans, you know, to think of it and who does so much volunteer work for all manners of advocacy and people and farmers. But, of course, the World AG Expo, the largest agricultural trade show in the world, being one of his babies. And we have so much to thank, Christine, for for the world AG Expo's embracing. And you are there. We were there the whole time for those three glorious days, you know, embracing Hemp for the first time this year with a Hemp pavilion, a Hemp village, the Hemp innovation challenge. That was amazing. And then you say Flaxman, another incredible team with Preston Wheatfields, who I just absolutely adore. And when you say you as Hemp Farming Alliance, I mean that I just have to say incredible responsible decision. So I in full disclosure and so proud to disclose that, of course, I am the executive vice president for the U.S.
[00:13:06] Joy Beckerman
Hemp roundtable, which seed funded the US Hemp authority. They no longer was funded, but a seed funded the US Hemp authority, a separate five a one C six trade organization, which is a third party, independent independent verified certification program for Hemp dietary supplements, food and cosmetics. And by the way, as industries and infrastructure expand, so will that certification program expand beyond ingestible and tropicals into many other parts of the Hemp Industries? But the third trifecta of the US Hemp roundtable be with Hemp authority was to be the U.S. Farming Alliance, and that was formed and born into the world. And the reality is that the leaders of those groups, in their infinite wisdom and in their dedication and commitment to farmers and to the plant and into the work that we do with our various missions and obligations, said, you know what, we just we just can't take on this third leg and really serve farmers the way they need and deserve to be served. And I love that. Then the permaculture, as I like to say, economic or advocacy, permaculture, came along and said, listen, let's work with the U.S. Hemp Growers Association and basically allow you as temperatures association to a door bus. And if I'm using the wrong words there, please correct me, Doug. Absorb the US Hemp Farming Alliance into this larger group, the US Hemp Growers Association, with so many wonderful people and teams working together to make this a new and strong leading organization for farmers.
[00:14:45] Doug Edge
No, no, you're you're right. And that's we're proud and very blessed to have all these different organizations and leaders where I really look to us as leaders here. And we you know, and I don't come from the Hemp industry myself. I come from AG and then from farming, although we'll be we'll be planting our first crop this spring here. Yeah. Which I'm excited about. But, you know, it's it's been fun to really navigate and see if you could tell. I don't think you've got to be an expert in Hemp industry to to feel to see how good people are. You know, and I think these are just some of the upper echelon that have helped drive this industry forward. Yeah. And so it's it really got us excited as as an organization, being myself as a farmer to to see that, you know, these folks had the passion they did to want to do something more. You know what? I want to really tap in to the heart of, you know, outdoor agriculture, which is what we're more involved with. We know there's a tremendous amount over the years of of indoor growing that has happened up on this planet. But the really the future of it is unleashed among American farmers that do traditional outdoor production. And that's what I'm excited to see, because I think we're just on the very, very front edge of that right now in such a big way.
[00:16:07] Joy Beckerman
Farmers first. Farmers first. Farmers first. And I think that is what all of those founding members and the folks cheering for you and us Hemp Growers Association on completely understand. And of course, we know that if we are not providing farmers with the resources and tools and education, then the entire Hemp economy fails right there, because, again, without them putting seeds in the ground, we got nothing.
[00:16:35]
Attention Hemp farmers introducing advanced Hemp the world's first Hemp specific fertilizing system designed to maximize yield and CBD production. Advanced HAMP's team of 25 P.H. de Plant scientists have been researching
the plant for over 20 years and understand it better than anyone. Don't fail to meet your HAMP's unique needs. Far too many farmers did last year for heavy yield of the high CBD Hemp feed your crop. Advanced Hemp and you can order online at advanced Hemp scums. That's advanced Hemp dot com. But don't wait because production is limited. So preorder. No.
[00:17:18] Joy Beckerman
So tell us, can you tell us a little bit about the U.S. Hemp Barons Association, Hemp College? We keep seeing these events popping up regionally, although we are sitting here in Corona virus time. And so those events are probably more virtual right now. But tell us about Hemp College and what the what the intent and goals are there with the Hemp College.
[00:17:40]
So really, it goes back to our roots with Farm Journal, you know, over the years from Drill is put on what we call college events. So it's you know, you'll get college credit for them, but they're one day agronomy events and they're focused around, you know, a particular crop. And we've done these for years for a lot of the traditional, you know, crops like corn and soybeans and cotton and sorghum and and those kind of things. And so we felt like, you know, that's that's an area that we knew how to execute those kind of one day small events like that pack in a lot of information into those. And so we launched those last year focused on on the Hemp crop and very agronomy focus, too, I should say, because there's a lot of Hemp events that, you know, cover lots of different topics, whether it's legal finance, you know, use products, I mean, those kind of things. And so our events were very focused around the algorithmic side of how to raise the crop. You know, how how to evaluate, you know, your seed selection. You know, do you have the right soil type for the right kind of genetics that you want to plant? And then, you know, where do you go beyond that to take that that crop to market? You know how to contractually you you work with folks. And and we did touch on, you know, because this is such a unique and different crop.
[00:19:02] Doug Edge
Some of the legal aspects and financial aspects of it that for the most part, Hemp colleges have been very agronomy focused. And and obviously, as you mentioned, we're in this time period where, you know, every life event has been stopped at this point. And we're we're revamping it now to make those virtual and we're getting ready to actually hear very soon to launch our first e-learning Hemp educational piece, which we're taking now. Some of the folks have spoken at some of our colleges across the country and and some of the ones that have been very highly rated among our farmers to then create e-learning modules with them that we can make available through the U.S. Hemp Growers Association and through the Farm Journal platform. So we're in the process of kind of shifting gears and putting our focus there right now. We will likely start back up some live events later this year once the coronaviruses is passed. And that's safe to do again. But, yeah, it's it's been a lot of fun. We've had some great speakers, great topics, a lot of learning. And that's really part of the mission of Hemp Growers Association, is to provide that education to farmers to really help them evaluate you. Is this even the right crop for my farm? You know, we we oftentimes will.
[00:20:19] Doug Edge
Some people say, well, you only make a decision that's, you know, we're not really set up for this crop. And we'd have to invest a lot of money to change our practices and our equipment and our operation to to do so. And, you know, that particular farmer just may not be ready to do that at this point in time. So we don't we don't sugarcoat anything at these events and we don't what the association either. You know, we understand that there's risk involved with growing Hemp. Right now, there's just like any crop, but there maybe is a little bit more risk with Hemp than other crops. And, yeah, it's a volatile market. I mean, we've seen, you know, across the country here, you know. And this is one thing I'd love to get out, you know, Joy, with this experience with you, as you know, there's there's always negative news, right? There's always negatives about every subject there is under the sun. But I know one thing about farmers, they seek out information. And what I don't want to see happen is as they seek this information out and they read these articles about, you know, a particular farmer and their crop going hot and then having to destroy the whole the whole, you know, acreage that they planted or, you know, they got some bad genetics or, you know, there's there's bad actors and everything.
[00:21:34] Doug Edge
And we've had our share in the early stages of of integration of this crop into into the traditional farming arena. And I think that my biggest hope would be that they don't get discouraged by the negative. There's a lot of positive out there. There's a lot of folks that are doing some very innovative things with Hemp, and there's going to be more of that.
[00:21:55] Doug Edge
I mean, we're seeing some very exciting things being researched and coming to market around, you know, plastics and construction and all kinds of uses for fiber and and grain. And, you know, once we get past some of the regulatory things when we're. To the biomass, to animals and to for human food consumption. This crop has nothing but upside.
[00:22:22] Doug Edge
And so I hope that farmers and folks and listeners don't hear the negative things and believe that there's no future
or that or that was a short lived kind of gold rush on CBD or whatever. And now it's over because we've really just started. I mean, I just I think that it's so important right now and there's so many other uses and that even though it's CBD, I think there's going to be some great new discoveries in the years to come. You know, there's other things that the plant from a nutritional and medical benefit, I think is going to be discovered and and created. I'm not going to make any claims here that those things are you know, we got to be careful eyed over that. But I think it's going to happen. I mean, if I looked into the crystal ball, I think there's going to be a tremendous amount of research done. It's already ongoing. It's just going to ramp up and we're going to have all kinds of discoveries. And then this plant is going to be beneficial in a tremendous amount of ways that we're not even thinking of right now.
[00:23:28] Joy Beckerman
So true. And, you know, and for people like me, we've been literally dedicating so much of our life and our time and our energy because it's so fulfilling and so rewarding and we're so purpose driven. For 30 years. I'm promising you, Doug, that all of those things are coming. There's just no way that we such a population of people have been so driven for all of these decades to work so hard for a plant. And and believe me, in the beginning, there was nothing cool about it. Thirty years ago, you were really exposing yourself either to ridicule or to some type of a suspicion from law enforcement in order to do your life's work. And and it is not for nothing, brother. It is so amazing. And of course, you've set me up to say the list that I so love to say, which is and we can only even touch upon a few
things as I as I exhaust folks with my list. But this plant is here to serve all of the needs of humanity, human and animal nutrition, nutraceutical, pharmaceuticals, body care, paper, textiles, building materials, bio composites, industrial humans, encodings, biomedical applications, nanotechnology. I mean, it goes on and on the promise of this plant. And of course, there are other crops out there that are very diverse. And you well, we look at corn and all of the things we can do with corn and soy and there are other lesser known crops that have a lot of versatility.
[00:25:00] Joy Beckerman
The issue is that while some of these crops look like Hemp, when we take Hemp particularly, let's say, the fiber or the stock, and we look at it under a microscope. And oftentimes now, because we didn't have this technology 30 years ago to look at Hemp on the nanoscale, we see that it is much different, much more strong in so many ways. And then when we look at grain, lots of lots of very nutritious grains out there. Having said that, none that match the dense nutritional profile of the Hemp seed. And we talk about it so much in this show, the highest ingestible form of protein and so on and so forth. So it is most definitely all coming. And boy, was I so happy when I realized that Hemp, because I believe that, you know, I get spiritual at at Hemp picks people, it takes organizations, and now it's picking the whole world. But boy, when it set its sights on the Farm Journal, I knew we were we were going to be fast moving here because to have the Farm Journal take it on and take it on in the way that it has, as you said, my journal is not a business of trade associations, for goodness sake. It made an exception for this exceptional crop and this exceptional opportunity for our farmers. It's just pretty amazing stuff.
[00:26:20] Joy Beckerman
And of course, there are different levels of membership, multiple levels of membership for the US Hemp Growers Association. And one of the things that we appreciate so much about is the affordability, the ability for a farmer to enter or a student or a government or academic member who really wants to. And we need them, as you know, Doug, to have access to the good embedded information. So for a grower, somebody who actually has a license or permit to grow Hemp or is growing it under someone else's license or permit a hundred dollars a year for annual dues for our farmers. I mean, this is really a very low entry to get hooked into us Hemp Growers Association being run by some of the most amazing hamsters that the country that North America. And in fact, the planet actually knows a student members. Seventy five dollars. Academic and government members, only one. Fifty dollars. We're talking about annual dues and then, of course, there are associate affiliates and other allied members with different structures beyond that. Of course, it's just such a noble thing to make those dues so that they are not cost prohibitive and would not advance the mission. That I know you as temporaries is so is so very important to carry out in the best and highest integral way that it can. So you said that Hemp College, there are some electronic or virtual classes coming out, is that correct?
[00:27:50] Doug Edge
That's right. Yeah, we'll have. Was me learning classes and then we're looking at doing some full one day Hemp colleges online like we would do in a normal one day live event. And we're we're actually working with a couple of different groups so that there's actually some universities and some folks in some different geographies of the country that have assisted to help coordinate some of those for their particular or customize them for their particular curriculum that they want to want to promote. And so we're looking at some of those opportunities as well.
[00:28:22] Joy Beckerman
Am I so excited to have an offline conversation with you about this? This is the stuff that lights up my entire brain and body. I've got hairs standing on end. This is the mission. So fantastic. And of course, they're reaching out to you. This is so great. In our remaining time here and it's just so wonderful to have you on the show. Is there something that you that we've missed or something? A message, our call to action or some other piece of information that you want to make sure our listeners know?
[00:28:54] Doug Edge
I think the biggest message, Joy, that we can we can promote as an association and, you know, as our role farm journal and trying to push out good, good information through our media distribution platforms that are you mentioned AG Web.com. We've got a whole section there dedicated to to Hemp. We have it as a list, as a crop with all of our other crops there now. And then U.S. Farm Report, our TV show and AG. ATV is our daily agricultural focus show and an agro talk radio program and work. We're dedicated to covering Hemp and covering it in a positive way. And as I said earlier, I think my biggest fear and if I could just, you know, reiterate one message and one theme from this today is, is we have a lot of positive runway ahead of us for this crop. And I think that, you know, I just don't want farmers to get discouraged by a negative story here or there or an issue and then seek out good information. And I think they'll make sure that, you know, who you purchase your seed from and who you're you're using for agronomy advice and all that. They've got a track record. They know what they're doing. There's a lot of folks like yourself that have got many years of experience. And in growing this plant and caring for it and taking, you know, good responsibility for it to get it to an end state and beyond harvest and marketed.
[00:30:25] Doug Edge
And I just would encourage folks to really seek them out. And I think we've got and I think we've got that on our board of the U.S. Hemp Growers Association. I think we're reaching out from there. And as we bring on memberships at all different levels, obviously we're more core about farmers and agencies earlier. But you to make this a grower centric group, we have a 15 member board and eight of those seats have to be controlled by farmers. So that that really helps us when we're talking to folks and whether it be in D.C. or how to Hemp college to say,
you know, we are, we are we have no hidden agenda. We're not pushing. And farm journals certainly doesn't have a hidden agenda with anything regarding to the industry. So we're we're there to provide the best information we can. And I just would encourage folks to seek out those credible sources. And there's something sounds too good to be true. It probably is. The old saying goes, but that's that's really it. I mean, it's been great being with you. I appreciate your time today and and all the efforts that you've done here for the industry, too.
[00:31:26] Joy Beckerman
Well, we can't wait to have you back on, Doug. So grateful for your involvement and dedication to this crop for farm journals involvement and everyone who wants to get involved with us. Hemp Growers Association. All of those links will be on our site. Please do check out all of those offerings and go to AG Web.com as well and check out the other Hemp section.
[00:31:50] Joy Beckerman
Doug, I'm very much looking forward to doing more great work with you. We're just getting started together, brother. Thank you so much for being with us on Hemp Barons. Thank you.
*IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER*
THIS IS AN AUTOMATED TRANSCRIPT AND THERE MAY BE INACCURATE AND OR INCORRECT COMPUTER TRANSLATIONS. DO NOT RELY ON THIS OR ANY TRANSCRIPT ON THE MJBULLS MEDIA WEBSITE.