Page 8 - CANNABIS NEWS FLORIDA JULY 2020

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833.4FL.HEMP
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Doing Everything Right?

You Can Still Get Arrested.

Let me start by acknowledging that I am not an attor- thousands of pounds of hemp being confiscated under the suspicion that the THC
ney. This protects me from any meaningful negative level exceeds maximum requirements.
feedback from the Bar or other attorneys, judges, and The three most stressful car rides I have had were: 1) carrying 100 pounds of bio-
police officers. All that being said, my thoughts and sug- mass to an extractor; (2) carrying four kilograms of CBD isolate from UPS to the lab;
gestions are my own and if you plan on smoking hemp, and (3) carrying 25 pounds of hemp flower from a warehouse to the UPS store.
growing hemp, manufacturing hemp products, or trans- During any of those trips, had an overzealous law enforcement officer pulled me over
porting hemp products, I highly recommend you have and searched my car, notwithstanding my rights, I could have been in trouble. The
The Florida Hemp Council and your attorney on speed odds of me, as a fifty-something white male getting arrested was probably not that
dial. great. But make me 30 years younger and the odds go up, adjust my skin pigmenta-
As the industry begins to accelerate, the farmers are tion a few levels…and the odds go way up.
starting to realize that demand is not unlimited, and the The sad truth remains that either through ignorance, or sheer malice, law enforce-
consumers are starting to realize that hemp can be in ment continues to seize completely legal hemp crops (often without probable cause).
almost anything and everything. That means hemp is Education of law enforcement is paramount in keeping the momentum and getting
moving. As a biomass, as a seed, as a start, as a clone, as through this rough patch. State and local laws will continue to be updated but we
BY JEFF GREENE a distillate, as an isolate and as fiber, hemp can come in need consistent messaging coming from the Federal law enforcement bodies. The
various forms. The “safest” are the forms that don’t smell FDA will be front and center to get there.
and/or look like a potentially illegal substance. We are doing our part working with State and local law enforcement and if you plan
As a subscriber to almost every cannabis legal blog, I hear the horror stories of on being in the hemp space, don’t do it alone. Visit www.TheFLHC.org for more info.

The Plight of the One-and-Done Hemp Farmer

Ninety-four percent of hemp farmers in Arkansas lost By taking the time to build a framework with a trajectory toward success, Florida
money last year according to a recent report by Hemp hemp farmers can begin to bend the demand curve on biomass and re-energize the
Industry Daily. Despite this staggering headline, the supply chain. Unlike Arkansas, which is still operating under a pilot program, the
report went on to outline that both cultivation and pro- USDA approved Florida’s hemp program this past April. Currently, the Florida
cessing permits grew in Arkansas for 2020. These asser- Department of Agriculture has already approved over 300 hemp cultivation permits,
tions beg the question: how many farmers and proces- with many more to come. Advancements in the financial sector have made many
sors from 2019 returned to the sector in 2020, and how banking issues less of a hurdle than a year ago. A Florida farmer can avoid being “one-
many of these licensees are new to the industry? In and-done” by executing a proper business plan from start to finish, especially in
Arkansas, the loss of revenue was evident, with proces- securing necessary contracts. Before anything goes in the ground, look ahead, and
sors outsourcing half of their raw materials, and farmers have a plan for everything, including: genetics, farming practices, laboratory analysis,
unable to sell over half of the hemp produced in the possible hot crop mitigation, drying, transportation, and ultimately – a profitable
state. Broad-stroke conjecture would suggest that many strategy.
of last year’s farmers were inexperienced, lost money,
and got out of the game completely for 2020. If you need help with any of these steps, the Florida Hemp Council has members of all
BY JOSHUA NAVARRO, Regardless, data shows that a new contingent of farmers sectors involved to get you going in the right direction. Join now at www.theFLHC.or
ESQ. and processors in Arkansas is still eager to take their
place. Could the same happen in Florida?
In order to avoid becoming a “one-and-done” hemp
farmer, one must have a comprehensive business plan that accounts for each of the
many potential roadblocks to profitability. Farming in general is a high-risk profes-
sion, and with crop insurance being either extremely expensive or hard to find, hemp
isn’t exactly risk-averse. The pathway to success begins, as it often does, with proper
preparation. To take lessons from states like Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon, and others:
start slow. Unfortunately, the national hemp community is riddled with stories of
farmers who literally “bet the farm” on hemp, only for their crops to rot away in ware-
houses unsold. Many farmers planted without having a contract in place, or were
promised contracts that were never fulfilled. The promise of hemp being an “instant”
or “easy” cash crop is an illusion that we should all awaken from. The “green rush” Florida’s Resource for

mentality of farmers in other states has created a current glut of biomass, with prices Medical & Business CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
plunging as low as three dollars per pound in Oregon recently. Cannabis Developments Daniel Casciato

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