HEMP INDUSTRY

HEMP IN THE AGE of COVID-19

May 2020 marks my twentieth column for Leaf Magazines. Looking back, I stand by almost everything I’ve written. But I now need to revisit my March 2020 column, “Hemp is Legal. What’s Next?” in which I explained farmers are the key to integrating hemp into the mainstream marketplace, because it all begins with the plant. I then suggested six action items farmers should consider, but now in the age of coronavirus, all but one of them simply can’t be implemented.

This summer is the second year that LeBlanc CNE will grow industrial hemp in Washington state. The marketing opportunities I described were ones I considered implementing. No more.

Marketing involves introducing people to the goods and services you offer. It’s an outreach effort to drive commerce. Yes, it can be done online but nothing beats meeting and interacting with potential customers face to face.

It’s not all about Instagram posts or YouTube videos. Sales often begin and end with a handshake, a social practice now curtailed due to coronavirus.

Farmers Markets - probably won’t open this summer because of social distancing.

Christmas Trees - no the holidays won’t be cancelled, but family gatherings and traditions may be modified to meet local restrictions. Don’t expect a lot of holiday travel this year.

U-pick farms with hemp mazes - forget farm stands, u-picks and hemp mazes. Trick-or-treating may be curtailed this year (don’t tell your kids yet).

Florists - weddings, funerals and large social gatherings are prohibited.

Hemp at the state fair - What state fair?

Tours, terroir and appellations - tours no, but hemp farmers can still hype the uniqueness of cultivars grown in their specific location that differentiates their crops from the competition.

Branding - it’s still all about the brand.

Hemp farmers like all farmers had enough to worry about before the pandemic.

Forget the trade wars and tariffs. Small, rural communities are at a higher risk of infection because so few people share the same stores, churches, post office, ATMs, etc. On top of that, these communities have less access to advanced medical care when they fall ill.

Conventional farmers are trying to fit hemp into their existing crop rotation, but who knows how much corn, soybeans or other crops to plant in these uncertain times, let alone hemp.

It’s hard to plan for Summer 2020 when the states without mandatory quarantines tend to be farm states like North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, Iowa and Nebraska.

So what advice can I give hemp farmers? I struggle with these very issues myself. Just when something seems like a ray of hope, the headlines reveal another facet of the pandemic. I worry more about the supply chain than the weather.

I’m still committed to hemp. I will plant multiple fiber and medical cultivars this year.

I’m doubling down on my commitment as a hemp activist. To quote the song “Touch of Grey” - I will survive, I will get by.

Again, please support your local hemp farmer any way you can. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and it’s not a train. I promise.