Let's Talk Hemp

Category: Lifestyle

  • Exploring Hemp’s New Horizons With Morris Beegle

    Exploring Hemp’s New Horizons With Morris Beegle

    Hemp is where it’s at right now, especially in Colorado. Legal cannabis is cool and all — and we welcome Michigan and Vermont to the recreational party in 2019 — but that’s so 2015 in this state.

    More about substance than style, industrial hemp’s many uses were finally recognized by the federal government in December, when President Donald Trump officially legalized it by signing the 2018 Farm Bill. Now that the plant is out from under the shadow of the Controlled Substances Act, it’s regulated by the Department of Agriculture and legal to farm in all fifty states.

    But that doesn’t mean that growing hemp is just like growing tomatoes. The USDA’s regulations for farming hemp will be much more strict than they are for other crops, while the Food and Drug Administration will oversee how cannabidiol (CBD) from hemp is added to food and other products intended for human consumption. Colorado doesn’t necessarily have to follow those rules, however, since it legalized adult-use cannabis cultivation in 2012 and subsequently implemented laws allowing the sale of hemp- and CBD-infused foods within the state.

    To predict what legalized hemp will mean in the new year, we checked in with Morris Beegle, former music promoter, founder of the NoCo Hemp Expo and an expert on the past, present and future of the hemp industry.

    Read the full article here…

    Westword Magazine
    THOMAS MITCHELL | JANUARY 4, 2019 | 5:53AM

    (Photo: A hemp farm in Greeley, Colorado, welcomes visitors during a daylong tour in July. Danielle Lirette)

  • Hemp Hemp Hooray!

    Hemp Hemp Hooray!

    Leading Hemp Expo Producer Colorado Hemp Company Celebrates Historic Farm Bill Legalizing Industrial Hemp in the U.S.

    World’s largest hemp expo producer poised to meet opportunities and challenges of legal hemp with industry-leading events including the upcoming town-hall style Winter Hemp Summit on January 11; the hemp industry’s flagship event, the 6th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo in Denver, March 29-30; and the second annual Southern Hemp Expo in Nashville, TN, and the 3rd Annual Hawaii Hemp Conference in Fall 2019.

    Fort Collins, CO (December 21, 2018) – Following the successful second annual Hawaii Hemp Conference in Honolulu and President Trump’s signing of the 2018 Farm Bill into law—with watershed provisions to legalize industrial hemp—Colorado Hemp Company, the world’s largest hemp expo and conference producer, is ramping up to meet the unprecedented momentum surrounding the emerging industry in 2019.

    “On a scale of 1 to 10, we’ve been operating at 11 for the past year,” said Colorado Hemp Company co-founder Morris Beegle. “Now we’re moving into overdrive, and we’re ready to take it ‘#OneLouder.’ It’s such an exciting time to be spreading the word about hemp,” he says.

    “With the signing of the Farm Bill, a very long battle was won,” Beegle continues. “Hemp and all parts, including cannabinoids, extracts, and derivatives of the plant, have been removed from the Controlled Substances Act. All parts of the plant. After the Farm Bill passing both houses of congress and being signed today by President Trump, #Hemp is now explicitly legal and hemp prohibition is over. It’s great news for the cannabis plant (yes, hemp is cannabis and all cannabis should experience freedom), and for everyone who has fought for its freedom over the years, decades, centuries and millennia.”

    As the hemp industry prepares for legalization, Colorado Hemp Company will host the Winter Hemp Summit on January 11, 2019, in Fort Collins, CO. The town hall-style one-day forum is sure to be lively as industry leaders take a look back over important events and issues of 2018, including the Farm Bill, and look forward to what’s to come in 2019.

    The largest gathering of industry professionals ever under one roof will feature 70,000 square feet of exhibitions with more than 225 exhibitors, a business conference and agriculture & farm symposium, a global hemp village, science and technical workshops, a fashion parade and several networking events. For speaker and sponsor information, visit www.nocohempexpo.com.

    “After five successful years in Fort Collins, we’re thrilled to bring this industry-leading event to a convenient location not only for Coloradoans but for people traveling from around the world to learn about and celebrate this plant,” Beegle said. “Our path of exponential growth reflects this industry’s extraordinary journey.”

    On September 6 and 7, 2019, Southern Hemp Expo, a robust, program-rich trade show for the industrial, nutritional and therapeutic hemp industries, will return to Nashville, TN, to build on the success of this past year’s first-ever expo. The event will feature more than 100 vendors and exhibitors, more than 50 industry expert speakers, a business conference, farm symposium and plenty of networking opportunities.

    The company also recently launched a weekly e-newsletter, Let’s Talk Hemp, covering news, entertainment and trends in the emerging hemp products market to accompany its Let’s Talk Hemp podcast featuring industry leaders Rick Trojan and Morris Beegle.

    “To say we’re hitting the ground running in 2019 would be quite an understatement,” Beegle said. “It’s looking to be a groundbreaking year for this groundbreaking industry.”

    Passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which President Trump on December 20 signed into law, has been a watershed moment for the hemp industry. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) stated it will “encourage new opportunities for struggling farmers and their families, new products for use in construction, health care, and manufacturing, and new jobs in a broad range of fields.”

  • Former NFL Players and a Fine Man Growing Hemp in George Washington’s Garden Among the Stellar Speakers for the First-Ever Southern Hemp Expo in Nashville

    Former NFL Players and a Fine Man Growing Hemp in George Washington’s Garden Among the Stellar Speakers for the First-Ever Southern Hemp Expo in Nashville

    Brightest Lights in Hemp Farming and Business to Ignite the Revolution as the World’s Largest Industrial Hemp Expo Heads to Fairgrounds Nashville, September 28 and 29

    Nashville, TN (September 11, 2018) – Former Miami Dolphins left tackle, Jake Long and Super Bowl champion Matt Wilhelm, will be among the hemp pioneers, experts, entrepreneurs and advocates who will gather for the inaugural Southern Hemp Expo (SHE) as Colorado Hemp Company brings its wildly popular NoCo Hemp Expo, the world’s largest industrial hemp exposition held each spring in Colorado, to the Fairgrounds Nashville in Tennessee on September 28 and 29.

    “SHE – and the feminine acronym is intentional – will be a who’s who of the hemp industry, which is exploding so quickly it’s tough to keep up,” said NoCo Hemp Expo co-founder and co-producer Morris Beegle. “This is where it all comes together – where the connections are made and the pathways opened to take this industry to the next level.”

    Along with hemp advocates Long and Wilhelm, who use CBD for pain, the speaker lineup is packed with hemp industry luminaries offering insight and wisdom on a main stage and during a business conference and agricultural symposium.

    Keynote speaker Dean Norton, horticulture director for the historic Mount Vernon estate, will talk about growing hemp at George Washington’s home in Mount Vernon, Virginia, for the first time in 260 years. (He just harvested the first crop.) Cannabis pioneer Doug Fine, an entrepreneur, regenerative farmer, and bestselling author who is a favorite on Conan and Tonight Show, will delight attendees with his stories of hemp from around the world.

    Highly anticipated appearances by John Roulac, Founder of Nutiva, and Janel Ralph, CEO of Palmetto Harmony, will engage the audience with their industry expertise in speaking sessions on both days of the Expo.

    Entrepreneurs like Artisan Hemp founder Elishewa Shalom, Vicente Sederberg LLC founder Sally Peebles, Satya Kama founder Shadi Ramey, Hempcrete builder Eric McKee, hempologist John Dvorak, Functional Remedies president Tim Gordon, Apeks Supercritical founder Andy Joseph, and WillPower founder Will Carr, among many others, will share what it takes to make it to the top of an industry even as it’s being born.

    Based on the sold-out fifth annual NoCo Hemp Expo in April, the need for this type of knowledge sharing and networking in the hemp industry is deep. “George Washington famously said, ‘Make the most of the Indian hemp seed and sow it everywhere,’” Beegle said. “We will be doing just that.”

    Tickets on Sale Now

    With exhibitor space selling out six weeks ahead of the show, don’t be left out. Conference and Expo Hall tickets for Southern Hemp Expo are on sale now at SouthernHempExpo.com.

    About the Southern Hemp Expo

    The Southern Hemp Expo is produced by the Colorado Hemp Company, a division of WAFBA LLC (We Are For Better Alternatives), based in Loveland, CO, and producer of NoCo Hemp Expo, the world’s largest expo and conference for industrial hemp. WAFBA is founder of TreeFreeHemp paper and printing services and the Colorado Hemp Company. Areas of focus include product and brand development, event production, consulting and advocacy. Visit us on Facebook and Twitter.

    Thank You to Our Sponsors

    Southern Hemp Expo is proud to announce Blühen Botanicals, based in Knoxville, TN, as this year’s presenting sponsor. Other sponsors for the Southern Hemp Expo include: GenCanna, Kat’s Naturals, LabCanna, Lilu’s Gardens, Softgel Co., Bluebird Botanicals, ProVerde Labs, Kazmira, Anavii Market, Bish Equipment, WillPower Products, Restorative Botanicals, Colorado Hemp Project, Palmetto Harmony, Hempsac, The Hemp Road Trip, and Silver Mountain Hemp Guitars. Also, the Hemp Happy Hour media booth will be hosted by CV Sciences, maker of +CBDOil.

    Contact

    Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, tel 303.807.1042

    steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com

    Morris Beegle, Colorado Hemp Company, tel 970.541.0448

    hemp@coloradohempcompany.com

  • U.S. firm launches ‘Silver Mountain Hemp’ brand of guitars, accessories

    U.S. firm launches ‘Silver Mountain Hemp’ brand of guitars, accessories

    POSTED BY: HEMPTODAY SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

    U.S.-based We Are For Better Alternatives (WAFBA) says it has ordered a first shipment of specialized guitars molded from hemp composite as it launches Silver Mountain Hemp (SMH), a new brand.

    The guitars are the centerpiece for a line that also includes components and accessories. WAFBA has organized several strategic partnerships to source the products, said Morris Beegle, founder and owner at Ft. Collins, Colorado-based WAFBA.

    “We’re demonstrating the potential to establish a supply chain with great partners who are committed to earth-friendly practices,” Beegle said of the development of the products, all of which have hemp in them. “Our entire business model is really centered around that.”

    WAFBA founder and owner Morris Beegle

    Highly customizable

    SMH looks to stand out in the highly competitive musical instrument market by offering guitars built to customers’ specifications. “The plan is to let buyers customize their guitars with different color finishes, electronics, bridges, fretboards, tuners and knobs,” said Beegle, a 30-year veteran of the American entertainment industry. His firm also is owner of the Colorado-based NoCo Hemp Expo as well as Southern Hemp Expo, which debuts in Nashville, Tennessee this month.

    WAFBA will roll out its first two models – the Silver Mountain Hemp Guitar (SMHG), and the HempCaster – during the Nashville event.

    Classic designs

    The guitars, supplied by Canadian Hemp Guitars (CHG), Quebec, are inspired by classic designs from legendary guitar makers Gibson and Fender, the SG and Telecaster models, respectively, Beegle said.

    Marketing and sales of the SMH line will initially be through online channels and at hemp and cannabis trade events.

    CHG guitars have a wood core underneath a molded composite of pressed hemp bast fibers on the back, sides and top. The Canadian company, started in 2012 by musicians Boyd Pellow and Stewart Burrows, makes a line of eco-friendly, hard-bodied instruments designed with a nod to the classic American chambered-body guitars of the 1960s.

    Hemp in speakers

    Meanwhile, Beegle has assembled Hard Truckers, a boutique cabinet group that’s building speaker cabinets with hemp board supplied by Sunstrand, a maker of natural composites based in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Sunstrand makes natural fiber-based products for the construction, automotive, electrical & electronics, and recreation industries.

    Speakers inside the cabinets are from San Francisco-based Tone Tubby, whose Tone Tubby Cones substitute the paper component in high-quality speakers with more durable and tear-resistant organic hemp fiber-based material.

    A range of hemp-plastic control knobs and picks made by Green Spring Technologies, Ft. Worth, Texas, with guitar straps from Poland-based Natural Materials Unlimited, Warsaw, round out the SMH line, which Beegle says will expand over time.

    Silver Mountain Hemp knobs of hemp-based plastic are from Green Spring Technologies.