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  • Hemp Comes to Hawaii

    Hemp Comes to Hawaii

    Hawaii to Celebrate Its Legal Hemp Harvest with 2nd Annual Gathering of Industry’s Most Knowledgeable Experts at Hawaii Hemp Conference, Honolulu, December 1

    Presenting Sponsor Vespucci Collective, a Hawaii-based Hemp Development Company, helps underwrite the 2nd Annual Hawaii Hemp Conference, bringing leading researchers, farmers and entrepreneurs to share ideas, products and information about an emerging industrial crop that is poised to invigorate agriculture and the economy in Hawaii.

    2nd Annual Hawaii Hemp Conference
    Hawaii Convention Center, Honolulu, HI, December 1, 2018
    Tickets and Information: www.hawaiihempconference.com

    HONOLULU, HI (November 12, 2018) – Fresh on the heels of Hawaii’s first legal hemp harvest, the second annual Hawaii Hemp Conference will gather the most knowledgeable hemp experts from the islands (and the world) at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu on December 1, 2018. Join us for a not-to-be-missed day of education from leading researchers, farmers, and entrepreneurs about hemp cultivation, sales and marketing, and a full expo hall with hemp vendors and products.

    “Hemp is emerging as a cash crop that could revitalize agriculture in Hawaii, and the Hawaii Hemp Conference will deliver the cutting-edge information and education that people need to grow, produce, and sell it,” said Colorado Hemp Company co-founder Morris Beegle, who produces the Hawaii Hemp Conference, as well as the Colorado-based NoCo Hemp Expo and Nashville-based Southern Hemp Expo. “The industry’s leaders will be on hand to help people grow their hemp businesses, no matter where they live. Hemp is a vibrant industry growing at an astronomical pace, and the networking opportunities will be unmatched.”

    Presenting Sponsor Vespucci Collective Catalyzing Hawaii’s Hemp Industry

    Hawaii Hemp Conference’s 2018 Presenting Sponsor is Vespucci Collective, an industrial hemp resource company conceived out of a desire to preserve and protect the beautiful natural environment of the Hawaiian Islands, where the company’s founders grew up.

    “Hemp holds untold potential to enable a prosperous and environmentally sustainable agricultural economy that can greatly benefit the people of Hawaii,” said Vespucci Collective CEO and Co-founder Grant Overton. “One of our company’s primary objectives is to produce quality open-source research on hemp cultivation. We’re trying to create a more comprehensive knowledge base for farmers looking to get into the industry; think of it like a How To Guide for growing hemp in Hawaii. Beyond cultivation, the biggest limitation in getting farmers to start growing hemp is providing them a market for harvests. Raw hemp biomass usually needs to be transformed into a salable product, which is largely too expensive for the average farmer. It is our company’s vision to build the necessary manufacturing infrastructure here in the Hawaiian islands to enable other farmers to get involved. Developing a system that allows any farmer access to this opportunity is the driving force behind our planned operations,” he added.

    World-Class Speaker Line-up

    World-class speakers will discuss the following topics, among others, on the Let’s Talk Hemp stage and in workshops:

    • Tropical soil cultivation techniques
    • The latest on federal and state law
    • The benefits of regenerative agriculture
    • The hottest worldwide markets including CBD
    • Seed, fiber and flower used in products
    • Department of Agriculture regulatory update

    The speaker lineup features local agricultural leaders, University of Hawaii researchers, legislators and legal experts, including:

    • Hawaii Farmers Union United President Vincent Mina, who co-owns an organically managed urban family farm, Kahanu Aina Greens, with his wife, Irene
    • Chef, farmer and farm-to-plate advocate James Simpliciano, founder of Simpli-fresh Produce, a West Maui farm cooperative where he mentors aspiring farmers, chefs and environmental engineers
    • Janel Ralph, president and CEO of Palmetto Synergistic Research, which produces a line of organically grown whole plant hemp products known as Palmetto Harmony
    • Bestselling author, filmmaker and “hemp cowboy” Doug Fine, who wrote Hemp Bound, Willy Nelson’s “best book of the year”

    Exciting Time for Hemp in Hawaii

    It is a particularly exciting time for the hemp industry in Hawaii, which launched its Industrial Hemp Pilot Program in July 2017 and granted three farmers the first licenses to grow 10 acres each of Yuma, a hemp variety from China. “I’m convinced that Hawaii is well positioned to become a leader in hemp and we’ll have many farmers applying to be licensed,” State Sen. Mike Gabbard, who introduced the legislation, said in a statement. “My vision is that we’ll one day, in the not too distant future, have a hemp cottage industry that’s the envy of the world.”

    “Hawaii’s farmers and wider economy need food independence as much as any place in the world,” said keynote speaker Doug Fine, who also is a researcher affiliated with the University of Hawaii’s hemp seed development project. “Hemp provides an opportunity for Hawaii to achieve these goals, and the Hawaii Hemp Conference will provide an opportunity to be educated by local farmers as well as worldwide hemp experts.”

    With skyrocketing popularity of hemp for food, fiber, and its therapeutic non-psychoactive cannabinoid CBD, domestic production of hemp, or cannabis sativa, is reaching new heights. U.S. hemp-based product sales grew 16% to reach $820 million in sales in 2017 and is expected to surpass $1 billion in sales in 2018, led primarily by hemp-derived CBD, food, personal care and industrial products, according to the publication Hemp Business Journal – a number not lost on politicians. This past spring, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced the Hemp Farming Act of 2018, which would remove hemp from the federal list of controlled substances and allow it to be sold as an agricultural crop.

    Sponsor and vendor registration is still open and limited space remains. You can apply here or contact us for more information at info@hawaiihempconference.com.

    Full-access MANA tickets for the trade show and expo, Let’s Talk Hemp speaker series and business conference, Mahalo lunch and Mālama I Ka ‘Āina Celebration Party are $299. Tickets for the trade show, expo hall, Let’s Talk Hemp speaker series and business conference are $199. Tickets to the trade show and expo hall are $10 in advance and $15 on the day of the expo. Tickets are available here.

    About the Hawaii Hemp Conference

    The Hawaii Hemp Conference 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 and most comprehensive trade show 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. Learn more at HawaiiHempConference.com and find us on Facebook and Twitter.

  • Hemp Can Help Heal Hawaii’s Agricultural Past

    Hemp Can Help Heal Hawaii’s Agricultural Past

    On June 10th hemp enthusiasts from around the world will descend on Hilo, Hawaii to discuss innovations in the hemp industry and its exciting future on the islands. The Hawaii Hemp Conference will host a mini expo and marketplace and a Let’s Talk Hemp speaker series. One focus of the conference will be the history of agriculture on the Hawaiian islands and how modern hemp farming can help repair the damage done by centuries of degradation.

    Hawaii has a complex agricultural history. After colonization, Hawaii quickly went from sustainable farming practices to industrial monoculture sugarcane operations. As Hawaiian’s farming methods and culture were being eroded by this new system so too were their soils and landscapes.

    Traditional Hawaiian culture revolves around farming and the ancient ahupua’a system. An Ahupua’a is a pie-shaped section of land that starts at the top of a mountain and extends down to the sea. The ahupua’a were farmed in terraces and were how Hawaiian communities were organized.

    Today most food is imported to the islands, but originally Islanders had to subsist on what they could cultivate on the ahupua’as. This necessitated an advanced farming system revolving around the staple taro that included bananas, sweet potatoes, and coconuts, as well as many others including sugarcane.

    It didn’t take long for the first colonizers to notice the natives farming sugarcane. Very quickly after, many parts of the islands were cleared for monocrops of sugarcane. The industrial sugarcane operations that dominated Hawaiian society for almost 100 years had a tragic environmental and societal effect on the islands. The plantations used damaging farming methods and forced labor that caused deforestation, left the soil depleted, corrupted waterways, and eroded the traditional culture.

    The last of the destructive sugarcane operations has closed and now Hawaii is looking to the future and how they can provide food for residents and repair the environmental damage. Doug Fine, sustainable lifestyle pioneer and hemp industry leader says, “No matter what direction Hawaii’s farmers and entrepreneurs take, Step One is soil rebuilding after a century and a half of monoculture, over-grazing, or other soil issues. The fact that hemp not only helps rebuild soil but provides a valuable harvest from season one makes it integral to Hawaii’s agricultural Renaissance.”

    The governor of Hawaii, David Ige, has made food security and self-sufficiency a top priority for his administration, and hemp can play a large role in this need, as well as in other exciting and creative solutions to Hawaii’s challenges. Says Fine, “Hawaii has extra issues that mandate food and industrial independence: namely shipping costs. So on the Hawaiian islands, we might very well see the early adoption of high tech hemp applications, such as 3D printing of auto parts, as well as large-scale hemp cultivation for human and livestock feed.”

    Addressing these needs and the opportunity for hemp to be a solution will be a theme of the conference. Hemp’s merits as a low-input crop lend itself beautifully to large-scale and small-scale terrace farming where the soil and environment need to be repaired. Two panels will directly tackle these issues, After Sugar: Making a Living from the Soil and Soil Building and Soil Healing On A Volcanic Island Chain. While these discussions are specific to Hawaii, the talks will have broad implications for anyone working on hemp farming where the land has been compromised from a history of agricultural degradation.

    Get you tickets now for the Hawaii Hemp Conference to learn more about the amazing opportunities for hemp on the islands (and the mainland) and meet with others in the field doing wonderful work with hemp.

    The Hawaii Hemp Conference is produced by Colorado Hemp Company and  presented by Functional Remedies, which cultivates organic hemp and a produces whole plant processed full spectrum hemp extracts.

    Laurie Hanselmann is a writer, nonprofit management guru, and lover of the natural world. She enjoys exploring how to find more meaning and connection in her life as a ‘Type B’ person through self improvement and productivity hacks. You can find her at persistentlybetter.com.

  • Celebrate Hemp History Week in Tropical Hawaii June 10th

    Celebrate Hemp History Week in Tropical Hawaii June 10th

    The 8th annual Hemp History Week is June 5-11th and will be celebrated across the country in a variety of ways. HHW is a grassroots effort to recognize our historical connection to hemp, advocate for the full legalization of hemp farming, and introduce consumers to the wide variation of hemp products on the market and the benefits of choosing hemp over other alternatives.

    With events that range from festivals to picnics to farm tours, there is something for everyone. And if you don’t see an event to your liking near you? Start your own! This is a grassroots campaign, after all, so anyone is welcome to register their own event on the Hemp History Week website.

    There are many festivals and conferences planned for this week, including the inaugural Hawaii Hemp Conference in Hilo, Hawaii on June 10th. Hemp enthusiasts and entrepreneurs will come together for a weekend of work and fun focused on the burgeoning hemp industry in Hawaii.

    As event producer, Morris Beegle said, “The opportunity to put together a local-centric hemp conference with a national and global perspective presented itself, and we jumped on it.  Hawaii, not unlike many other states, has a big need for a replacement crop that can help rejuvenate both the local economy and the environment.  There is no other agricultural crop on the planet that provides this opportunity to the extent that industrial hemp does today.  Hawaii has several good legislators who understand this, and who seem committed to doing the right thing for the people of Hawaii.  The timing couldn’t be better to push this across the finish line, not only for Hawaii but across the entire United States.”

    While you are well aware that Hawaii is a vacation paradise, did you know it’s also a farming paradise? This makes it an ideal place to grow hemp and its new presence on the hemp farming landscape makes it the perfect place to celebrate Hemp History week.

    Hawaii’s year-round warm weather allows for 3 harvests a year, unlike more temperate climates on the mainland that can only grow one. Its fertile volcanic soil has been harnessed for generations as the perfect medium for both small farms and large operations, such as the sugar cane plantations.

    Now that the sugar plantations are gone, Hawaiians are working on restoring the ecological damage the plantations inflicted on the islands. Pesticide and herbicide – free hemp can help to  rejuvenate soils, and hemp grown for oil or food fits perfectly for traditional small-scale family farm operations.

    At the government level many officials strongly support hemp production in Hawaii, in fact, three of the keynote speakers are state and federal-level officials, including Tulsi Gabbard from the US House of Representatives. Representative Gabbard strongly supports legalizing marijuana and industrial hemp farm and  is a co-sponsor of HB525 – The Industrial Hemp Farming Act bill.

    Advocates and farmers alike have a lot of excitement for all the possibilities that the new hemp farming industry brings to the islands. You can be sure they will make a large contribution to the national conversation on hemp and will be a key player going forward.

    For these reasons and much more, Hawaii is one of the most exciting places to be this Hemp History Week.

    Hurry! Early bird tickets are on sale until May 26th. Visit the Hawaii Hemp Conference website to learn more and get your tickets!

    The Hawaii Hemp Conference is produced by Colorado Hemp Company and  presented by  Functional Remedies, which cultivates organic hemp and a produces whole plant processed full spectrum hemp extracts.

    Laurie Hanselmann is a writer, nonprofit management guru, and lover of the natural world. She enjoys exploring how to find more meaning and connection in her life as a ‘Type B’ person through self improvement and productivity hacks. You can find her at persistentlybetter.com.