Hemp-It: How a French Seed Propagator Meets the Demands of a Growing Industry
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
Release Date: 08/15/2024
Hemp Goes to GreenBuild
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
In this episode of the Industrial Hemp Podcast, we take you to the GreenBuild Conference and Expo in Philadelphia, the world’s largest event dedicated to green building and sustainable construction. This annual gathering brings together architects, engineers, builders, and innovators, all focused on creating a more sustainable future for the built environment. Under the banner of The Goodness of Hemp, an inspiring collective of hemp-based businesses showcased their products and vision for the future of construction. From cutting-edge materials to bold collaborations, this episode highlights...
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Montana 2024, Part One: The Goodness of Hemp
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
This is part one of our coverage of the 2024 Montana Hemp Summit, also known as the "Goodness of Hemp" Summit, that took place in Great Falls, Montana, Oct. 15-17. First, please take action now. Help support the campaign. The episode opens with a conversation with Ken Elliott, co-founder of IND HEMP in Montana. Host Eric Hurlock and Ken talk about the recent summit, the introduction of HEMI, and why people in the hemp industry should stop what they’re doing right now and go help throw in on the "One Plant" documentary film . Then you'll hear a series of interviews that Eric...
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National Hemp Associaton Recieves $19.6 Million USDA Climate Smart Grant
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
In this special episode of the Industrial Hemp Podcast*, we talk to Erica Stark, executive director of the National Hemp Association (NHA), and Lancaster County regenerative hemp farmer Steve Groff. Together, they break down the exciting news that the USDA has awarded $19.6 million to support a transformative project focused on climate-smart hemp farming in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The project aims to help farmers adopt regenerative practices using industrial hemp, reduce agricultural runoff, and protect the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Erica and Steve discuss how the grant will benefit...
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Exploring Hemp Opportunities in Japan
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week on the Hemp Podcast, we travel to Japan. Not literally, but vicariously. Our three guests recently attended the inaugural Tokyo International Hemp Conference last month and toured an 8th generation hemp farm and processing facility called Golden Hemp that makes sacred ropes used in Shinto temples. On this episode we will talk to Jean Lotus, Robin Destiche and Patrick Atagi. The trip was organized by the National Industrial Hemp Council of America and was funded by USDA’s Regional Agricultural Promotion Program. Lotus, the publisher of Hemp Build Magazine, was fascinated to learn...
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Pennsylvania Ag Secretary Seeks Knowledge in Montana
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
Secretary Russell Redding made an official Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture trip to Montana this week to meet with founders of IND HEMP, one of the largest hemp fiber and seed processors in the U.S. On this week’s podcast, Lancaster Farming catches up with Redding as he visits the hemp facility in Fort Benton, Montana. The show features a joint interview with Redding and IND HEMP founder Ken Elliott from the IND HEMP office. Redding said he originally planned to attend the Montana Hemp Summit, hosted by IND HEMP, in Great Falls later this month, but had a commitment in Pennsylvania he...
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National Hemp Association Goes to Africa
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
On this week’s Hemp Podcast, we talk to Geoff Whaling from the National Hemp Association, who recently returned from a trip to Africa. The trip, funded by a USDA Emerging Markets Program grant, focused on developing hemp exports to Malawi, Rwanda and Ghana. The purpose of the trip, Whaling said, “was to undertake a review and to report back to USDA as to the barriers for exporting American grown hemp products into those three countries.” In Malawi, he met with government officials, including President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, who Whaling said was impressed with the economic...
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Hemp Fiber & Grain Field Day at Cornell AgriTech
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
On the latest episode of the Hemp Podcast, we take the show on the road once more — this time to Cornell University’s Hemp Fiber and Grain Field Day at the Agritech Campus in Geneva, New York. Among the many voices on this episode is Christine Smart, director of , who’s leading groundbreaking work on hemp diseases and crop resilience. Hailee Greene, a recent Cornell MBA grad and founder of , talks about her ambitious plans to establish the first full-scale hemp-processing facility in New York, despite the financial challenges that lie ahead. “We’re a couple million dollars away,...
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Seed to Sovereignty: Voices from Lower Sioux
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
MORTON, Minn. — The celebrated the opening of its new hemp-processing facility with a full day of hemp education and demonstrations on September 5, 2024. This processing plant brings the tribe one step closer to what it calls “Seed to Sovereignty,“ where the tribe creates its own supply chain: growing the hemp to be processed in the facility, where it will be made into hempcrete houses to address the housing crisis on the reservation through agriculture. This week on the Hemp Podcast, we bring you conversations from the Lower Sioux. We’ll hear from Danny Desjarlais, project manager...
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Lancaster County Hemp Circuit, Part Two
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week's podcast is Part Two of our Lancaster County Hemp Circuit Coverage. Editor's note: Hey there, it's me Eric. I'm traveling this week to Minnesota for the Field Day at the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation, so in order to get the podcast out to you in a timely manner, I gave the transcript of the audio to my ChatGPT buddy and asked for a break down. And that's what the following is: AI-generated text. Thank you for your understanding! -e Here’s a breakdown of the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast episode titled Lancaster Hemp Circuit, Part Two: Who: Eric Hurlock: Host of the...
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Pennsylvania Hemp Shines Bright in the Spotlight
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week on the Hemp Podcast we bring you Part One of our coverage of the Lancaster County Hemp Circuit, a two-day, four-farm hemp event that shone a bright light on hemp in Pennsylvania and attracted attendees from all over the U.S. and a few foreign countries. On Part One of our Hemp Circuit coverage on the podcast, we hear from a handful of out-of-state attendees. We’ll hear a few impressions of the county. “It’s beautiful farmland,” said Larry Smart, a plant breeder and head of the hemp program at Cornell University. “I’ll just say the roads here are twisty and turny. We’re...
info_outlineIn this week’s episode of the Industrial Hemp Podcast, Lancaster Farming talks with Jean-Eric Ponthou from Hemp-It and Robin Destiche from KonopiUS.
Ponthou is the manager of sales and development at Hemp-It, a French company established in 1965 that produces certified industrial hemp seeds.
“It’s the only company in France producing certified industrial seeds at international standards,” Ponthou said.
Located about 180 miles southwest of Paris, the company has 30 employees at the headquarters and works with a co-op network of nearly 150 farmers to produce about 2,000 tons of hemp seed annually.
“It’s a co-op company,” Ponthou said, “which means every farmer has one share in the company, so we’re all equal.”
He said Hemp-It produces about 15 different varieties of industrial hemp, and each of these varieties targets some specific market segment: grain, hurd or fiber.
According to a 2023 report by Textile Exchange, France is the largest producer of hemp fiber by volume in the world.
Destiche is one of the founders of KonopiUS, a seed distribution and agronomy company in Virginia, and he has been working with Hemp-It for several years.
Destiche explained how Europe operates from a database of approved varieties, varieties that have already been tested for morphology, stability and THC.
“I think currently there’s over 100 hemp varieties that are registered,” he said.
Hemp-It has also developed several varieties of hemp that contain no THC.
“This way, we open the gate to the food industry, because we can guarantee to get them the lowest the rate of THC as possible,” Ponthou said.
THC is the naturally occurring chemical compound in the hemp plant which at higher levels cause the psychoactive affects associated with marijuana.
THC-free varieties of hemp grain might be a way forward for hemp grain producers who took issue with last week’s historic vote by the American Association of Feed Control Officials to allow hemp seed meal as an ingredient for feed for laying hens.
Various international groups said the THC thresholds in the feed definition were too low and would be hard to reach.
Maybe THC-free grain is the way to go.
Learn More:
Hemp-It
KonopiUS
Thanks to our Sponsors
IND HEMP
Forever Green
Mpactful Ventures
Music by Tin Bird Shadow