Jeff Kostuik of Verve Seeds Solutions and How Trump's Trade Wars Could Affect Canadian Hemp Seed
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
Release Date: 02/21/2025
NoCo 2025: Optimistic Rumors and the Battle for the Soul of the Industry
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
The NoCo Hemp Expo wrapped up its eleventh annual event last week in Estes Park, Colorado. The overall mood was optimistic, according to attendees, but there was an undercurrent of uncertainty and angst. The industry stands at a crossroads. Is it too dramatic (or melodramatic) to call it the battle for the soul of the industry? The word hemp means different things to different people, but for over a thousand years, the English word hemp meant one thing: the crop you farm at scale to produce raw materials for industry and food — ropes, sail cloth, paper, animal feed. But now, a quarter way...
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Navigating Uncertainty and Innovation in Hemp with Steve Groff
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
In this episode, regenerative industrial hemp farmer Steve Groff returns for a candid discussion about the current state of hemp farming, innovation and industry challenges in Pennsylvania. Groff shares insights on the unexpected bureaucratic setbacks he's faced, his pragmatic approach to political and economic changes and exciting developments in precision planting technology aimed at revolutionizing hemp and flax cultivation. Despite encountering funding hurdles and project delays, Groff remains optimistic, advocating strongly for unity and honest collaboration within the hemp community....
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Lost & Found: The Wild Journey of Lewis & Clark’s Herbarium
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
When President Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on the original American road trip in 1804, there weren’t many roads, so they took boats. Up the Missouri River and into the great unknown. One of their tasks was to collect and catalog detailed information about the natural world as they made their way westward. When the expedition returned in 1806, the American explorers brought with them a collection of over 200 plant samples that Lewis meticulously cataloged and preserved. The Corps of Discovery expedition ended in 1806, but for this collection of plants, the...
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The Hemp Plastic Company's Paul Benhaim On Why Scalability Matters
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week on the Hemp Show, we talk with global hemp expert and co-founder of the Hemp Plastic Company, Paul Benhaim. Benhaim takes us on a deep dive into hemp plastics — and why he believes scalability is more important than purity. We'll hear about the company and the process of turning hemp into objects like didgeridoos and car parts. Benhaim has been in the hemp industry for over 30 years, finding early success with a hemp health bar in Europe in the 1990s before moving to Australia where he founded the largest hemp food company in the Southern Hemisphere. Benhaim tells us...
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Green Buffalo Filmmaker Joel Caldwell and Lower Sioux Hempcrete Builder Danny Desjarlais
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week on the Hemp Show, we catch up with filmmaker Joel Caldwell and hempcrete builder Danny Desjarlais about the film "Green Buffalo." Coming off of a win for the short documentary category at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, "Green Buffalo" is making waves. Caldwell shares his experience on making the film within the limitations of the short documentary medium and how he was able to capture the resilience of the Lower Sioux in the film. "I had the light turned on as far as this massive solution," he says. "We can create carbon banks and live in healthier homes." Desjarlais...
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The Old Pueblo Hemp Revolution with Micaela Machado
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week on the Hemp Show, we head to Tucson, Arizona, where Micaela Machado of Old Pueblo Hemp Co. is leading a hemp-building revolution. She said she hopes “Tucson becomes a hub for natural building and specifically hemp. I think Tucson, Arizona, is right for building, for processing. We have all the right weather and lots of land to do it with.” Machado is a general contractor with a background in sculpture and landscape architecture, and she’s bringing her deep passion for sustainability and natural building to the hemp industry. Her passion is fueled by a drive to provide healthier...
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A Global Perspective on Hemp with Morris Beegle
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
In this episode of the Lancaster Farming Hemp Podcast, we welcome back Morris Beegle, the founder of NoCo Hemp Expo and a leading advocate in the hemp industry. The conversation spans the globe as Morris shares insights from his recent travels to Africa, Asia, and South America, discussing the growing industrial hemp movement worldwide. From the first-ever Kenya Hemp Conference to a 12-story hempcrete hotel in South Africa, Morris provides a firsthand look at the developing hemp sector in Africa. The 11th annual NoCo Hemp Expo is in Estes Park, Colorado, this April. Morris gives us a preview...
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Jeff Kostuik of Verve Seeds Solutions and How Trump's Trade Wars Could Affect Canadian Hemp Seed
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
On this episode of the Hemp Podcast, we speak with Jeff Kostuik, of , aa Canadian Hemp Seed company based in Saskatchewan. Jeff joins us from the road—literally, from an airport—on his way to North Carolina for a meeting with a hemp processor. We'll hear about Verve Seed Solutions and the new varieties they are bringing to the hemp space this year. We will also talk about Donald Trump's impeding trade wars and what Canadian hemp businesses like Verve are doing to face the new realities. Topics Covered: How Verve Seeds genetics are distributed worldwide Increasing hemp seed yield by up to...
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Geoff Whaling and the Future of Hemp Under the Trump Administration
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
On this episode of the Hemp Podcast, we welcome back Geoff Whaling, chair of the National Hemp Association, for an in-depth discussion on the evolving landscape of the hemp industry under the new administration. We cover the uncertainty surrounding the NHA’s $19.8 million climate-smart grant, the impact of leadership changes in Washington, and the ongoing push for hemp as an approved food and animal feed ingredient. Whaling shares his insights on the Farm Bill negotiations, the role of key officials in the USDA, and why he remains optimistic about hemp’s future despite political shifts....
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Hemp Mushroom Coffins and the Future of Sustainable Burial
Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast
On this episode we talk to Max Justice from Setas Mushrooms — the innovator behind MyCoffin, biodegradable coffins made of mycelium and industrial hemp. Justice is the co-founder and CEO of Setas Eternal Living, a company that offers people a sustainable end-of life solution — with aspirations to disrupt the death industry with affordable and sustainable options. For Justice, Setas Eternal Living was logical next step in his fungus journey. He and his wife started Setas Mushrooms on their farm in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, after discovering the healing power of mushrooms during his...
info_outlineOn this episode of the Hemp Podcast, we speak with Jeff Kostuik, of Verve Seed Solutions, aa Canadian Hemp Seed company based in Saskatchewan.
Jeff joins us from the road—literally, from an airport—on his way to North Carolina for a meeting with a hemp processor.
We'll hear about Verve Seed Solutions and the new varieties they are bringing to the hemp space this year.
We will also talk about Donald Trump's impeding trade wars and what Canadian hemp businesses like Verve are doing to face the new realities.
Topics Covered:
- How Verve Seeds genetics are distributed worldwide
- Increasing hemp seed yield by up to 190%
- How U.S. policies are affecting Canadian farmers
- Navigating strict cannabinoid limits in poultry feeds
- Why more infrastructure is needed us US Hemp processing
Learn more:
Verve Seed Solutions
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Music by Tin Bird Shadow