Unlocking the USDA Hemp Report - A Tale of Two Industries
Release Date: 05/01/2025
The PA Flax Project & The Return of American Linen
Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week on the Hemp Show we’re talking about flax, a fiber plant with remarkable similarities to industrial hemp when grown for textiles. There’s a fair amount of flax growing this year in southeastern Pennsylvania. The last time this much flax grew here, tractors hadn’t even been invented yet. By the late 1800s flax production was in rapid decline in the Keystone State, pushed out by cheap cotton and forgotten by a country racing toward synthetic fiber — which makes 2025 a special year in Pennsylvania. Thanks to the PA Flax Project, spearheaded by Heidi Barr and Emma de Long,...
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The Etymology of Hemp and Why Words Matter
Industrial Hemp Podcast
Lately on the podcast, I’ve been wrestling with a question of language. What does the word hemp really mean, where did that meaning come from, how has it shifted over time, and who gets to define the word hemp today? For a thousand years, hemp was known as the plant or material that you made things from — things like rope, cloth and paper. But now when people hear the word hemp, they think about weed. And that’s not helpful for a nascent industry trying to raise capital, build infrastructure and develop markets. To help me sort out the history and meaning of the word hemp, I spoke...
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Bast Fiber Tech and the Rise of Hemp in Nonwoven Hygiene
Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week on the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast, we’re talking about wipes. And diapers. And makeup pads. And all the other throwaway hygiene products we barely think about — but use every day. Most of these single-use items are made from plastic. Why? Because plastic is cheap, consistent, and engineered to run smoothly on fast-moving machines. But that convenience comes at a cost: landfill waste, microplastic pollution and a total disconnect from the land. But what if we could change that? What if the raw material for these essential products didn’t come from oil — but from...
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Virginia Hemp Month, Responsible Hemp Standard & Banking Barriers on Brush Mountain
Industrial Hemp Podcast
On this episode of the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast, we take a look at the fight for industrial hemp’s future — from grassroots advocacy to global certification and the ongoing struggles farmers face in the banking system. Act 1: Virginia Hemp Month – Reclaiming the Word "Hemp" Joe Domino and Scott McStacy of the Virginia Hemp Coalition join the show to talk about their efforts to officially recognize June as Virginia Hemp Month. With events ranging from hempcrete building workshops and beekeeping demonstrations to film screenings and brewery gatherings, Virginia is building...
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Victory Hemp’s Processing Expansion and the Future of Hemp Ingredients
Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week on the show we reconnect with Chad Rosen, founder and CEO of Victory Hemp Foods, who was first on the show back in the summer of ‘21 when I drove the Lancaster Farming National Hemp Tour RV right up to Victory Hemp’s grain bins in Carrollton, Kentucky. When I was there 4 years ago, Victory was processing batches, roughly 20,000 lbs a month, but they just put in a new processing line that lets them do 120,000 pounds of hemp hearts per month, a sixfold increase. But that’s not all. The new production line features “patented processing technology” that Rosen said, “delivers...
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Inside The NIHC Global Hemp Fiber Summit With Guy Carpenter
Industrial Hemp Podcast
The hemp event of the summer is taking place in Raleigh, North Carolina, July 15-17. It's the Global Industrial Hemp Fiber Summit, hosted by the Wilson College of Textiles, in conjunction with the National Industrial Hemp Council. This week on the Hemp Show, we’ll talk to the lead organizer of the event, Guy Carpenter. Unlike other events focused on industrial hemp, this summit centers squarely on hemp fiber and the industries that are growing up around fiber: textiles, apparel, denim, upholstery, non-wovens, construction, hempcrete, insulation, acoustic panels, automotive, biocomposites,...
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The Hemp Show in Three Acts: A Café, a Workshop and a Reckoning
Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week’s episode of the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast unfolds in three acts, each exploring a different facet of the growing hemp industry — from a café built on hemp-based food, to a hands-on construction training, to a linguistic deep dive into the meaning of the word hemp. Act 1: A Hemp Café in Mount Pleasant The show begins with a conversation with longtime hemp entrepreneur Cindy Amick, whose new endeavor is the Planet Hemp Café, which opens June 7 in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. The café aims to showcase the full potential of hemp in everyday life —from...
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Untangling The Language: What We Mean When We Say Hemp
Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week on the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast, host Eric Hurlock wrestles with a question at the heart of the industry: What is hemp? The term has become increasingly diluted and controversial — especially in light of smokable flower and intoxicating cannabinoid markets, i.e. THC-a flower, Delta-8, etc. Lately, Eric has been saying that if you're growing floral hemp, maybe you're not actually a hemp farmer. But he might be wrong and this week he goes on a journey to find out. On this show, Eric speaks with three trusted voices on the cannabinoid side of the conversation to help...
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Special Edition: Musical Teaser in Exchange for Your Patience
Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week’s episode is a little different—just a quick teaser while we finish up next week’s show, which dives into the meaning of the word “hemp” and who gets to claim it. Host Eric Hurlock has been on a journey talking to people in the cannabinoid space—like Jeremy Klettke, Joe Ullman, and Ben Davies—to sort through some big questions about language, identity, and the hemp plant. In the meantime, we don’t want to leave you empty-handed. So here are a few instrumental tracks that Eric Hurlock has recorded over the years—music you’ve probably heard behind the podcast,...
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Unlocking the USDA Hemp Report - A Tale of Two Industries
Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week on the Hemp Podcast we’re looking at the 2025 Hemp Report from the USDA. The annual report attempts to provide a snapshot of the hemp industry, which, according to the report, is valued at $445 million — up 40% from last year. That sounds amazing, but what the numbers actually show is two completely different stories about two completely different industries: industrial hemp, i.e., fiber and grain, and floral hemp, i.e., cannabinoids, medicinal and recreational products and smokable hemp flower. As usual, the floral side of things takes up a lot of the conversation. After all,...
info_outlineThis week on the Hemp Podcast we’re looking at the 2025 Hemp Report from the USDA. The annual report attempts to provide a snapshot of the hemp industry, which, according to the report, is valued at $445 million — up 40% from last year.
That sounds amazing, but what the numbers actually show is two completely different stories about two completely different industries: industrial hemp, i.e., fiber and grain, and floral hemp, i.e., cannabinoids, medicinal and recreational products and smokable hemp flower.
As usual, the floral side of things takes up a lot of the conversation. After all, 85% of the $445 million industry was on the floral side, and people like to see that kind of growth. But numbers on the fiber and grain side tell a much more interesting and complicated tale.
So we’re digging into the numbers, while also contemplating the existential question: Are you really a hemp farmer?
Host Eric Hurlock offers the hot take that maybe if you're in this for cannabinoid extraction — regardless of the THC content — you are not a hemp farmer. You are a cannabis grower.
Historically, the word “hemp” has meant the crop you grow for industrial purposes. However, the 2018 Farm Bill opened up a legal loophole that has had major consequences for the meaning of the word “hemp,” which has led to confusion in the industry — especially among lawmakers and regulators who continue to think hemp is essentially just low-key weed.
It’s time to reclaim the word hemp for the real hemp industry: fiber and grain. Let's call floral hemp what is is: low-THC cannabis.
Questions or comments? Leave Eric Hurlock a message: 717-721-4462
Read the report yourself: https://data.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Idaho/Publications/Census_Press_Releases/2025/HEMP.pdf
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