Untangling The Language: What We Mean When We Say Hemp
Release Date: 05/16/2025
CBD Farmer & Hemp Builder React to New Federal Hemp Definition
Industrial Hemp Podcast
Congress changed the definition of hemp this week, clarifying the original intent of the 2018 Farm Bill and closing the intoxicating-hemp loophole that enabled a nationwide market of unregulated semi-synthetic THC products. The change caps finished hemp products at 0.4 mg total THC per package, bans synthetic cannabinoids, protects legal CBD and fiber/grain hemp, and gives farmers a one-year implementation window. What does this mean for the hemp industry? How will it affect farmers? How will affect the hemp industry? On this special episode of The Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast,...
info_outline
Code, Carbon and Hemp-Lime Construction with Jake Waddell
Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week on the Hemp Show, we're talking to Jake Waddell from the Hemp Building Institute about the future of hemp construction, building codes and embodied carbon. Hemp-lime construction has come a long way — from early experiments in a garage to an officially recognized building material in the International Residential Code. Environmental Product Declarations, or EPDs, are changing how sustainability is measured in construction and what that means for hemp-based materials. And even when government funding for climate-forward projects gets cut, the people driving this industry keep...
info_outline
Oh, For The Love of Farming...
Industrial Hemp Podcast
This special edition of the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast celebrates the , which has been reporting on agriculture since 1955. Recorded at Penn State’s Ag Progress Days, this episode is a love letter to farming and to the people who make it possible. Farmers and ag leaders reflect on why they farm, what’s changed, and what remains timeless — love of land, faith, family, and devotion. Here's a quote from Wendell Berry that frames the conversation: “Why do farmers farm, given their economic adversities on top of the many frustrations and difficulties normal to farming? And...
info_outline
The Winds of Cansayapi (Part Three)
Industrial Hemp Podcast
Welcome to part three of our Cansayapi Trilogy in which we explore the 13th International Hemp Building Symposium, held Oct. 3-5, 2025, at the Lower Sioux Indian Community in Southwestern Minnesota. Part Three opens where part two left off, with the sounds of a waterfall that melts into the rhythms of the Red Tree Singers as they chant and pray and lead the way into Day Three of the Hemp Building Symposium. After a news nugget from HempToday, this episodes opens with a tale of three Minnesota architects — Janneke Schaap, Simona Fischer and Anna Koosmann — who provide a roadmap for...
info_outline
Voices from Cansayapi (Part Two)
Industrial Hemp Podcast
On this episode we continue on our journey with host Eric Hurlock to Cansayapi, the place where they paint the trees red, the Lower Sioux Indian community, the home of the Medewakantan Band of Dakota people in Southwestern Minnesota. You will hear many voices on this episode — people who were there, people who were involved, people who are lighting the Eighth Fire. You will hear from: Danny Desjarlais — Lower Sioux Hemp Builder Cameron McIntosh — Americhanvre Cast Hemp Steve Allin — International Hemp Building Association Honovi Coup Trudell — son of John Trudell Samantha...
info_outline
The Road to Cansayapi (Part One)
Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week on the Hemp Show, you are stowing away with me as I retell the tale of my trip to the 13th International Hemp Building Symposium, which was held for the first time ever in the United States — and specifically on sovereign Dakota land in what is now called Minnesota. We’re going to Cansayapi, the place where they paint the trees red. We will hear Dakota drums, chants and prayers from the Red Tree Singers. We will hear the voices of Vannessa Goodthunder, Tammy Desjarlais and Danny Desjarlais as they open the symposium with a vision for the future we all can share. The Dakota people...
info_outline
USDA Hemp Report: Garbage In, Garbage Out
Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week on the Hemp Show, we're talking to Brad Truman, a data analyst with CannaMarkets Group, about his recent deep dive into USDA’s hemp import data. His report, published in HempToday under the title When the Numbers Don’t Add Up: USDA’s Hemp Data Problem, raises serious questions about how hemp is being measured—and what those flawed numbers mean for farmers, investors, and policymakers. Truman walks us through the painstaking process of pulling USDA hemp data out of PDFs, analyzing inconsistencies, and uncovering outright anomalies—like the infamous April 17th, 2024 report,...
info_outline
Fighting Powdery Mildew With UV Light & Breeding Hemp for Better Grain and Fiber
Industrial Hemp Podcast
On this week’s Hemp Show, we’re back at Cornell Agritech for part three of my . In this episode I visit plant pathologist Jane Hamilton, who’s testing UVC light as a non-chemical tool against powdery mildew, and Luis Monserrate from Larry Smart’s breeding program, where seed size, yield and chemotype drive decisions for grain and fiber growers. Next, we walk through Jane’s UV cabinet and the powdery mildew chamber, talking dose windows and why powdery mildew (unlike some fungi) doesn’t have melanin to block UV. Then it's over to Luis for small-plot yield math, why bigger seeds can...
info_outline
Inside Cornell AgriTech: Germplasm, Robots and Hemp
Industrial Hemp Podcast
On this week’s podcast, we continue our trip to Geneva, New York, for part two of the Cornell story. I spend some time with Christine Smart, director of Cornell AgriTech, and her husband Larry Smart, professor of plant breeding and genetics and head of Cornell’s hemp program. Christine takes me through the history of the Agritech campus — from its 1882 founding to its living plant libraries and cutting-edge robotics labs. We talk Liberty Hyde Bailey, the USDA germplasm repository, and a future where UV light replaces pesticides and robots roam the fields. Then Larry brings us inside...
info_outline
Grain & Fiber Hemp Field Day at Cornell 2025
Industrial Hemp Podcast
On this week’s podcast, host Eric Hurlock travels to Geneva, New York, on the top of Seneca Lake to take part in Cornell’s Hemp Field day, held Thursday, Sept. 11. This episode covers both the morning and afternoon sessions for the field day. The day started in Jordan Hall on Cornell’s Agritech Campus, where hemp program director Larry Smart got things started with a reminder why we were there in the first place. “Hemp is an interesting crop, has a lot of potential, but there are some things that we just don’t understand about this crop,” he said. The morning session was focused...
info_outlineThis 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 untangle the confusion: Joe Ullman of Atlas Seed, Ben Davies of Wild Fox Provisions and Jeremy Klettke of Davis Hemp Farms.
Together, they explore the cultural history, legal definitions and evolving market forces that have transformed how we use — and misuse — the word hemp.
From fiber and grain to cannabinoids and regulation, this episode digs deep into the meaning, the consequences and the potential for redefining the future of the hemp industry.
Learn More:
• Joe Ullman – Atlas Seed
• Ben Davies – Wild Fox Provisions
• Jeremy Klettke – Davis Hemp Farms
Topics Covered:
• The origin and historical meaning of "hemp"
• How the 2018 Farm Bill broadened the definition
• The rise of THCa flower and "intoxicating hemp"
• The conflict between cannabinoid and fiber/grain sectors
• Regulatory confusion and COA loopholes
• The cultural baggage of the word "hemp"
• The role of education, infrastructure, and language in shaping the industry
Hemp Sponsors:
• IND HEMP — Building real infrastructure for American hemp
• King’s AgriSeeds — Call Sarah Mitchell for seasonal seed needs (717-687-6224)
• Forever Green — Distributor of the KP4 hemp cutter
Questions or comments? Email: podcast@lancasterfarming.com
This episode was written, recorded, edited, and produced by Eric Hurlock and Justin Berger.
© 2025 Lancaster Farming Newspaper, part of the Steinman Communications family.