Bast Fiber Tech and the Rise of Hemp in Nonwoven Hygiene
Release Date: 06/18/2025
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,...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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,...
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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...
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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...
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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, 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 agriculture? From the hemp fields, even?
This week, we talk to Jason Finnis from Bast Fiber Technologies, a company working to make that shift real — using hemp fiber to replace plastic in nonwoven hygiene products.
Our guest is Jason Finnis, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Bast Fiber Technologies, a clean-tech fiber company with operations in North Carolina and Germany. Jason’s been working to bring hemp fiber into hygiene and personal care products for more than 30 years — not as a novelty, but as a high-performance alternative to synthetic materials.
We talk about:
• The massive and often invisible role of nonwovens in our daily lives
• The hidden microplastics in wipes, pads and tampons — and why it matters
• Why hemp fiber is a smart material for hygiene: absorbent, soft and compostable
• What BFT looks for in hemp fiber: long, clean and consistent
• The importance of regional supply chains and local farm partnerships
• How consumer pressure, brand demand and European policy are aligning to create real momentum
Jason shares his journey from selling hemp out of a VW bus in the ’90s to helping build a future where everyday products are cleaner, greener and made from plants, not petroleum.
Learn More:
Bast Fiber Technologies
Global Hemp Fiber Summit – July 10–11 at NC State University
https://hempinitiatives.com/fiber-summit
Thanks to our sponsor:
HEMI – The Hemp Education and Marketing Initiative
Learn more at HempInitiatives.org
Produced by Eric Hurlock and Justin Berger