Spring Hemp Preview: Webinars, Short Courses, and Conferences
Release Date: 02/05/2026
Industrial Hemp Podcast
This week on the Hemp Show, we talk with Ryan Zaczynski, co-founder of 1937 International, a company working to build global supply chains for industrial hemp. In this episode, Zaczynski talks about what it takes to move hemp beyond niche markets and into real products that people use every day — by building supply chains that connect farms, textile mills and manufacturers around the world. At the center of that effort is Pakistan, where 1937 International is working in partnership with Dr. Zafar Riaz and his team to develop hemp production and tap into one of the world’s largest...
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Industrial hemp has been developing quietly in New Zealand for more than two decades. In this episode, we're talking with Richard Barge, treasurer of the New Zealand Hemp Industries Association, about how the sector has evolved — from early government trials in the early 2000s to a growing network of farmers, seed processors, fiber decortication facilities and researchers exploring hemp’s role in the bio-economy. Barge explains how New Zealand’s hemp industry has taken a deliberate approach to growth, scaling carefully as markets develop rather than chasing acreage without demand. The...
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Long before we talked about hemp as a commodity crop with profound industrial potential, hemp was something simpler: a plant grown in soil, worked by human hands and shaped into useful things. This week on the Hemp Show our guest is Laura Sullivan — hemp farmer, Extension educator at the University of Vermont and fiber artist whose work explores hemp not as a commodity but as a material with cultural and ecological meaning. Laura recently completed her Master of Fine Arts, using hemp fiber grown on the research farm to create garments and installations that blur the boundary between...
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On this week’s Hemp Podcast, we talk to August Cook, Joseph Carringer and Dave Cook of Commonwealth Denim and Tuscarora Mills about their effort to weave, cut and sew 100% hemp selvedge jeans in Pennsylvania — and what it will take to rebuild a regional textile supply chain from farm to finished garment. Pennsylvania has a long history with textiles, from homespun hemp and linen in colonial times to the grandeur of Philadelphia’s textile mills in the early 20th century. But by the end of the 20th century, the industry had pretty much collapsed, held together by specialty manufacturers...
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This week on the Hemp Show, we widen the lens. Hemp is more than a crop — it's part of a larger material system that connects farms, forests, manufacturers, builders and cities. Architect and urban researcher Kaja Kühl joins the podcast to explain why she calls hemp and straw “indicator species” — materials that signal the health of a regional building ecosystem. Through her Bio-Based Materials & Construction Resources Map, she has been documenting the farms, processors and builders already working across the Northeast. In this conversation, we explore what it would take to...
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This week on the Hemp Podcast, we have a long conversation about hemp-derived intoxicating cannabinoids with Chris Fontes, president of the U.S. Hemp Authority and founder of Trojan Horse Cannabis and High Spirits Beverages. Trojan Horse Cannabis was the first company to bring so-called intoxicating hemp derivatives to market, changing the hemp space forever. For decades, hemp advocates said hemp was different from marijuana because hemp couldn’t get you high. But the 2018 Farm Bill created the perfect conditions for the birth of a whole new chapter in the story of hemp. Fontes said when he...
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This week on the Industrial Hemp Podcast, host Eric Hurlock is joined by Lancaster Farming staff reporter Dan Sullivan to talk about one Pennsylvania farmer’s decision that’s captured national attention. Farmer Mervin Raudabaugh Jr. in development money to preserve his Cumberland County farm for future generations. Sullivan explains how he found the story, why it resonated with people in and out of agriculture and what it says about the challenges farmers face regarding preserving their land. From there the show turns to upcoming events for the hemp community in the next few...
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We’re back. Season 9 of the Hemp Show is here. In this season opener of the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast, we'll take you inside a hearing organized by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania that was meant to explain the hemp industry to state lawmakers — and ended up revealing something else entirely. The original intent of hemp in the Farm Bill was about agriculture and manufacturing, but the conversation has been dominated by intoxicating cannabinoids, chemical definitions and law enforcement concerns. This episode weaves together testimony from regulators, business owners...
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2025 was a year of uncertainty, contradiction and recalibration for the hemp industry. In this year-end episode of the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast, host Eric Hurlock looks back on a season defined by policy whiplash, shifting definitions and hard conversations about what hemp is — and what it is not. From rumors of executive action and the collapse of intoxicating hemp loopholes to the rescheduling of marijuana and its ripple effects across agriculture, the year ended with more questions than answers. The episode revisits key voices from across the hemp landscape —...
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We have a special in-studio guest this week on the Industrial Hemp Show. Steve Groff, third-generation Lancaster County farmer and hemp innovator from Holtwood, Pennsylvania, stopped by the Hemp Studio at the Lancaster Farming Office in Ephrata. We talked about machinery, long fiber, seed spacing, planter design and why farmer economics need to make sense if this industry is ever going to scale. “Farmers are gonna have to get 10 or 20% more profit per acre for this hemp out the gate,” he said. We also talked about the green decorticator he’s been working on. And when we got back from...
info_outlineThis week on the Industrial Hemp Podcast, host Eric Hurlock is joined by Lancaster Farming staff reporter Dan Sullivan to talk about one Pennsylvania farmer’s decision that’s captured national attention.
Farmer Mervin Raudabaugh Jr. turned down millions of dollars in development money to preserve his Cumberland County farm for future generations.
Sullivan explains how he found the story, why it resonated with people in and out of agriculture and what it says about the challenges farmers face regarding preserving their land.
From there the show turns to upcoming events for the hemp community in the next few months, with a focus on education and connection.
Listeners hear from Maylin Murdoch about Cornell’s 2026 hemp webinar series that will be focused on how hemp is measured and evaluated in the field and in the lab.
Andrew Bish, president of the Hemp Feed Coalition, joins us to talk about a monthly webinar series that highlights research into hemp as an animal feed ingredient.
Fiber artist, hemp farmer and extension educator Laura Sullivan gives us a preview of a four-week online short course at the University of Vermont that will be focused on growing fiber hemp for textiles and building materials.
The webinar series are free. See registration links below.
And finally, we talk hemp with Morris Beegle, who introduces Industrial Hemp International, a new Denver-based conference that has evolved from the former NoCo Hemp Expo. The new show has an emphasis on fiber, grain and international supply chains.
Learn More
Dan Sullivan’s story — Data center developers offered farmer $60k per acre; He preserved the land instead
Cornell Hemp Webinar Series
January 28 – May 6, 2026 | Every other Wednesday (1–2 p.m. ET). A free, biweekly webinar series from Cornell AgriTech focused on how hemp is measured — from field data and lab standards to fiber testing, post-harvest practices, and life-cycle assessment.
hemp.cals.cornell.edu/2025/12/24/2026-cornell-hemp-webinar-series-register-now/
Hemp Feed Coalition Webinar Series
Ongoing throughout 2026 | Monthly, third Thursday. A free, monthly research-focused webinar series examining hemp as animal feed, featuring researchers working on poultry, dairy, companion animals, and cannabinoid measurement.
hempfeedcoalition.org/webinar-series/
University of Vermont Fiber Hemp Short Course
February 24 – March 17, 2026 | Tuesdays (4 weeks). A free, four-week online short course from UVM Extension focused on growing fiber hemp for textiles and building materials, with sessions on agronomy, harvesting, and regional manufacturing.
events.uvm.edu/event/fiber-hemp-production-short-course
Industrial Hemp International (IHI)
March 25–27, 2026 | Denver, Colorado. A two-day conference (plus opening night) focused on industrial hemp fiber, grain, and international supply chains, evolving out of the former NoCo Hemp Expo.
industrialhempinternational.com/
Sponsored By
IND HEMP
Americhanvre Cast Hemp
King’s Agriseeds
Hemp Cutter