Industrial Hemp Podcast

Eric Hurlock, Digital Editor
  • 4.6 (68)
  • NEWS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Lancaster Farming newspaper editors talk to farmers and experts about industrial hemp.

  1. 3H AGO

    Hemp in New Zealand: Policy, Markets and the Long Game

    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 conversation explores the country's regulatory framework, including the long-standing Industrial Hemp Regulations under the Misuse of Drugs Act and the policy changes now underway that could allow farmers to grow industrial hemp without a license. Other topics discussed: • Hemp seed foods and New Zealand's export-oriented agriculture • The emergence of fiber processing and hempcrete construction • Challenges around feeding hemp by-products to livestock • The role of research institutions and universities in developing new hemp materials • Opportunities for international collaboration and seed production across hemispheres Barge also describes the current supply chain in New Zealand, including seed processing, decortication capacity and companies working to introduce hemp into textiles, building materials and consumer products. Learn More: New Zealand Hemp Industries Association https://www.linkedin.com/company/nzhia/ Midlands Seed HempNZ Hemp Central Hemp Connect Kathmandu Zespri Oregon State University Global Hemp Innovation Center Hemp Today Thanks to Our Sponsors! IND Hemp Americhanvre Cast Hemp

    49 min

  2. MAR 4

    The Mythic Possibilities of Hemp Fiber

    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 agriculture and art. "I've been working in science for over five years now and I have seen a lot of really great data come out that has changed absolutely nothing about how we operate in our world where we have so many solutions at our fingertips and yet no way to implement them," Sullivan said. "So I thought that art could reach people in a way that white papers and data and graphs and science don't always seem to." In one of Sullivan's pieces, hemp garments embedded with seeds were watered until they sprouted, making visible the idea that clothing, like food, begins in the field. Sullivan notes that synthetic fiber now dominates the global textile system, and that most of it originates not from farms but from fossil fuels. "Synthetic fiber currently makes up about 70% of textiles globally," she said. "Synthetic fiber is any fiber that is made of plastic, which is derived from oil. Alternatively, we have this other group of fibers — derived from the soil… and to the soil they can return." Her work also draws on mythology, ancestry and traditional fiber practices, using hemp and wool to create large-scale symbolic pieces that connect ancient textile traditions with modern agricultural realities. Plus, News Nuggets and a very special visit from everyone's favorite Kentucky hemp flooring guy, Greg Wilson, who looks at hemp like this: "You gotta grow it, you gotta make it and you gotta sell it. And I look at our business model and I always say, if you've got two hands, you can't carry three buckets." See Laura's Work: https://www.lancasterfarming.com/view-photos-of-laura-sullivans-hemp-fiber-fashion-collection/collection_67508afa-178d-4d69-845b-3cc412aec702.html Learn More University of Vermont Extension Hemp Program www.uvm.edu/extension/nwcrops/hemp Vermont College of Fine Arts https://vcfa.edu/ News Nuggets European hemp stalwart HempFlax Group is departing Romania after historic 14-year run https://hemptoday.net/european-hemp-stalwart-hempflax-group-is-departing-romania-after-historic-14-year-run/ Sask Polytechnic and EnviroWay develop biodegradable plastics from hemp and flax fiber waste https://www.packaginginsights.com/news/sask-polytech-enviroway-biodegradable-plastics.html Time for a little home hemp? https://www.echo.net.au/2026/02/time-for-a-little-home-hemp/ Sponsors HEMI www.hempinitiatives.org/ King's Agriseeds https://kingsagriseeds.com/ Forever Green Equipment – KP4 Hemp Cutter https://hempcutter.com/ HempWood https://hempwood.com/

    47 min

  3. FEB 25

    Field to Fabric: Building a Hemp Denim Supply Chain in Pennsylvania

    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 and legacy family businesses. Now, there is new hope on the horizon. Commonwealth Denim is weaving, cutting and sewing 100% hemp selvedge jeans in Pennsylvania while working to rebuild a fully Pennsylvania-based textile supply chain. Learn More: Commonwealth Denim pre-orders and company information: https://commonwealthdenim.com/ Tuscarora Mills heritage textile weaving in York County, Pennsylvania: https://tuscaroramills.com/ News Nuggets  Dutch hemp fiber variety Carmanecta approved for EU catalog hemptoday.net/newly-listed-dutch-variety-shows-potential-to-challenge-europes-fiber-hemp-incumbents/ European Food Safety Authority sets restrictive daily intake level for CBD hemptoday.net/european-food-safety-panel-sets-ultra-low-daily-limit-for-cbd-tightening-approvals/ Australia's first dedicated hemp masonry hub opens in Nimbin arr.news/2026/02/18/australias-first-one-stop-hemp-masonry-hub/ Daily Inter Lake reporting on the Benton hemp work shirt and domestic textile supply chain dailyinterlake.com/news/2026/feb/22/american-made-hemp-shirt-experiment-two-montana-companies-led-creation-of-a-domestically-made-shirt-from-hemp/ Thanks to our Sponsor IND HEMP https://indhemp.com/

    45 min

  4. FEB 19

    Hemp as an Indicator Species: Mapping the Future of Bio-Based Building

    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 scale regenerative construction from rural landscapes into dense urban markets — and why regional supply chains may matter more than centralized industrial models. We discuss: • Hempcrete as a carbon-storing wall system • Why moisture regulation and indoor air quality may be hemp's most overlooked strengths • Straw panel manufacturing and collaborative scaling models • The advantages — and challenges — of building in a dense Northeastern region • Housing as long-term carbon storage infrastructure Kühl also reflects on building two carbon-zero hemp homes in New York's Hudson Valley and what she learned working alongside early-stage material startups. As federal climate policy shifts, atmospheric carbon does not. If emissions oversight weakens, land-based carbon strategies — including fiber crops like hemp — only grow more consequential. This episode situates hemp inside a broader conversation about how we build, where materials come from and how regional economies can store carbon in the walls around us. News Nuggets Farm Bill / Hemp Language U.S. House Agriculture Committee – Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026 (Draft Bill Information) National Hemp Association – Industry Response & Policy Updates USDA Hemp Production Program EPA Endangerment Finding EPA 2009 Endangerment Finding (Clean Air Act) Clean Air Act Overview (EPA) Learn More You Are the City – Kaja Kühl's Practice Bio-Based Materials & Construction Resources Map City College of New York – Architecture Columbia University GSAPP Bio-Based Materials Collective https://biobasedcollective.org Thanks to our Sponsor IND HEMP

    45 min

  5. FEB 12

    Inside the Trojan Horse of Intoxicating Hemp

    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 read the hemp language in the 2018 Farm Bill, "My first thought was: We have uncontrolled THC. There is now a version of THC that is not controlled. Something could be done with this." THC is the chemical compound produced in the cannabis flower known for its psychoactive properties. Applying basic principles of math, Fontes realized that this legal THC "can be put into a product at a 10 milligram standard dose and could be shipped through the mail to anyone in the country at the time as there was no state by state blocking and interstate transport was explicitly protected," he said. Thus, the intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoid market was born. And that's where this conversation gets interesting. This isn't your typical fiber and grain hemp discussion. But if you want to understand why lawmakers are reacting, why definitions are shifting, and why the word hemp feels contested right now — you have to understand where this market came from. That's what we have in store for you in this episode. Enjoy. Learn More High Spirits Beverages drinkhighspirits.com U.S. Hemp Authority ushempauthority.org USDA Hemp Overview usda.gov/farming-and-ranching/plants-and-crops/plant-breeding/hemp HEMP Act of 2025 (Bill Text) congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2112/text Hemp Planting Predictability Act (Bill Text) congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7024/text CRS Report: The 2018 Farm Bill's Hemp Definition and Legal Framework congress.gov/crs-product/R48637 News Nuggets Italy's Industrial Hemp Seed Lines Surpass EU Germination Standards hemptoday.net/leading-italian-hemp-varieties-post-2025-germination-bounceback-after-years-of-doubts/ Hemp and Marijuana Are the Same Species — So Why the Different Laws? lpm.org/news/2026-02-03/hemp-and-marijuana-are-the-same-species-so-why-all-the-different-laws Federal Hemp Definition Shift Could Impact Fiber and Grain Markets rfdtv.com/hemp-definition-shift-threatens-fiber-and-grain-expansion Washington Still Hasn't Decided What CBD Is hemptoday.net/washington-still-hasnt-decided-what-cbd-is-as-markets-linger-in-legal-uncertainty/ Thanks to our Sponsors IND Hemp indhemp.com Americhanvre Cast Hemp americhanvre.com

    58 min

  6. FEB 5

    Spring Hemp Preview: Webinars, Short Courses, and Conferences

    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. 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 lancasterfarming.com/farming-news/conservation/data-center-developers-offered-farmer-60k-per-acre-he-preserved-the-land-instead/article_a4c0fc64-53ca-45cf-9f3e-d323515b2555.html 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 indhemp.com Americhanvre Cast Hemp americhanvre.com King's Agriseeds kingsagriseeds.com Hemp Cutter hempcutter.com

    54 min

  7. FEB 2

    Hemp in Pennsylvania: Commodity Crop or Shadow Cannabis Market?

    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 and legislators and ultimately asks a simple but important question: When "hemp" is used to describe everything, what does the word actually mean anymore? Will farmers who want to grow fiber and grain get the short end of the stick again? Listen to what the hearing revealed and why clear definitions may be the key to Pennsylvania's hemp future. SUBSCRIBE to Lancaster Farming Newspaper https://www.lancasterfarming.com/subscribe/ Learn More: Pennsylvania Hemp Program (PA Dept. of Agriculture) https://www.agriculture.pa.gov/Plants_Land_Water/industrial_hemp Video of the Hemp Industry Hearing (Pennsylvania Farm Show) https://vimeo.com/1154816396/314acd404f Center for Rural Pennsylvania (Hearing Organizer) https://www.rural.pa.gov 2018 Farm Bill – Hemp Definition (USDA) https://www.usda.gov/farmbill Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast Archive https://www.lancasterfarming.com/podcasts/hemp Thanks to our Sponsors: IND HEMP https://indhemp.com Americhanvre https://americhanvre.com King's AgriSeeds https://kingsagriseeds.com Hempcutter.com https://hempcutter.com HEMI hempinitiatives.org/

    34 min

  8. 12/30/2025

    Hemp in 2025: Cliff Hangers, Course Corrections and Community

    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 — policy advocates, farmers, processors, builders and researchers — and reflects on what the USDA data, federal decisions and on-the-ground realities revealed about the fiber, grain and building sectors. It's also a personal moment of reflection: Nearly 50 episodes, roughly 160 guests and a year spent listening closely to the people doing the slow work of building real hemp infrastructure. As the show heads into 2026, this episode pauses long enough to take stock — and to set the stage for what comes next. Get the Benton Shirt: https://smithandrogue.com/blog/the-benton-shirt-grown-and-sewn-in-usa Voices You Will Hear in This Episode Morris Beegle NoCo Hemp Expo Joy Beckerman Hemp Industries Association Chris Fontes High Spirits Cameron McIntosh Americhanvre Cast Hemp Morgan Tweet IND HEMP Jeremy Klettke Davis Hemp Farms Lynda Mugglestone University of Oxford Guy Carpenter Bear Fiber Andre West NC State Wilson College of Textiles Larry Smart Cornell University Trey Riddle IND HEMP Sandra Marquardt On the Mark Consulting Coleman Beale BastCore Satish Hodage YUJ Labs Ding Hongliang Hemp Fortex Maciej Kowalski Kombinat Konopny Dave Cook Tuscarora Mills Mark D'Sa Panda Biotech Joseph Carringer Canna Markets Group Micaela Machado Old Pueblo Hemp Co. Danny Desjarlais Lower Sioux Indian Community Matt Marino Homeland Hempcrete Steve Allin International Hemp Building Association Jacob Waddell Hemp Building Institute Thanks to our Sponsors IND HEMP indhemp.com Americhanvre Cast Hemp americhanvre.com King's AgriSeeds kingsagriseeds.com Forever Green hempcutter.com Sunray Hemp Palmer, Alaska National Hemp Association nationalhempassociation.org Hemp Education & Marketing Initiative (HEMI) hempinitiatives.org

    32 min
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About

Lancaster Farming newspaper editors talk to farmers and experts about industrial hemp.

Information

  • Creator
    Eric Hurlock, Digital Editor
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    371
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 - Lancaster Farming
  • Show Website
    Industrial Hemp Podcast

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