USDA Radio Newsline
Thursday, July 25th Stories:
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(Washington, D.C., July 25, 2019) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue; U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary Bill Northey; Acting Deputy Under Secretary Brandon Lipps; and USDA’s Chief Economist, Dr. Rob Johannson will hold an off-camera, on-the-record briefing regarding further details of the $16 billion package aimed at supporting American agricultural producers while the Administration continues to work on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals TODAY
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Press Release
USDA Announces Details of Support Package for Farmers
(Washington, D.C., July 25, 2019) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced further details of the $16 billion package aimed at supporting American agricultural producers while the Administration continues to work on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals.
In May, President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a relief strategy in line with the estimated impacts of unjustified retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods and other trade disruptions. The Market Facilitation Program (MFP), Food Purchase and Distribution Program (FPDP), and Agricultural Trade Promotion Program (ATP) will assist agricultural producers while President Trump works to address long-standing market access barriers.
“China and other nations have not played by the rules for a long time, and President Trump is the first President to stand up to them and send a clear message that the United States will no longer tolerate unfair trade practices,” Secretary Perdue said. “The details we announced today ensure farmers will not stand alone in facing unjustified retaliatory tariffs while President Trump continues working to solidify better and stronger trade deals around the globe.
“Our team at USDA reflected on what worked well and gathered feedback on last year’s program to make this one even stronger and more effective for farmers. Our farmers work hard, are the most productive in the world, and we aim to match their enthusiasm and patriotism as we support them,” Secretary Perdue added.
Background:
American farmers have dealt with unjustified retaliatory tariffs and decades of non-tariff trade disruptions, which have curtailed U.S. exports to China and other nations. Trade damages from such retaliation and market distortions have impacted a host of U.S. commodities. High tariffs disrupt normal marketing patterns, raising costs by forcing commodities to find new markets. Additionally, American goods shipped to China have been slowed from reaching market by unusually strict or cumbersome entry procedures, which affect the quality and marketability of perishable crops. These boost marketing costs and unfairly affect our producers. USDA is using a variety of programs to support American farmers, ranchers, and producers.
Details of USDA’s Market Facilitation Program (MFP)
MFP signup at local FSA offices will run from Monday, July 29 through Friday, December 6, 2019.
Payments will be made by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) under the authority of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act to producers of alfalfa hay, barley, canola, corn, crambe, dried beans, dry peas, extra-long staple cotton, flaxseed, lentils, long grain and medium grain rice, millet, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, rapeseed, rye, safflower, sesame seed, small and large chickpeas, sorghum, soybeans, sunflower seed, temperate japonica rice, triticale, upland cotton, and wheat. MFP assistance for those non-specialty crops is based on a single county payment rate multiplied by a farm’s total plantings of MFP-eligible crops in aggregate in 2019. Those per-acre payments are not dependent on which of those crops are planted in 2019. A producer’s total payment-eligible plantings cannot exceed total 2018 plantings. County payment rates range from $15 to $150 per acre, depending on the impact of unjustified trade retaliation in that county.
Dairy producers who were in business as of June 1, 2019, will receive a per hundredweight payment on production history, and hog producers will receive a payment based on the number of live hogs owned on a day selected by the producer between April 1 and May 15, 2019.
MFP payments will also be made to producers of almonds, cranberries, cultivated ginseng, fresh grapes, fresh sweet cherries, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pistachios, and walnuts. Each specialty crop will receive a payment based on 2019 acres of fruit or nut bearing plants, or in the case of ginseng, based on harvested acres in 2019.
Acreage of non-specialty crops and cover crops must be planted by August 1, 2019 to be considered eligible for MFP payments.
The MFP rule and a related Notice of Funding Availability will be published in the Federal Register on July 29, 2019, when signup begins at local FSA offices. Per-acre non-specialty crop county payment rates, specialty crop payment rates, and livestock payment rates are all currently available on farmers.gov.
MFP payments will be made in up-to three tranches, with the second and third tranches evaluated as market conditions and trade opportunities dictate. If conditions warrant, the second and third tranches will be made in November and early January, respectively. The first tranche will be comprised of the higher of either 50 percent of a producer’s calculated payment or $15 per acre, which may reduce potential payments to be made in tranches two or three. USDA will begin making first tranche payments in mid-to-late August.
MFP payments are limited to a combined $250,000 for non-specialty crops per person or legal entity. MFP payments are also limited to a combined $250,000 for dairy and hog producers and a combined $250,000 for specialty crop producers. However, no applicant can receive more than $500,000. Eligible applicants must also have an average adjusted gross income (AGI) for tax years 2014, 2015, and 2016 of less than $900,000 or, 75 percent of the person’s or legal entity’s average AGI for tax years 2014, 2015, and 2016 must have been derived from farming and ranching. Applicants must also comply with the provisions of the Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation regulations.
Many producers were affected by natural disasters this spring, such as flooding, that kept them out of the field for extended periods of time. Producers who filed a prevented planting claim and planted an FSA-certified cover crop, with the potential to be harvested qualify for a $15 per acre payment. Acres that were never planted in 2019 are not eligible for an MFP payment.
In June, H.R. 2157, the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act of 2019 was signed into law by President Trump, requiring a change to the first round of MFP assistance provided in 2018. Producers previously deemed ineligible for MFP in 2018 because they had an average AGI level higher than $900,000 may now be eligible for 2018 MFP benefits. Those producers must be able to verify 75 percent or more of their average AGI was derived from farming and ranching to qualify. This supplemental MFP signup period will run parallel to the 2019 MFP signup, from July 29 through December 6, 2019.
For more information on the MFP, visit www.farmers.gov/mfp or contact your local FSA office, which can be found at www.farmers.gov.
Details of USDA’s Food Purchase and Distribution Program (FPDP)
Additionally, CCC Charter Act authority will be used to implement an up to $1.4 billion FPDP through the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to purchase surplus commodities affected by trade retaliation such as fruits, vegetables, some processed foods, beef, pork, lamb, poultry, and milk for distribution by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to food banks, schools, and other outlets serving low-income individuals.
Purchasing:
AMS will buy affected products in four phases, starting after October 1, 2019 with deliveries beginning in January 2020. The products purchased can be adjusted between phases to accommodate changes due to: growing conditions; product availability; market conditions; trade negotiation status; and program capacity. AMS will purchase known commodities first. By purchasing in phases, procurements for commodities that have been sourced in the past can be purchased more quickly and included in the first phase.
Vendor Outreach:
To expand the AMS vendor pool and the ability to purchase new and existing products, AMS will ramp up its vendor outreach and registration efforts. AMS has also developed flyers on how the process works and how to become a vendor for distribution to industry groups and interested parties. Additionally, AMS will continue to host a series of free webinars describing the steps required to become a vendor. Stakeholders will have the opportunity to submit questions to be answered during the webinar. Recorded webinars are available to review by potential vendors, and staff will host periodic Question and Answer teleconferences to better explain the process.
Product Specifications:
AMS maintains purchase specifications for a variety of commodities, which ensure recipients receive the high-quality product they expect. AMS in collaboration with FNS regularly develops and revises specifications for new and enhanced products based on program requirements and requests. AMS will be prioritizing the development of those products impacted by unjustified retaliation. AMS will also work with industry groups to identify varieties and grades sold to China and other markets imposing retaliatory tariffs, such as premium apples, oranges, pears, and other products. AMS will develop or revise specifications to facilitate the purchase of these premium varieties in forms that meet the needs of FNS nutrition assistance programs.
Outlets:
The products discussed in this plan will be distributed to States for use in the network of food banks and food pantries that participate in The Emergency Feeding Assistance Program (TEFAP), elderly feeding programs such as the Commodity Supplemental Foods Program (CSFP), and tribes that operate the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR).
These outlets are in addition to child nutrition programs such as the National School Lunch Program, which may also benefit from these purchases.
Additionally, the rule provides flexibility for FNS to explore new channels of non-profit distribution of product, should the availability of distribution through traditional channels prove to be insufficient. FNS will offer products through traditional channels prior to consideration of new outlets.
Distribution:
AMS has coordinated with FNS, industry representatives, and other agency partners to determine necessary logistics for the purchase and distribution of each commodity, including trucking, inspection and audit requirements, and agency staffing.
Details of USDA’s Agricultural Trade Promotion Program (ATP)
USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) will administer the ATP under authorities of the CCC. The ATP will provide cost-share assistance to eligible U.S. organizations for activities such as consumer advertising, public relations, point-of-sale demonstrations, participation in trade fairs and exhibits, market research, and technical assistance. Last week, USDA awarded $100 million to 48 organizations through the ATP to help U.S. farmers and ranchers identify and access new export markets.
The 48 recipients are among the cooperator organizations that applied for $200 million in ATP funds in 2018 that were awarded earlier this year. As part of a new round of support for farmers impacted by unjustified retaliation and trade disruption, those groups had the opportunity to be considered for additional support for their work to boost exports for U.S. agriculture, food, fish, and forestry products.
Already, since the $200 million in assistance was announced in January, U.S. exporters have had significant success, including a trade mission to Pakistan that generated $10 million in projected 2019 sales of pulse crops, a new marketing program for Alaska seafood that led to more than $4 million in sales of salmon to Vietnam and Thailand, and a comprehensive marketing effort by the U.S. soybean industry that has increased exposure in more than 50 international markets. These funds will continue to generate sales and business for U.S. producers and exporters many times over as promotional activity continues for the next couple of years.
The list of ATP funding recipients is available at: https://www.fas.usda.gov/atp-funding-allocations.
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Hemp, Inc. Announces Oregon as a Leader of the New Global Hemp Industry
Las Vegas, NV, July 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Hemp, Inc. (OTC PINK: HEMP), a global leader in the industrial hemp industry with bi-coastal processing centers including the 85,000 square-foot multipurpose industrial hemp processing facility in Spring Hope, North Carolina, a state of the art processing center in Medford, Oregon, and a 500-acre hemp growing Eco-Village in Golden Valley, Arizona, announced today Oregon has grown to be a leader of the global hemp industry with more than 50,000 planted acres of hemp, making it the leader in production within the United States.
Last year, prior to the federal legalization of hemp through the Farm Bill 2018, farmers in Oregon planted around 7,000 acres of hemp, which is a 686% increase.
Oregon is a state where the Company has a one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art processing center. Recently, the Company announced the facility will house an innovative hemp flower drying system that dries flower in three days compared to the traditional drying system time of seven days. The system is also designed to maintain the critical terpene profile of the product.
“The Oregon hemp industry is booming and we are excited to be at the forefront of the industry as the acres of land dedicated to this lucrative crop grows,” said Hemp, Inc. CEO Bruce Perlowin. “Seeing the incredible increase in planted acres in just one year proves that Oregon is the state to be in and with our new system of drying flower, we know we can help this influx of Oregon farmers process their crops for smokable hemp flower faster.” Additionally, research has found that only two percent of the hemp grown meets the global demand. Perlowin hopes the company’s ventures in Oregon will help to fill this gap.
Oregon is a state where Hemp, Inc. has hosted multiple Hemp University training workshops. Farmers who are interested in the workshops can listen to The Hemp University’s west coast workshops online. The online masterclasses are $10 each and include lectures from industry leaders on informative topics pertaining to the hemp farming industry. Previous Hemp University workshops have taken place in North Carolina and Arizona.
To see 1-minute videos of Hemp, Inc.’s current activities, go to Bruce Perlowin’s personal Facebook page where he posts daily on all of Hemp, Inc.’s activities around the country.
THE GREAT AMERICAN HEMPATHON
The Great American Hempathon in Golden Valley, Arizona creates joint ventures with growers and provides each grower with a one-acre parcel to plant on, and includes the planting, maintaining, harvesting and processing of hemp plants. The Hempathon will be situated on a 500-acre ecovillage, with 300 acres designated for growing hemp. (According to executives, the best days for planting are now through August 15, 2019.)
It costs $2,000 to participate in The Great American Hempathon and winners will share in prize money, in a variety of categories. One acre has the possibility to produce up to $150,000 of net profit. This joint venture arrangement would be a sixty-forty revenue split with the Company.
The sixty-forty revenue split with Hemp, Inc. (with half of that going to the Hemp Veteran Village Kins Community) will not only generate a substantial revenue stream for Hemp, Inc. and its shareholders and the Hemp Veteran Village Kins Community, it will also generate a positive return on investment for The Great American Hempathon participants. Through this partnership, participants receive more than just a cash profit. They are afforded an opportunity to learn from industry experts from all over America over a four to six month period.
The growers are divided into teams that include a master grower who is expected to have knowledge of the plant and experience growing cannabidiol (CBD) quality hemp. The growers are responsible for supplying seeds, clones, and soil. They are also required to install an irrigation system for their parcel, provide personnel, equipment and products required to grow.
Learn more about The Great American Hempathon and the Veteran Village Kins Communities at https://www.kinscommunity.com/hemp-grow-off.
Perlowin and/or another representative will host an informational meeting inside one of the domes on the property to answer any questions about the Hempathon. This informational meeting is every Saturday at 12:00 noon.
To watch Perlowin discussing The Great American Hempathon during a Hemp University presentation, click here.
To get to the domes on the property, from Hoover Dam head southwest on Kingman Wash Access Road. Continue onto Hoover Dam Access Road. Turn left onto NV-172. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto the US-93 S ramp. Continue on US-93 S to Cottonwood Road (mile marker 45) then turn west in 2 1/2 miles onto Amana Street and go south exactly 5 miles and you will be at the property. (It's important to note that once you turn onto Cottonwood Road, you will be on well-maintained dirt roads.)
Growers interested in pursuing a joint venture for a five-acre grow can contact the Project Managers at: grow@kinscommunities.com. Or, anyone interested in attending the 2-7-day hands-on hempcrete house building should contact Dwight Jory at ecogold22@gmail.com.
WHAT IS HEMP, INC.?
What is Hemp, Inc.? With a deep-rooted social and environmental mission at its core, Hemp, Inc. seeks to build a business constituency for the American small farmer, the American veteran, and other groups experiencing the ever-increasing disparity between tapering income and soaring expenses. As a leader in the industrial hemp industry with ownership of the largest commercial multi-purpose industrial hemp processing facility in North America, Hemp, Inc. believes there can be tangible benefits reaped from adhering to a corporate social responsibility plan.
HEMP, INC.’S TEN DIVISIONS
Hemp, Inc. has been helping to build the industrial hemp infrastructure that was basically non-existent in America. There are now ten divisions:
Division One – The Industrial Hemp Infrastructure
Division Two – The Hemp Farming Infrastructure
Division Three – The Hemp Extraction Infrastructure
Division Four – The Hemp Educational Infrastructure
Division Five – The Hemp Marketing Infrastructure
Division Six – Accessories, Products and Services
Division Seven – Research and Development
Division Eight – Industrial Hemp Investments and Joint Ventures
Division Nine – Industrial Hemp Consulting
Division Ten – Entertainment
Division One – The Industrial Hemp Infrastructure
The Industrial Hemp Infrastructure (Division One) currently consists of two hemp processing facilities across the country, with two more under development, which will include an in-house third party testing laboratory. The largest of the two is its multi-purpose industrial hemp processing facility and milling operation in Spring Hope, North Carolina. It’s the largest “industrial hemp processing center” in the western hemisphere and has grown to become one of the pre-eminent centers of the industrial hemp industry. The 85,000 square foot facility sits on a 9-acre campus. It is environmentally sustainable and was built from the ground up in hopes of “Making America Hemp Again." With a patent pending manufacturing process, the North Carolina facility is operating to process millions of pounds of our unique kenaf, hemp blend, to manufacture an all green natural loss circulation materials (LCMs) that are to be sold to the oil and gas drilling industry, along with an all green natural oil spill absorbent, a second industrial hemp/kenaf product called Spill-Be-Gone.
(To see a one-minute video of the millions of pounds of kenaf, go to Bruce Perlowin's personal Facebook page, September 7th, 11th, 13th, 20th and 22nd, 2018.)
In addition to the company’s industrial hemp processing facility in Spring Hope, North Carolina, Hemp, Inc. also has one of the most sophisticated local processing centers (LPC) in Medford, Oregon which focuses on hemp harvesting, drying, curing, trimming, bagging, storing, and in some cases selling high CBD hemp for the local farmers and for our own hemp grows in that area, and post processing for the CBD industry.
Hemp, Inc. also has 4,500 acres of land in Golden Valley, Arizona. Out of the 4,500 acres of land, 500 acres have currently been designated for the Veteran Village Kins Community (VVKC). Hemp, Inc. is preparing 300 of those 500 acres for hemp cultivation. The company aims to boost the economies of these towns by offering affordable hemp processing services, which incentivizes local growers to add hemp to their crop rotation. The company is continuing to scout new locations for local processing centers in Florida, Puerto Rico, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and several other states.
Thus far, Hemp, Inc.’s Local Processing Center (LPC) in Oregon has created over 200 seasonal jobs as well as many year-round jobs.
Division Two – The Hemp Farming Infrastructure
The Hemp Farming Infrastructure (Division Two) consists of hundreds of acres of hemp and kenaf growing in multiple locations, farm equipment, cloning rooms, clones and seeds, grow rooms, greenhouses, hemp drying facilities and a huge amount of peripheral farming tools and equipment. (Some of this farming infrastructure can be seen on Bruce Perlowin's personal Facebook page in some of his older posts from Sept. 8th, Aug. 30th, 19th, 15th - 11th, 9th and 4th, July 31st, 29th, 21st - 16th, 2018.)
Hemp, Inc. also has a model “Small Family Farm” in North Carolina situated on 12 acres that consists of a cloning room, a greenhouse, and enough land to grow 2,000-3,000 high CBD hemp plants. (This model farm can be seen on Bruce Perlowin's Facebook page, in the Aug. 22nd - 26th, 2018 posts.) By showing farmers how to grow high CBD hemp plants, operate a greenhouse and turn a barn into a cloning room to earn $500,000 a year, the “Small Family Farm” can reappear on the American landscape. After all, the original small family farms in America were able to survive economically by growing hemp as their main cash crop and the first 5 presidents of the United States were all hemp farmers.
According to Perlowin, the company is preparing to grow on up to 50 acres of land in Oregon, some acres in Arizona, 50 of acres in NC (combination of hemp and kenaf), and an undetermined amount in Puerto Rico. He says collective sales from all these grows will be extremely significant in terms of pre-rolls, high CBD buds, distillate, isolate and biomass. “By 2020, we anticipate the main function of the company will be sales and marketing as we will have completed the infrastructure to support that sales and marketing. Right now, I believe we have the largest footprint with vertical integration in the hemp industry in America today. We are always looking for joint ventures where we have or can expand our footprint,” commented Perlowin.
Moreover, “A to Z” services for the farmers are available - from harvesting to drying, bagging, curing, storing, nitrogen sparging, machine trimming, hand trimming, and selling, creating a “one stop shop” for the small to large family farms. And with the soon-to-be addition of our third party, on-site testing labs from Digipath Labs, local farmers can do their testing, processing and selling in the same place. Digipath brings their proprietary ISO-17025:2017 accredited standard operating procedures and testing protocols, to establish, maintain, and operate each lab.
Digipath will bring state-of-the-art equipment, lab expertise, proprietary operating procedures and management to Hemp, Inc.’s rapidly growing locations to ensure the highest quality of goods before entering the marketplace. They will provide all necessary laboratory-expertise and related management services to develop and operate each Lab, including purchasing and maintenance of the laboratory instrumentation, as well as hiring and comprehensive training of lab personnel.
Without an in-house, third-party testing laboratory, products in need of testing would need to be transported off site, which could mean waiting days or even weeks for results. The addition of Digipath at Hemp, Inc.’s production centers will expedite testing processes and further support new business developments.
Part of Division Two is the Great American Hemp Grow-Off on the Veteran Village Kins Community in Golden Valley, Arizona. The description of the grow off can be found below.
Division Three – The Hemp Extraction Infrastructure
The Hemp CBD Oil Extraction Infrastructure (Division Three) originally consisted of a Supercritical C02 Extractor. After operating for over a year it has been determined that Hemp, Inc. will be upgrading to a much larger and advanced alcohol extraction process. These large-scale extractors are expected to be placed in all additional hemp processing arenas, thus completing this part of building the industrial hemp infrastructure. The CBD oil that we extracted from our 2018 hemp grows in North Carolina has been made into pure crystalline CBD isolate which we will add to our King of Hemp branded line of pre-rolls to bring to the marketplace and a pre-roll fortified with pure crystalline CBD isolate.
Division Four – The Hemp Educational Infrastructure
The Hemp Educational Infrastructure (Division Four) includes Hemp, Inc.'s Hemp University which focuses on educating and empowering Hemp farmers and entrepreneurs with knowledge, processing, infrastructure and support. The educational seminars, through the Hemp University, are held periodically and teach farmers and landowners how to create a profitable income stream by maximizing the per-acre crop revenue. Through this division, Hemp, Inc. has trained well over 500 farmers in its first two years by doing six Hemp University seminars in North Carolina.
In March 2019, Hemp, Inc. completed the first west coast Hemp University in Oregon, which helped educate attendees about the various opportunities that have become available for Southern Oregon residents and farmers. The all-day educational seminar brought like-minded people together to discuss and learn from experts in the trade.
With the exceptional response to the first west coast Hemp University, Hemp, Inc. held the second set of educational seminars in Oregon. This event was titled “Pre-Planting Support Workshop”, and was held May 4, 2019. This educational seminar was hosted prior to Oregon’s hemp planting season and was designed to educate attendees on planting, feminized seeds, clones, soil amendments, organic fertilizers and more. Vendors at this workshop had most of these items on sale just in time for the 2019 planting season.
The Hemp University seminars are intended to educate farmers, entrepreneurs or investors on how to grow a lucrative cash crop. For those interested in attending, presenting or showcasing at the next Hemp University, please contact Sophia Blanton at hempu@hempinc.com.
To see short videos of The Hemp University educational seminars, go to Bruce Perlowin’s Facebook page starting with the March 23, 2019 post and those following that date.
According to executives, there are also plans in the near future to expand The Hemp University to Puerto Rico through a variety of different formats and to Arizona. The eco-village in Arizona will serve as the venue for upcoming 2-day interactive and hands-on camping events which will focus on building with hemp-crete and other hemp construction materials, as well as growing hemp and the various aspects of organic gardening/farming.
“Since The Hemp University’s initial launch with the educational symposium, the number of attendees has grown tremendously and it has been an overwhelming success, each time. The interactive, hands-on learning approach is invaluable. By learning in an interactive cohort format, students gain the necessary skills they need to immediately implement them on their farm or in their organization. It’s the perfect mix of quality instruction, relevant educational content and a high level of commitment, to ensure the educational success of each attendee,” said Perlowin.
Thus far, The Hemp University has helped transform the livelihoods of North Carolina and Oregon farmers transitioning from tobacco to industrial hemp, in North Carolina and from medical and recreational marijuana to industrial hemp in Oregon by providing them with the tools and support needed to gain a foothold in this burgeoning industry.
Division Five – The Hemp Marketing Infrastructure
While marketing is a critical facet of any business operation for increasing revenues, Hemp, Inc. believes there must be a keen focus on the infrastructure first. The demand for CBD and hemp products is massive; some even say the demand is insatiable. In order to supply that type of volume/demand, there has to be a strong foundation or infrastructure in place. While Hemp, Inc. is poised to grow a rock solid Hemp Marketing Infrastructure, CEO Perlowin reminds us that this infrastructure has to be able to support a meteoric industry growth. The hemp-derived CBD market is expected to hit $591 million early this year, and it may grow 40 times this size—to $22 billion by 2022, according to the Brightfield Group report. “This is why we focus on infrastructure, at the moment, more so than specific marketing activities,” says Perlowin. “Specific marketing activities isn’t the issue. The ability to grow, process and produce what the marketplace is demanding is the issue and hence the reason we are focusing on creating the infrastructure first.”
The company has also recently joint-ventured with retail store Hemp Healthcare, in Dolan Springs, Arizona, to sell high-end cannabidiol (CBD) and hemp-based products. Hemp Healthcare is home to an array of renowned CBD and hemp products, including Hemp, Inc.’s cosmetic and wellness line that includes shampoos, lotions, candles and more. The retail storefront is conveniently located off Highway 93 in Arizona, in a highly trafficked tourist area. Specifically located on Pierce Ferry Road, Hemp Healthcare is next to Dolan Station – a location that welcomes numerous tour buses daily with visitors from around the world that stop there on trips to the Grand Canyon.
Division Six – Accessories, Products and Services
Division Six focuses on the sale of hemp accessories such as the sale of extractors, harvesters, storage bags, containers, fertilizer, soil amendments, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, balers, greenhouses, and greenhouse equipment; the drying, trimming, curing, storing and brokering for other farmers harvesting hemp; and ultimately anything else a hemp farmer may need to be successful.
“What we found is that people are always looking for hundreds of items. New harvesting equipment and new extraction technologies,” said Perlowin.
Division Seven – Research and Development
While Research and Development has been an integral part of Hemp, Inc. since day one, a more formal research and development project is planned to begin in Puerto Rico this year. Hemp, Inc. met with many Puerto Rican officials to get an idea of what the regulations to grow hemp would be and start the process to gain permits to grow as soon as possible. The main focus in Puerto Rico is to first get a contract for land with an agriculture license to grow hemp. Several land opportunities have been identified and are in negotiations. The second focus is to find a building(s) suitable for drying facilities and extraction units. Because of the devastation from the last 2 hurricanes and the economic downfall in Puerto Rico, there are many buildings available. Many of the regions have buildings to offer at very affordable prices. Hemp Inc. has visited many properties and have several that would be suitable for hemp processing purposes.
In December 2018, Hemp Inc. was invited to participate in a study on hemp by the University of Mayaguez. Hemp, Inc. was chosen as one of the two private growers to participate in the study. The private study will include testing 3 different soil amendments, 4 different cultivars, various spacing scenarios, water usage and numerous other important growing data. The study will give Hemp, Inc. access to the database created by the study, which will contain important data on growing hemp in the Puerto Rican environments.
Many important connections have been made already, including meeting with the Department of Agriculture. Puerto Rico is ready for a game changer like hemp to help their economic struggles. As of February 12, 2019, the Governor of Puerto Rico signed a bill making hemp legal. This could really speed things up for Hemp, Inc. especially considering the fact that Puerto Rico has three growing seasons, as opposed to one in almost all the other states.
Division Eight – Industrial Hemp Investments and Joint Ventures
Hemp, Inc. recently established the eighth division (Industrial Hemp Investments and Joint Ventures). Since the passing of the hemp bill, Hemp, Inc. has been flooded with inquiries of people who want to invest in the hemp industry but don’t know where to start. As the Avant-guard of the industrial hemp industry, Hemp, Inc. has put together numerous joint venture investment opportunities for the medium to large-scale investor. Those who are interested should email ir@hempinc.com. Multi-million dollar, and in some cases billionaires and billion dollar hedge funds, are aggressively trying to get into the hemp industry since the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill. Our joint venture agreements are that they put up the money and we put up the expertise in a 50/50 revenue share. This will save the large-scale hemp investor two years and dozens of mistakes that they will make without an expert in the hemp industry. This is where Hemp, Inc.’s vast network and resources in the industrial hemp industry come into play because this is something that can easily be provided.
Division Nine – Industrial Hemp Consulting
Hemp, Inc.’s Industrial Hemp and Medical Marijuana Consulting Company (IHMMCC) was recently restructured as its ninth division and is now “Division Nine - Industrial Hemp Consulting”. With an influx of public companies wanting to expand into the industrial hemp industry, Hemp, Inc. has been inundated with potential consulting agreements. To keep up, Hemp, Inc. revamped its consulting division to work hands-on with each company to provide its years of expertise. According to Perlowin, there is definitely a sense of a “Community of Companies” whereby a lot of companies are working together to pool their resources, marketing connections and strategies in order to grow simultaneously.
Typically, companies seeking in depth consulting services from Hemp, Inc. pay mostly in stock since cash flow is oftentimes tight during the developmental stage of start-up companies in this industry. Through Hemp, Inc.’s Division Nine – Industrial Hemp Consulting, a wide range of services are forged from the experiences of creating the first publicly trading company in the cannabis sector (Medical Marijuana, Inc.) and having well over a decade of experience in the cannabis industry’s public sector. Perlowin, Hemp, Inc.’s chief executive officer also has over five decades in the industry itself.
Division Ten - Entertainment
Hemp, Inc.’s newest division, Entertainment, will cover everything from investing in the movie The King of Pot and other historical movies representing our industry up to the docuseries on the Modern Day History of Hemp. Those interested investing in either one of these ventures should contact Project Manager Chris Tinney at 855-554-6834 or via email chris@christinney.com.
SOCIAL NETWORKS
http://www.facebook.com/hempinc (Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot (Bruce Perlowin’s Facebook Page)
https://www.hempincpresents.com (Hemp, Inc.’s YouTube Channel)
FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER AND DISCLOSURES
This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. To clarify the issue of OTC placing a stop sign next to Hemp, Inc.’s stock trading symbol, that symbol indicates Hemp, Inc. does not report their financials. As a non-reporting pink sheet company, Hemp, Inc. is not required to report. The company does, however, choose to publicly report its quarterly and yearly financials on its website. According to the company’s CEO, the OTC stop sign is a misrepresentation of that reporting fact. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties.
Hemp, Inc.
855-436-7688
ir@hempinc.com
Source: Hemp, Inc.
© 2019 GlobeNewswire, Inc.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 24, 2019
Sen. Lee Responds to DOJ Review of Online Platforms
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) issued the following statement Wednesday in response to the Department of Justice’s Tuesday announcement that the Department’s Antitrust Division would begin a review of market-leading online platforms.
“The recent announcement by the Antitrust Division that it will conduct a review of competitive conditions in the online marketplace further highlights the absurdity of having two federal agencies responsible for civil antitrust enforcement. Indeed, what’s evident from this latest institutional tug-of-war is that the Antitrust Division and FTC are now actively battling each other to take the lead in pursuing Big Tech,” Sen. Lee said.
“While it is laudable that our antitrust enforcers are seeking to root out potential anticompetitive conduct in the tech industry, their duplicative reviews will inevitably waste government resources and lead to the agencies taking contradictory positions on the same issues. Moreover, without clear guidance, dual enforcement will leave industry in confusion as to what to expect from regulators or even what laws will specifically apply to their operations,” Sen. Lee continued.
“In such an important area of the economy as technology, effective antitrust enforcement is critical. I look forward to exploring these issues when the Antitrust Subcommittee holds is oversight hearing on September 17,” Sen. Lee finished.
An online version of this release can be found here.
Communications Director
Conn Carroll
(202) 224-9377
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Dear Editor:
Please consider this commentary by veteran journalist Robert Koehler on how America treats refugees--government and the people. For PeaceVoice, thank you,
Tom Hastings
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The strongest people on the planet
by Robert Koehler
986 words
“Send her back! Send her back!”
The chant: Is it merely a case study in collective stupidity or is it a signal of rising fascism? When I look at the viral video — the latest manifestation of Trumpism and the freeing of good old American racism from the constraints of political correctness — I can’t help but think of the 8-year-old girl I met the other day, who traveled two years with her mother to reach this country from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The child, whose name I can’t use because her asylum case is still pending, lives with her mom, for the time being, at what is known as the House of Hospitality, a residence for refugees in Cicero, Illinois, just outside Chicago, that is run by the Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants. This not-for-profit organization was founded a dozen years ago by two Sisters of Mercy to bring hope and crucial aid — legal, financial, spiritual — to emigrant detainees warehoused in various detention centers around Chicago.
The little girl is the face of struggle and courage, the embodiment of hope and interconnectedness. She is the refutation not merely of the chanting Trump supporters but of the nation’s bureaucratic cruelty and indifference to the plight and humanity of the global refugee flow, to the people who are seeking not simply “a better life” in the United States of America, but, as ICDI development director Ed Pratt put it, a life . . . a life!
I met recently with Ed, along with the organization’s executive director, Melanie Schikore, to learn about the work of ICDI and get a sense of the compassionate counterforce that exists in this country — a force in opposition to the concentration camps and ICE raids and “send her back” chants that dominate the news. A huge segment of the American population cares deeply about the refugees’ fate and welcomes them in every way possible.
The two nuns who founded ICDI in 2007 did so after being denied admittance to a detention center in Broadview, west of Chicago, where they had hoped to connect with detained refugees, many of whom were separated from their families, and see how they could help. Undeterred, they worked with other religious organizations — Christian, Jewish and Muslim — and eventually got a law passed in Illinois that gave detainees access to pastoral visitation.
At present, ICDI has over 350 volunteers who last year made over 8,000 visits to detention centers to provide solidarity and support to detainees. They have also been a court presence at immigration hearings. And the organization runs the House of Hospitality, which is currently providing housing for 15 refugees from 14 different countries.
Alas, ICDI recently lost its lease at the Cicero location — the building is a former convent owned by the Archdiocese of Chicago — and is now looking for a new site. They hope to find a building that will allow them to accommodate more families, which is currently the major need out there. Often families cannot be reunited unless they have housing and such housing is in pitifully short supply nationwide.
All of which brings me back to the 8-year-old girl I met last week. Perhaps I can call her “S.” Her story transcends anything I can imagine, even though only a small piece of it is known.
“S” and her mother fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo because her mother had been tortured there. They crossed the Atlantic (somehow: this part of their story is unknown) and arrived in Brazil. They then proceeded to walk from Brazil to the United States. In all, the journey took two years.
When they got here, rather than being welcomed with open arms, mother and child were yanked apart. The separation lasted four and a half months. They were only allowed to reunite because they had been able to attain housing.
“They reunited in our stairwell,” Ed said. The cries as they embraced tore people’s hearts. “They were like animal groans.”
Here’s what else I learned about “S”: She speaks five languages! Two of them, Lingala and French, are native to her home country. On the journey with her mother, she also picked up Portuguese, Spanish and, eventually, English.
The child I met was sheer 8-year-old — shy and charming and utterly huggable. Her English was flawless. So, apparently, is her Spanish. As Ed noted, she once served as translator for him with the Cuban cooks who work at the Hospitality House. His own Spanish wasn’t adequate to convey something to them, but “S” stepped in as translator and did the job. As I listened to this, my sense of awe kept expanding. This child, who has spent a huge piece of her life journeying with her mother, has gotten a global education. Her classroom has been the planet itself.
Being an emigrant, said Melanie “is an incredible journey. They’re pioneers! We hear so many stories. I frequently have the thought, I couldn’t survive that.
“Every story is different. All are heart-wrenching. Everyone has a story that, if you knew it, would break your heart. They are the strongest people on the planet. Who wouldn’t want them? They chose to come and made it.”
She added: “We’re all interconnected. If we don’t understand that we’re global citizens and need to take care of one another, then we’re doomed.”
What if this were government policy? ICE has an annual budget of around $7.5 billion, which is spent in absolute denial of our interconnectedness. It “protects” the country by defining emigrants as aliens and denying them virtually all basic rights.
In counterpoint to this sort of policy were the words that accompanied an elderly woman’s $25 donation to ICDI. She wrote on her check: “Your work is more important than my food.”
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Robert Koehler(koehlercw@gmail.com), syndicated by PeaceVoice, is a Chicago award-winning journalist and editor. He is the author of Courage Grows Strong at the Wound.
