While full recreational cannabis legalization in Texas is still years ahead and may be reliant upon a reform on the federal level, hemp legalization went the exact opposite way. With the signing of House Bill 1325, hemp and CBD products are now effectively legalized and has greatly broadened the CBD industry in the state. What was once a controversial and highly prohibited plant despite its complete lack of possible intoxication is now all the talk among both Texan farmers and producers of CBD products.
With farming practices not suffering from excess regulation and an Agriculture Commissioner who has vowed to make Texas “a leader in hemp production”, the possibilities for the hemp industry in Texas are nearly endless.
As there’s quite a demand for hemp-related knowledge and viewpoints from qualified individuals, the Texas Cannabis Business Alliance has decided to host a panel discussion and workshop next Saturday July 27th at Cascades at The Colony focusing on the supply chain processes of the hemp industry, from “soil to oil” as TCBA describes.
“We’re going to where the market is headed,” said TCBA founder Trey Tijerina, “and where the market is headed to is education around the opportunities of hemp and CBD. Instead of just focusing on the growing, processing or distribution aspect, we’re trying to tackle the entire supply chain and educate people on the importance of it, the different options they have in terms of commerce and the different processes in the supply chain.”
The two panel discussions in the morning, one focusing on pre-harvest and the other pertaining to post-harvest, will be surrounding many specific subjects regarding the cultivation and processing of the industrial hemp plant, from harvesting and extraction methods to crop insurance for the farmers themselves and the many varying ways to produce the crop free from molds, insects or other threats to quality crops.
“The takeaways we’re trying to encourage from the pre-harvest discussion are thinking about the differences between seed, clone and seedlings, how to prep their land and how to convert the pesticide-used soil into more organic soil to grow better hemp. We’ll also discuss the business side of hemp as well and what type of business practices go into that. We’ll go over the different models that we see currently in the industry so that people know how other people are doing it.
For the post-harvest one, we’ll go into the harvesting equipment that’s used, the processes to harvest and making sure that your crops can pass any tests. We’ll also be talking about removing the fibrous material and we’ll transition to extraction methods and why they’re being used by certain businesses.”
For the panel speakers themselves, Tijerina and TCBA secured quality speakers on the subject of growing the crop both in general and in a state where it was previously prohibited. Among the very experienced panel is Hemp Sail owners Andrew Hill and Tamera Rice manage numerous hemp farms across New Mexico and Colorado and will be speaking on their experiences in running a hemp business.
“They work a lot with the field experience and problem-solving and troubleshooting for these farmers and they also work distribution by helping farmers put in an agreement and sell the products. Within the workshop, Tamera will get more in depth with what products are selling for, how to transition your product to get the most out of it and how to completely optimize the entire hemp plant and get as much of it as you can.”
Mr. Hill, the genetics, seeds and clones specialist in Hemp Sail, will be speaking about the different ways to decide on which type of seed and plant genetics one should properly seek when deciding on what type of plants one wants to cultivate depending on its usage.
As for what Tijerina hopes that the attendees take away from The Hemp Supply Chain Panel and Discussion, he provides a broad yet meaningful explanation.
“I anticipate that they’ll most definitely gain the know how in the sense that if they’re curious about doing something in hemp, they’ll have the know how from this event on how to do it. I also believe that they’re going to be gaining resources or connections or potential partners needed in order to make that happen. Because we’re constantly trying to improve our methods by keeping an open line of communication with the attendees and us trying to find out what are people’s main points or what are people’s curiosities around and what are people lacking in terms of experience, we’re trying to fill that need.”
While the workshop portion of the event is currently sold out, Tijerina still stresses the importance of the panel discussion.
“Being in the same room as people who are curious about the same thing you want to do can be beneficial because you can learn from other people’s way of thinking. I found from my experience, refining what you want to do with people who want to do it as well can be very useful.”