With hemp’s production potential to become quite the cash crop for Texan farmers, it’s important that organizations form to represent those farmers and allow those farmers to network and interact with like-minded business owners operating outside of a farm space. Luckily for both Texas hemp professionals and Texas Cannabis Collective’s upcoming meeting, one such organization has formed and will be one of the featured speakers at the August meeting.
Being a small boutique hemp farmer himself, Zack Maxwell was a perfect candidate to found an organization whose purpose is representing the best interests of Texas hemp farmers, processors and retailers. Founded in 2019 in the aftermath of the 2018 Farm Bill which descheduled hemp, it’s an organization formed at quite the useful and advantageous time; a new era when a previously prohibited yet multi-useful crop can now be legally cultivated in a state with the strongest agricultural backbone in the country.
Maxwell felt an especially personal connection towards this crop, as his late father who suffered from a rare muscle condition had quite adverse side effects from the traditionally prescribed opiates. Switching over to newly legal CBD for his father’s pain management, Maxwell saw the medicinal potential in this crop. While his father sadly passed away from a heart attack only two months after Maxwell and he initiated the process of starting a CBD company and then their operation was devastated by banking problems due to cannabis’ federal status, Maxwell’s interest and growing advocacy for this crop’s many possibilities only increased.
“My introduction was just CBD oil.” Maxwell explained. “It’s only with a little more investigation that you learn about the plant behind it. Through my own research and drive to continue to be a resource here in the industry despite banking concerns, we decided to start Texas Hemp Growers.”
Hitting the ground running already and meeting with over 1500 Texas farmers since their founding about hemp cultivation, Texas Hemp Growers has simultaneously become focused on lobbying and staying up to date on the happenings of the wild battleground that is the Texas Legislature.
“We’re making sure that protecting the industry from overregulation and overtaxation and ultimately, smokable hemp bans and delta 8 bans that affect their bottom line. The foundation of our organization has been education and making sure people are aware of not just how to do it but the risks and potential rewards and navigating complex markets.”
Although Maxwell’s passion for hemp stands from his father’s story and pain relief from hemp, he recognizes the drive for the plant’s industrial uses too. I’ve frequently made jokes about industrial hemp being similar to the genius businessman The Onceler’s thneeds in Dr. Seuss’ magnum opus The Lorax, yet those jokes aren’t made for no reason. Maxwell too sees the many ways that hemp can be utilized and how Texas’ juggernaut agricultural backbone and infrastructure could support one of the strongest hemp and cannabis productions in America.
“I think Texas is a strong contender to grow high-grade cannabis all around because of all the greenhouse space. I know there’s a big push for industrial processing and we have industries that can help drive that. We have strong dairy and oil industries and oil refineries. When you’re talking large-scale agriculture with farmers and co-ops with the potential to grow up to tens of thousands of acres, we have that ability in this state. All those working together makes for an environment that is welcoming for industrial applicants.”
Maxwell also says that the oil and dairy industries would benefit in their own respective right with hemp’s potential for biofuel production and hemp grain which can be fed to livestock.
“Between the greenhouse space and between our knowledge and respect for agriculture in this industry and larger industrial complexes here in this state gives us somewhat of an edge to make hemp a viable rotational crop.”
Although Maxwell admits he doesn’t see hemp as the crop that will absolutely revolutionize the Texas agricultural industry as The Lone Star State knows it, hemp could serve as another source of crops for our country’s best farmers to make a living from.
And true to the adage associated with non-profit organization work, Texas Hemp Growers is putting its money where its mouth is.
“We also raised $16,000 last year amongst our members to donate to the fight over the smokable hemp lawsuit. We’re doing a second round of fundraising right now to raise $50,000.”
With a membership of over 250 mainly consisting of farmers, Texas Hemp Growers also has membership from all sections of the hemp supply chain, from processors to even attorneys. Maxwell prides himself on his openness as an organization founder as well and gladly will answer and assist any matters that members may have, from referrals for certain services to networking and even simple inquiries.
Furthermore, Maxwell and the organization’s vice president Sondra Huddleston are making sure that the organization stays true to the crop that’s featured in their name, Texas hemp. Through their “Buy Texas Hemp” marketing program, hemp products truly grown and processed in Texas can receive a Certified Texas Grown seal of authenticity. As hemp products being imported from other states more experienced in hemp production is both fully legal as of 2019 and quite commonplace in Texas.
With the “Buy Texas Hemp” program, Texas Hemp Growers hopes to further strengthen the focus on Texan farmers and in-state hemp production that Commissioner Sid Miller promised so many times during House Bill 1325’s path to Governor Abbott’s desk. With this seal of authenticity, consumers and suppliers will know that these products support Texas farmers and professionals in growing and developing the supply chain of the multi-faceted crop for Texans and Texan businesses as opposed to out-of-state cultivators.
“The Buy Texas Hemp program is not only about putting these certified Texas products on store shelves, but it’s also about elevating these retailers and processors and manufacturers to put their money where their mouth is and they buy Texas hemp.”
At the meeting on Wednesday, Maxwell will be speaking about the recent ongoing smokable hemp ban lawsuit and the state of the hemp industry in Texas. Given his wealth of knowledge and network of Texas hemp farmers, Maxwell’s perspective into the trenches and daily struggles and triumphs of Texas farmers is unlike anyone else. Along with the existing knowledge in the room on hemp and cannabis, it’ll be quite an informative meeting.