NOCO CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS INCREASED VALUE OF HEMP FOR FARMERS, RURAL ENTREPRENEURS. MARIJUANA & CBD FADE AS KEY TOPICS
4/13/24. ESTES PARK, CO.
THE 10th annual NoCo Hemp Expo concluded today. Although it was smaller than in previous years, especially pre-pandemic, the tone has shifted away from marijuana and CBD to more practical aspects of hemp related to fiber, animal feed and environmental remediation. CEED Media was introduced to attendees who represent the foundation of a hemp industry renaissance, to deal with the housing crisis, rural economies and PFAS remediation. Our expectations to meet the emerging hemp fiber industry were exceeded, as CEED Media will continue the energy of NoCo, to be promoted outside the hemp-friendly state of Colorado, year round. Indeed, we discovered that amazing progress is being made across the US, with small and large entrepreneurs bringing forward their hemp construction or processing technologies to homebuilders and communities that need better housing options than the typical cracker-box developments are providing.
Stay tuned to The Bridge Blog for stories written by these companies that is not being covered elsewhere. They will give you a first-hand view of what's possible in America with our can-do tradition of optimism that makes America great, and the politicians will be trying to catch up.
HEMP & THE HOUSING CRISIS
Starter homes are still too rare and too expensive, even in small towns where young families are needing a vision of ownership, which starts with a house, or at least shelter that is suitable, and not their parent's basement, a van or cardboard box. Very promising solutions are emerging right now that we will be covering in more detail, as we get to know these companies and tell their stories, about how hemp is already impacting rural communities in New Jersey, northern Illinois, Nebraska and out in the vast plains of Minnesota, where the Lower Sioux tribe has proven what may be the first circular model of hemp housing. Circular meaning that they grow the hemp, process it and build the houses onsite. They're getting excellent media coverage because it shows what's possible with innovation, never mind that these are the Lakota people taking the lead on a new path forward for rural development in the country that is their native homeland. There is a lot of irony here, and a sense of justice that is historic. But let's not get political, quite yet.
Much of the NoCo conference covered high-level issues of legislation and regulatory headaches that agencies like the FDA continue to use to seemingly thwart progress. One example of such FDA stupidity is about hemp animal feed, and the proposed requirements that all such feed must have zero THC. Keep in mind that this is the same FDA that let pass decades of PFAS chemicals to saturate our world and our bodies, and for which some growers are now proposing to remove using hemp for soil remediation. Also keep in mind that the apparent goal is to keep the evil THC molecule out of animal's feed, even while they are fed antibiotics, hormones and eat grass often contaminated with dioxin and mercury from coal-fired power plants. Is there a bit of neo-Reefer Madness going on among politicians and moralistic bureaucrats?
Thanks for reading. We try to keep these posts brief and relevant, so I will sign out and advise that you keep The Bridge Blog on your browser bar favorites so you can witness firsthand a new industry being born.
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