Donald Trump and hemp in 2018

It's been almost a year since I posted. Sorry for the long hiatus.
Presently I'm in the US, where hemp was first banned for so long, but is now legal
according to federal law, giving states the right to grow it. And many states have opted
to make it legal along with medical and recreational cannabis.
Which two are grown in abundance; while industrial hemp is not much talked about.
The left, which appropriates environmental issues, has been missing in action. The right, which
is accused of being a bunch of nasty, polluting haters, has backed hemp.
The left has also been proven to be full of child molesters, spies, sexual harassers, you name it.
Not that the GOP does not have its share. But the mile long list of lefty Hollywood celebs and their allies, including members of the Clinton and Obama family, makes one wonder why they can make any claim to environmental issues. And none are wearing hemp; save Woody Harrelson, whose name has not appeared on any of the sexual harassment claims. OK, a few others as well; but what did they know and when did they know it? Should we belive Katie Couric and her claims that she knew nothing of Matt Lauer's lewd acts? That his office-cum-dungeon was a complete secret?

I'd believe her more if she was wearing hemp; not cotton. Which is a crop the left loves, reference if you will a previous post about the cottonistas and their show in London. Cotton kills. The left wears it. The left started the Vietnam War, supported slavery, sent back the St. Louis to Hitler, etc etc.

But I did not want to start the year just bashing the left. I spent years trying to work with them, and indeed marched against the Vietnam War in my youth, etc etc. But the left in the US and elsehwhere has proven to be not much more than the party of a certain vegetarian, which promised peace and love while calling itself the socialist workers... of Germany.

So who pick up the plow and sow hemp? Could Mr Trump and his adorable deplorables get the job done? We'll see. For now they are at least producing a pro hemp shirt, on hemp cloth of course, so the GOP is the only party I see working with the issue. And where are the Greens? Again, reference previous posts on this site. Mrs Stein is counting her millions somewhere, which were supposed to be spent getting Trump out of office but which I suspect she spent on petroleum stocks.

More on the hemp shirt shortly, so stay tuned, and feel free to post any comments.

Hemp now blocked by drug addicts in Oregon

Just after posting the other day about a hemp planting in Kentucky, this news came in re Oregon, which, sadly, has the ironic fact that it is now the medical marijuana farmers who are an impediment to industrial hemp. How many of the medical marijuana users are for real? And how many are selfish drug addicts? Who might be the real reason hemp is still illegal in most states, rather than the government.

Industrial hemp is off to a slow start, and the Oregon Legislature may throw up more hurdles, but growers are optimistic.

Cliff Thomason’s goal is to be growing 10,000 acres of industrial hemp in five years. But right now he’s dealing with opposition from medical marijuana growers and Oregon legislators.

Thomason is among the first growers licensed by the state to raise hemp, which lacks the THC levels that gets pot smokers high but is valued because it can be used to make a wide variety of food, health and fiber products.

Thomason’s Oregon Hemp Co. has grow operations in Murphy and near Grants Pass, in Southwest Oregon, and he is negotiating to sharecrop space on an organic farm near Scio, in the Willamette Valley.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture has issued 13 hemp licenses, but it’s unclear how many growers have a crop in the ground this summer.

Thomason said growers are hampered by infrastructure and political problems. First, it’s difficult to obtain seed, although Thomason said he has seed from China, Lithuania, Slovakia and Germany. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” he said.

The Oregon Legislature is another matter. Medical marijuana growers in Southern Oregon believe pollen from industrial hemp will contaminate their potent pot and reduce THC levels. A bill in the Legislature would force a 5-mile separation between hemp and pot growers.

Hemp growers say that would essentially prohibit them from growing, because so many pot plots fill the area.

Thomason said he’s trying to be a good neighbor by keeping pollen-bearing male hemp plants in greenhouses and transplanting only females outdoors.

“I keep saying that with responsible farming practices, it will regulate itself,” he said.

Thomason described himself as “truly an accidental farmer” who was asked to help find seed and land for the hemp industry because of his real estate background.

“When I did, we formed a company to move the project forward,” he said.

He said his plants are growing rapidly and are intended for the medical market. The German seeds seem to do the best, perhaps because its climate is similar to Oregon’s, he said.

The other licenses issued so far are:

27B Stroke6 Farm, Corvallis; American Hemp Seed Genetics, Salem; Cannalive Organics, Yamhill County; Central Coast Enterprises, Seal Rock; Genesis Media Works, Baker County; Hemp for Victory Gardens, Wilsonville; Hughes Farms LLC, Bend; Integrative Health Source, Corvallis; Mark McKay Farms, St. Paul; Oregon Agriculture Food and Rural Consortium, Eagle Point; Went to Seed LLC., Bend; and Wildhorse Creek Hacienda, Adams.

UPCOMING EIHA EVENT

9th International Conference of the European Industrial Hemp Association
May 23th-24th, 2012, Wesseling, Germany
The 9th International Conference of the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA). Don't miss the biggest event on industrial hemp in 2012 - worldwide! The conference will present the latest technology developments and applications of industrial hemp for bio-composites, food, feed, insulation and construction. The almost finished program can be found here. Anyone is invited to participate - not only members of the EIHA. More information here

UPCOMING EIHA MEET IN GERMANY

Dear Experts on Hemp and Natural Fibres,
we would like to invite you to the 8th Conference of the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA), on May 18th-19th, 2011 at Wesseling near Cologne, Germany: www.eiha.org/8
Bio-Composites - like bio-based plastics - show a two digit growth each year. The conference will present the newest technology developments and market penetration of hemp and other natural fibres reinforced plastics.
The EIHA Conference is now established as the largest meeting of experts on industrial hemp in Europe and indeed world - wide. Specialists from all over the world will meet in order to exchange information regarding the latest developments in hemp and in other natural fibres and moreover on the applications for fibres, shivs, seeds and oil. Participants will range from cultivation consultants, primary and further processors, traders, mechanical engineers and investors to numerous small and medium-sized enterprises and to international automotive companies and suppliers. The conference language will be English. We expect 150 international participants from 30 countries.
Exhibition
You are welcome to present your latest products, technologies or developments, book a stand and a bulletin board now for only 200 EUR (plus 19% VAT). Please contact: Mr. Dominik Vogt, phone: +49(0)2233-4814-49, email: dominik.vogt@nova-institut.de
Preliminary programme
Overview talks
Mark Reinders (HempFlax BV, The Netherlands):HempFlax from pioneer to professional
Ilze Baltina (Riga Technical University, Institute of Textile Material Technologies and Design, Latvia):Hemp fiber properties and production in Latvia
Patrick de Ceuster (wervel, Belgium):Hemp production and transformation in Belgium
Michael Carus (nova-Institut GmbH, Germany):Hemp fibres for green products - an assessment of life cycle studies on hemp fibre applications
Breeding, Cultivation and Harvesting
Fei-Hu Liu (Yunnan University, China): Nondestructive forecasting of fiber content in hemp bast
Prof. Ming Yang (Hemp Research Center, Institute of Industrial Crops, YAAS, China): Breeding and cultivation of Industrial Hemp in China
Gianpolo Grassi (Industrial crop research center (CIN), Italy): Dew retting of hemp in Italy using a new variety and an improved harvesting technique
Construction
Marc Beutnagel (MEHA Dämmstoff und Handels GmbH, Germany): Meha hemp insulation - the natural way to insulate!
Bio-Composites
Michael Carus (nova-Institut GmbH, Germany): Bio-Composites
Bernd Frank (Badische Naturfaseraufbereitung GmbH, Germany) & Lena Scholz (nova-Institut GmbH, Germany): Hemp pelletes for injection moulding
Terry Barman (Tokn Hemp Products, Ireland): Hemp Fibre Composites
Dr. Johanne Denault (IMI/CNRC, Canada): Fiber treatment, formulation and processing technologies for optimum performance of hemp fibre thermoplastic composites
Gordon Scheifele (Ontario Hemp Alliance, Canada): Fast, inexpensive field test for THC evaluation in the field and field evaluation for fatty acids (OMEGA 3 & 6) in Canadian Hemp Varieties
Pierre Amadieu (Start hemp, France): Long fiber extraction for composite reinforcement and textile yarn
Martin Snijder (Green Gran B.V., The Netherlands): ULTRAFIBRE
Richard Hurding (Zelfo Technology, Germany): "Remixed and binderless" Zelfo - Natural and Recycled fibre products
Prof. Dr. Jörg Müssig (Hochschule Bremen, Germany):Hemp fibres reinforced PLA from cultivation to final product
Kai Nebel (Reutlingen University, Germany): Micro and nano? - Bastfibres for industrial use? Challenges, production techniques and applications
Textiles and Food
Daniel Kruse (Hempro International GmbH & Co. KG, Germany): Hemp textiles and food
Further information
For non-members the fee for participation is 400 EUR plus 19% VAT (including lunches, snacks and dinner buffet).EIHA members are also required to pay this fee but they will get a credit voucher of 100 EUR which will be deducted from the EIHA Membership fee for 2012. We are most grateful for the support of our sponsor Hempro GmbH & Co. KG (www.hempro.com)
Don't miss the world's largest event on Industrial Hemp in 2011!
We look forward to seeing you in Wesseling!
With Best Regards,Michael Carus and Dominik Vogt, nova-Institut GmbH