Industrial Hemp Podcast

Meet Ursa Alta, The New Low-THC Fiber Cultivar from Cornell AgriTech

This week on the Hemp Show, Larry Smart returns to talk about Ursa Alta, the new low-THC hemp variety that Cornell AgriTech has released for commercial production. The variety has been seven years in the making. "We had come up with a new cultivar that was distinct, uniform and stable. That's our definition of a cultivar," Smart said. Ursa Alta, which means tall bear and is named for the Cornell mascot, is a fiber variety with low THC and a high hurd ratio. While bred for conditions in New York state, Smart said the variety excels in southern latitudes as well. "This variety does grow very well in Texas," Smart said. "My collaborator, Calvin Trostel, is based in Lubbock, at about the same latitude as where they're growing for Panda Biotech. So we think it will grow quite well in that area and yield quite well for them." Panda Biotech, owner of the second largest hemp processing facility in the world, is based in Wichita Falls, TX. Cornell has licensed seed multiplication to Condor Seed Production in Yuma, Arizona. Condor has a deep history of vegetable seed production — onions, artichokes, brassicas — and brings more than 40 years of experience to the work. Smart provided Condor with 110 pounds of breeder seed to start the multiplication process, with an ambitious target ahead: "to scale up the seed from 110 pounds of breeder seed to hopefully by next year, somewhere between three and 400,000 pounds of seed. And then they can start really selling it," Smart said. Listen to show to learn more. Learn More Condor Seed Production https://condorseed.com [https://condorseed.com] Cornell AgriTech Hemp Breeding Program https://cuaes.cals.cornell.edu/stations/cornell-agritech/ [https://cuaes.cals.cornell.edu/stations/cornell-agritech/] AOSCA — Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies https://www.aosca.org [https://www.aosca.org] USDA Plant Variety Protection Office https://www.ams.usda.gov/plant-variety-protection [https://www.ams.usda.gov/plant-variety-protection] HempWood https://hempwood.com [https://hempwood.com] Sponsor Links IND Hemp — Fort Benton, Montana. Fiber, food, feed. https://indhemp.com [https://indhemp.com] Forever Green — Distributors of the KP4 Hemp Cutter. https://hempcutter.com [https://hempcutter.com] Summary: In this episode of the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast, host Eric Hurlock speaks with Dr. Larry Smart, plant geneticist and director of hemp breeding at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, New York, about the official release of Ursa Alta, a certified low-THC industrial fiber hemp cultivar developed over seven years of research and field trials. The conversation covers the cultivar development process, AOSCA seed certification, Plant Variety Protection, and the URSA trademark, offering growers and industry professionals a detailed look at what it means to release a new hemp variety in today's regulatory environment. Larry Smart explains the seed multiplication process that took Ursa Alta from 110 pounds of breeder seed to a projected 300,000 to 400,000 pounds of certified planting seed, with Condor Seed Production in Yuma, Arizona playing a central role. The episode details the agronomic challenges of desert hemp seed production, including heat-related pollen failure, photoperiod complications, and extreme weather events, and explains why the September-to-January growing window in Arizona emerged as the viable solution for large-scale seed multiplication. The episode also addresses hemp cultivar intellectual property, seed licensing, and the contrast between open-source wheat breeding culture and the more restricted IP environment in hemp. Larry Smart discusses end markets for Ursa Alta fiber including hempcrete construction, textile applications, and industrial fiber processing, with growers in Montana, Texas, and South Dakota identified as early adoption targets. Additional topics include the Farm Bill's certified seed provisions, zero-cannabinoid hemp variety development, and the role of AOSCA-certified seed in navigating hemp's evolving federal regulatory landscape. The episode opens with a tribute to Dr. Bob Pierce of the University of Kentucky, a pioneer in American hemp agronomy, and closes with a seven-year callback to Larry Smart's first appearance on the show in 2019, when the vision for what would become Ursa Alta was first discussed publicly. This episode is essential listening for hemp farmers, seed producers, plant breeders, fiber processors, and anyone tracking the development of industrial hemp as a certified, scalable agricultural commodity in the United States.

Can the Goodness of Hemp Act Fix What's Broken in Hemp?

This week Morgan Tweet returns to the Hemp Show to talk about the Goodness of Hemp Act, a draft legislation she's confident will set the broader hemp industry on the path toward sensible regulation. She was on the show last November [https://www.lancasterfarming.com/farming-news/hemp/the-sky-has-not-fallen-on-industrial-hemp/article_725bb2c4-5f7e-4ec6-b77d-5b9fb4bf53be.html], about a week after the November surprise that we now know as the McConnell language was slipped into the appropriations bill in the eleventh hour. Tweet is the interim executive director of HEMI, the Hemp Education and Marketing Initiative. The McConnell language got everyone's attention, not only because it seemed to answer the questions around intoxicating cannabinoids once and for all, but by doing so, the bill wipes out most of the hemp cannabinoid industry, intoxicating or otherwise. "For most folks that are in the floral cannabinoid sector," Tweet said, "this has been basically an extinction event." The clock is ticking. November is on its way. Tweet is back with a draft piece of legislation called the Goodness of Hemp Act, a campaign and a call to build community. Can the Goodness of Hemp save the day? Listen to the episode and find out. Learn More The Goodness of Hemp Campaign https://thegoodnessofhemp.org [https://thegoodnessofhemp.org] HEMI — Hemp Education Marketing Initiatives https://hempinitiatives.org [https://hempinitiatives.org] IND Hemp https://indhemp.com [https://indhemp.com] National Hemp Association https://nationalhempassociation.org [https://nationalhempassociation.org] Thanks to Our Sponsors Americhanvre https://americhanvre.com [https://americhanvre.com] Forever Green https://hempcutter.com [https://hempcutter.com] The Goodness of Hemp Act is a 2026 draft hemp legislation proposal developed by HEMI, the Hemp Education Marketing Initiatives, in coordination with stakeholders across the hemp industry including grain and fiber producers, hemp beverage companies, cannabinoid processors, and hemp farming advocates. The bill proposes a comprehensive federal regulatory framework for hemp that addresses cultivation, food products, dietary supplements, and intoxicating hemp-derived beverages under three separate federal agencies — the USDA, the FDA, and the TTB, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. The Goodness of Hemp Act has been presented to congressional staffers and reviewed by FDA as part of ongoing hemp policy negotiations ahead of a critical November 2026 legislative deadline created by the McConnell appropriations language enacted in late 2024. The 3.7 milligram THC per serving interim limit proposed in the Goodness of Hemp Act is drawn from Johns Hopkins University research on THC impairment thresholds and is referenced in White House hemp policy discussions led by Heidi Overton, director of White House drug policy. The 3.7 mg per serving limit is designed to distinguish responsible hemp-derived consumer products from intoxicating products that the bill's authors argue should be regulated like alcohol under the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. The interim limit would defer final rulemaking to the FDA while establishing a workable and scientifically grounded starting point for Congress, hemp farmers, hemp processors, hemp beverage producers, and CBD product manufacturers navigating the post-McConnell regulatory landscape. Morgan Tweet is the CEO of IND Hemp, a grain and fiber hemp company based in Fort Benton, Montana, and serves as interim executive director of HEMI, the Hemp Education Marketing Initiatives. Tweet has been a leading voice in hemp policy advocacy since the 2018 Farm Bill and has worked with the National Hemp Association, the Hemp Feed Coalition, and other industry organizations on hemp regulation, hemp marketing, hemp farmer support, and federal regulatory frameworks for hemp cultivation and hemp-derived products. The Goodness of Hemp Act also includes language allowing hemp seed ingredients as approved feed for companion animals and horses, a provision developed in coordination with the Hemp Feed Coalition, and directs a portion of federal excise tax revenue back into hemp farmers, hemp research, and hemp supply chain infrastructure. The Goodness of Hemp awareness campaign is a grassroots marketing and education initiative launched by HEMI in 2026 to build public and legislative support for responsible hemp regulation ahead of the November 2026 federal deadline. The campaign is designed to educate consumers, retailers, policymakers, and agricultural stakeholders about the broad value of hemp across food, fiber, wellness, construction, animal care, and emerging product categories including hemp-derived beverages. The Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast has covered hemp policy, hemp farming, hempcrete, hemp fiber, hemp grain, hemp seed, and hemp-derived cannabinoid products since 2018, making it one of the longest-running editorial hemp podcasts in the United States. Farmers, hemp businesses, hemp advocates, and hemp consumers are encouraged to share their goodness of hemp story at thegoodnessofhemp.org.

Meet NHA's New Director Sully Sullivan

This week on the Hemp Show we meet Sully Sullivan. He's the new executive director at the National Hemp Association — and what a time to be taking the helm of a hemp association. So much is up in the air right now. What about the November federal deadline that will ban most hemp-derived THC products, from gummies and beverages to most full-spectrum CBD? Yeah, it's just sort of hanging out there, flapping in the breeze. What's going to happen? Will there be an extension? Will there be new legislation? How will all this play out? No one knows just yet. Sully Sullivan is aware he has his work cut out for him as the new director of the NHA. "I feel like we're at a precipice right now, or a crossroads perhaps, where we are, as a country, getting the regulations right," he said. He sees what he calls "fracturedness" in the industry and the cacophony of voices in the advocacy space. "There's a lot of voices and some are saying the same thing. Some are saying different things. Some things don't match up at all," he said. For over a decade, Sullivan has been active in hemp policy in his home state of Arizona as a leader of the Hemp Industry Trade Association of Arizona, so he's no stranger to conflict, hard conversations and compromise. "I feel all of my work over the last 10 years is coalescing right now," he said. "Like this is what it was all for. This all has manifested for this moment. So I take it very seriously, and it's almost spiritual in a sense. I am in the right place at the right time. I'm the person to fill these shoes and help push this industry forward." Listen to the whole show to hear what else Sully Sullivan has to say. Learn More National Hemp Association https://nationalhempassociation.org [https://nationalhempassociation.org] Hemp Industry Trade Association of Arizona https://www.hita-az.org/ [https://www.hita-az.org/] News Nugget: 3 US House Republicans Attempt to Thwart Intoxicating Hemp Product Ban https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/hemp/news/15826349/3-us-house-republicans-attempt-to-thwart-intoxicating-hemp-product-ban [https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/hemp/news/15826349/3-us-house-republicans-attempt-to-thwart-intoxicating-hemp-product-ban] Thanks to Our Sponsors King's AgriSeeds https://kingsagriseeds.com [https://kingsagriseeds.com] IND Hemp https://indhemp.com [https://indhemp.com] Forever Green https://hempcutter.com [https://hempcutter.com]

Farm to Flow: Trace Femcare and the Future of Hemp Fiber Tampons

This week on the Hemp Show, Claire Crunk returns. She is the founder of Trace Femcare, the worlds first hemp fiber tampon. Her first appearance [https://www.lancasterfarming.com/farming-news/hemp/hemp-tampons-offer-natural-sustainable-option-in-feminine-care-products/article_92f9911e-fa52-11ed-8f1d-ff5c2207fe25.html] on the podcast was in 2023. Her company was just a few weeks away from their initial product launch. All they were waiting for was final approval from the FDA. She assumed then that things would be easier than they ultimately turned out to be. On this episode we find out what happened with the FDA and how the agency's request for an additional study was a major setback for Trace. What the FDA wanted from Trace was an exhaustive extraction study and mass spectrometry analysis, which would take 12 months and cost 150 thousand dollars. "So that's 12 additional months of operating expenses of runway added to the company as well. So it's not just a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. It becomes, you know, four hundred thousand dollars," Crunk said. Ultimately, the company could not overcome the burden and Trace was forced to sell its assets. The story of Trace and Claire's battle with FDA is one of the story lines in the documentary film One Plant [https://www.lancasterfarming.com/farming-news/hemp/one-plant-film-reaches-kickstarter-fundraising-goal-now-what/article_fa4cdad4-b27e-11ef-b4c2-534b1362179e.html], which has finished production and is seeking a distribution channel now. But when the film ends, the Trace story remains unresolved. "But the story never actually ends. It just melts and changes," said Crunk. "There's just been a lot of reckoning in my life and I've changed in different ways and, you know, understand now what it means to have grace through failure and to figure out what to take forward from that." There was great interest in the company's assets among in the feminine hygiene space. "There were these big entities that are on shelf at every retailer that you could ever go to who were very interested in picking us up and did some due diligence on it," Crunk said. This was at the time when the new Trump administration was imposing tariffs all around the world. "There was a lot of uncertainty in the absorbent hygiene world because it is a globalized supply chain." A Blessing in Disguise Because of how the sale of the assets was structured, Crunk had no say in who bought the company. She was pleasantly surprised when 1937 International showed interest and ultimately made the acquisition. "1937 International is a fairly new US entity that is working very diligently in a joint venture with groups in Pakistan to set up hemp fiber ecosystems in Pakistan. And you know, Pakistan is globally renowned for textile production, fiber knowledge, fiber production. Fiber agronomy," she said. Ryan Zaczynski, co-founder of 1937 International, was a guest on the Hemp Show this past March [https://www.lancasterfarming.com/farming-news/hemp/1937-international-hemp-textiles-and-global-supply-chains/article_b3e3350a-3963-4ff4-b654-bc386f490a70.html], and his fellow co-founder Nick Furlong was featured on our episode from the Industrial Hemp International conference [https://www.lancasterfarming.com/farming-news/hemp/cannabis-loves-community-voices-from-the-industrial-hemp-international-conference/article_cd496bac-0e8f-49a1-8cf6-8589d0817515.html]. Crunk said that part of 1937 International's vision "is to have hemp fiber win across categories and across the world." This development was more than Crunk could hope for. "It turned it from a grief process and what felt like something being taken away from me to I am so excited to take Trace from my hands and put it in somebody else's hands because of these people," she said. "I feel really lucky and also I feel really lucky that they want me to be along for the ride. So, you know, there's a lot of things to be thankful for." All that and more. Learn More Trace Femcare traceyourtampon.com [https://traceyourtampon.com] 1937 International linkedin.com/company/1937-international-corp [https://www.linkedin.com/company/1937-international-corp] One Plant (documentary) oneplant.film [https://oneplant.film] Heavy Metals in Tampons Study (Columbia / UC Berkeley) pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38964170 [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38964170/] News Nuggets Panda Biotech and Culturewell Partner to Bring US Hemp Fibre to India's Textile Industry hempgazette.com/news/panda-biotech-culturewell-us-hemp-fibre-india-textiles [https://hempgazette.com/news/panda-biotech-culturewell-us-hemp-fibre-india-textiles/] New Low-THC Hemp Fiber Cultivar Flourishes in NYS Climate news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/05/new-low-thc-hemp-fiber-cultivar-flourishes-nys-climate [https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/05/new-low-thc-hemp-fiber-cultivar-flourishes-nys-climate] Nepal Hemp Builder's Largest Project Yet Marks a Highly Personal 10-Year Milestone hemptoday.net/nepal-hemp-builders-largest-project-yet-marks-a-highly-personal-10-year-milestone [https://hemptoday.net/nepal-hemp-builders-largest-project-yet-marks-a-highly-personal-10-year-milestone/] Sponsors IND Hemp indhemp.com [https://indhemp.com] Forever Green / KP4 Hemp Cutter hempcutter.com [https://hempcutter.com] In this episode of the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast, host Eric Hurlock welcomes back Claire Crunk, founder of Trace Femcare, the company behind the world's first hemp fiber tampon. Claire first appeared on the show in 2023, just weeks before launch. In the years since, Trace has weathered a grueling FDA battle, a funding crisis, and ultimately a distressed sale — a story captured in the new documentary film One Plant, in which both Claire and Eric appear. This conversation picks up where the film leaves off, tracing what happened after the cameras stopped rolling. Claire walks through the regulatory fight at the heart of Trace's story: how the FDA initially flagged cannabinoids as its only concern, then reversed course months later and demanded an exhaustive chemical extraction study and mass spectrometry analysis — a $150,000, year-long process on par with the testing required for implants and high-risk medical devices. She describes the double standard she felt when the FDA later ran its own lower-standard tampon study following a Columbia and UC Berkeley report that found heavy metals in dozens of tampon brands already on the market. The result, Claire notes, is that Trace became "the most tested tampon in history" — a product more rigorously vetted than the tampons people have used for generations. The conversation also explores the surprising shape of Trace's earliest customer base, the role of consumer consent and transparency in period care, and Claire's personal journey through business failure, healing, and reinvention. She explains how Trace's assets were acquired by 1937 International, a US company building hemp fiber supply chains in Pakistan in partnership with Dr. Zafar Riaz, and how Trace's original vision of regionalized, traceable "farm to flow" supply chains can scale to a global stage. Listeners who heard the earlier episode with 1937 International's Ryan Zaczynski will recognize the connection. Looking ahead, Claire describes a roadmap that extends far beyond tampons — pads, wellness products, wound care, bandages, kinesiology tape, pet products, and even hemp fiber geotextiles for construction sites. The episode also features three news nuggets covering Panda Biotech's hemp fiber partnership in India, Cornell AgriTech's new low-THC fiber cultivar Ursa Alta, and Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures' large-scale hempcrete care home project in Meerut, India. It's a wide-ranging look at hemp fiber's expanding role across textiles, medicine, construction, and sustainable manufacturing — and Claire's remarkable story of grace through failure and reinvention.

Stacking Up with Renewabuild Great Plains

This week on the show we talk with Ken Meyer of Complete Hemp Processing in Winfred, South Dakota. As of last week, Meyer is also a co-founder of Renewabuild Great Plains — the first U.S.-licensed manufacturer of structural hempcrete blocks. We've been telling the story of these structural blocks for a long time on the podcast. We first encountered them [https://www.lancasterfarming.com/community/podcasts_and_audio/just-biofiber-hempcrete-blocks-industrial-hemp-podcast-episode-eighteen/article_ba20c146-4c35-11ea-9fd3-2b795b206a75.html] back in 2019 — they look like giant Lego blocks and work much the same way — at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, where the Pennsylvania Hemp Industry Council had them on display. Back then, the blocks were made by a Canadian company called Just BioFiber in Alberta. Today, the technology is licensed and administered by another Canadian company, Renewabuild Field to Form, which has made improvements to the original design of the block. The structural hemp blocks differ from traditional hempcrete construction because their internal frame makes them load-bearing in a way that spray-applied or cast-in-place hempcrete cannot offer. "It has a frame inside it. It's a glass-filled biocarbonate frame ... and then the hempcrete is pressed around it," Meyer said. "And that frame provides a structure in the wall. So that makes the block a structural block, and the block itself in a wall system replaces the sheet rock, the insulation and the timber." The story of the blocks continues now, as the first U.S. company prepares to manufacture them at a plant in Rock Valley, Iowa. "At Complete Hemp Processing in Winfred, South Dakota, we decorticate hemp stocks. And we need a place to sell the hemp hurd. And our farmers need us to have a place to sell hemp hurd so they can put hemp in rotation with corn and soybeans," he said. This is how an industry scales. Dedicated, passionate people working tirelessly to build a supply chain. Learn More Renewabuild Great Plains [https://renewabuildgp.com/] Complete Hemp Processing [https://www.completehempprocessing.com/] Dakota Hemp [https://dakotahemp.com/] South Dakota Industrial Hemp Association [https://sd-hemp.com/] Renewabuild Field to Form [https://renewabuild.ca/] The Harmless Home [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8efNdG7au4] Sponsors HEMI - The Hemp Education and Marketing Inititive hempinitiatives.org [http://hempinitiatives.org] Forever Green hempcutter.com [http://hempcutter.com] The Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast returns this week with an interview featuring Ken Meyer, owner of Complete Hemp Processing in Winfred, South Dakota, and one of three co-founders of Renewabuild Great Plains — the first U.S.-licensed manufacturer of structural hempcrete blocks. Host Eric Hurlock sits down with Meyer to discuss the new hempcrete block factory being built in Rock Valley, Iowa, the long journey of the structural hemp block from Canada to the United States, and what this milestone means for the American industrial hemp industry, hempcrete construction, and the future of sustainable building materials. Renewabuild Great Plains is the first U.S. company to license the structural hempcrete block technology developed by Just BioFiber of Alberta, Canada, and now administered by Renewabuild Field to Form. Unlike traditional hempcrete construction methods — including spray-applied hempcrete and cast-in-place hempcrete — the Renewabuild block features an internal glass-filled biocarbonate frame, making it a load-bearing structural wall component. A single block replaces sheetrock, insulation, and timber framing in one product, offering builders, architects, and engineers a scalable, lower-carbon alternative to conventional wall systems with improved fire resistance, durability, and building-envelope performance. The new Rock Valley, Iowa hempcrete block factory is scheduled to receive its equipment in December 2026 or January 2027, with the capacity to produce two blocks a minute, more than 900,000 structural hempcrete blocks per year running three shifts. At full production, the facility will manufacture enough wall material for roughly 500 perimeter walls of 2,000-square-foot homes annually. The factory's entire production equipment fits inside two shipping containers, making the model regionally scalable across the United States — a key part of Renewabuild's strategy to support local farmers, local hemp processors, and local hempcrete construction supply chains. Meyer is joined as co-founder by John Peterson of Dakota Hemp and Bill Brehmer of Renewabuild Great Plains, alongside a group of Iowa farmers who have invested in the project. This episode of the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast also revisits archival audio from January 2019, when Pennsylvania hemp historian Les Stark first introduced the Just BioFiber structural hempcrete block at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, alongside the original podcast interview with Just BioFiber co-founder Michael D. Champlain. Listeners will also hear from David Geertz of Renewabuild, recorded at the International Hemp Building Symposium at Kansayapi in Minnesota. Plus, host Eric Hurlock follows up on last week's interview with Pennsylvania farmer Steve Groff with a statement from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture regarding agricultural innovation grant reimbursements. Subscribe to the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast for in-depth coverage of industrial hemp, hemp farming, hempcrete construction, hemp processing, and the people building the American hemp supply chain.