Collapse, failure, rebirth and renewal are and have always been an integral part of industry.
Now, those very same characteristics have found their way into one of America’s most exciting and young sectors of the market. Hemp growing, CBD extraction and retailing are bringing financial prospects to all sorts of areas and companies few people may have expected.
With the state by state legalization of CBD following the federal-level legalization in late 2018, including pilot programs where farmers can get approval to plant hemp seeds for the 2019 harvest season.
These have promised to utterly transform the way states’ economies function, with changes coming especially in southern states that used to make tremendous profits from tobacco growing.
Still, the phenomenon isn’t limited to agriculture. Almost everywhere in America, companies can find somewhere to belong in the CBD economy, from extracting oil, performing lab tests or retail.
Luckily for business owners and entrepreneurs, hemp has a low-need for water, fertilizers and pesticides, which allows it grow in a variety of climates.
New Hampshire is one state where the national familiarity with marijuana and hemp are pushing residents and law makers closer to legalizing CBD, according to reporting from the Concord Monitor. [4]
“We’re not crazy about inviting federal inspectors to come onto our farms,” Shawn Jasper, the state commissioner of agriculture, told the Monitor.
In Alabama, an NBC News affiliate reported this week that universities across the state are turning to industrial hemp growing in the hopes of gaining insights into the agricultural ins-and-outs of hemp. [3]
The goal of the research at Troy University, Alabama State, University of Alabama and Alabama A&M are all dedicating research grants and receiving state approval to find out more about how to grow hemp most cost effectively.
That report also showed that in the future, hemp crops could be more profitable than other common staples like cotton and peanuts. [3]
Meanwhile, hemp products are finding their way into well-known existing companies, too. Rite-Aid, Walgreens and CVS pharmacies are now carrying CBD oil products.
According to Yahoo! Finance, other companies are also in the ring now. High-end designers like Neiman Marcus are also part of the CBD trend, but hemp has trickled into more prevalent chains like Urban Outfitters. [1]
In New York, a former factory for vacuum cleaners is being converted to a CBD oil processing space. [2] News Observer reported that the factory was purchased by Canopy Growth, a Canadian CBD company worth $15.7 billion, making it the biggest hemp company in the world. [2]
Sources:
[1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/4-surprising-companies-now-selling-125100446.html
[2] https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article229834569.html
[3] http://www.wsfa.com/2019/04/30/universities-begin-industrial-hemp-growing-study/
[4] https://www.concordmonitor.com/hemp-bill-legalized-new-hampshire-nh-25059638
