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Grow NY Competition Highlights Hemp Industry's Advantages And Challenges

John Smith
/
WAER News

Experts from New York’s Food and Agricultural industry are in Syracuse this week to discuss everything from the effects of climate change on crops to the future of ‘robotic farming’. The “Grow NY Food and Ag Summit” held several panels including the evolving Hemp industry. Matthew Mead is the Founder and CEO of Hempitecture Incorporated. The company produces building insulation made from hemp fibers, thus making it more user-friendly.

“Our product, Hemp Wool, fits in-between those studs with a friction-fit system," he said. "It’s easy to cut, easy to handle, you’ll even notice this gentleman in this photo is not wearing any gloves. You’re not going to see that on any other insulation job site”

However, there is a shortage of Hemp fibers in the U.S, so companies are getting the majority of shipments from Europe. However, the Chief Operating Officer of IND HEMP in Montana, Morgan Elliot, says it could be a viable crop market for farmers.

“It’s even more enticing for U.S.-based companies to find a local distributor, and we see that value coming up a lot lately," said Morgan. "Ultimately, we want to create that value back to the farmers and we want them to capitalize on that.”

Elliot says in order for the hemp industry to advance, there’s a huge need to get enough primary processors online first… and the specialized equipment to process the plant. A panelist at the Grow NY Food and Ag Summit also raised the big question of what should be done with the leftover byproduct of marijuana after it’s harvested in the state. Dan Dolgin is the CEO and Co-Founder of Eaton Hemp. The company makes pet products.

“We now take biomass from spent CVD stocks and we put that into our processing and that’s what we use to turn into our pet bedding, so we see that there is a natural synergy between the two,” Dan said.

The $1 million winner of the Grow NY competition is Every Body Eat; the company makes and produces food that’s free from 14 allergens to accommodate everyone’s diet.

$500,000 winner Ascribe Bioscience of Ithaca uses naturally occurring signaling molecules from the soil. Other winners also include Draught Lab from Webster, NY, and WeRadiate from Buffalo.

John Smith has been waking up WAER listeners for a long time as our Local Co-Host of Morning Edition with timely news and information, working alongside student Sportscasters from the Newhouse School.