“ The number of hemp farmers has grown
from an initial 100-plus to nearly 2,000 with almost all of Colorado ’ s 64 counties registering a hemp operation .”
AMERICA ’ S
Hemp
Hotspots
With a considerable head start , Colorado and Oregon are the leading hemp producers in the U . S ., but New York and Kentucky are making a bid to contend . | by Lee Allen
othing stays the same save
“ Neternal change ” wrote an English poet who had no idea there would be a pandemic in 2020 . But his message was prescient in the fact that COVID-19 has impacted businesses worldwide and in the case of the hemp and cannabis industries , totally derailed many of the big plans to take the fledgling to more solid ground . Layoffs and restructurings became the order of the day while assets were sold off to raise working capital .
Initially , consumers worried about accessing stockpiled essentials like CBD as part of a daily wellness routine . Product was available as hemp and CBD production came under the federal government ’ s critical infrastructure category . That “ buy now ” panic has slacked off and CBD businesses are back hurting like many others with canceled trade shows and reduced sales . The once-dizzying variety of CBD-infused products and hemp derivatives can still be found although the more than 3,500 CBD brands in existence at the beginning of this year are expected to be whittled down , some in a recessionary economic climate created by the coronavirus . Prior to that shoe dropping , hemp ’ s growth graph was drawing the attention of entrepreneurs , policymakers , and financial backers with several states leading in the race to provide proper product to manufacture cannnabidiol ( CBD ), cannabinol ( CBN ), and cannabigerol ( CBG ) for oils , foods ,
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