Reflections ►
Nothing But Coal for the Hemp Farmers
by Dolores Halbin , contributing writer
Does anyone else watch The Price is Right ? Since moving to the new studio , there have been some problems with the games . I was watching the other day when a lady picked the pink rat in the Rat Race game . Well , that rat didn ’ t even get off the starting line . When it did , it sputtered and quit . I thought the lady should get a do-over . Just like I think the hemp farmers of Missouri should get a do-over for 2023 . And indeed , if they were growing corn , soy , or wheat , they would get that do-over due to government subsidies .
CBD in 2019 and is down to one acre in 2023 . This year , they grew CBDV and have high hopes for that one-acre harvest .
The family is doing as Bill Cook of Native Prairie Research Farm in Garden City , MO , advises all hemp farmers , “ Just keep your toe in it if you can . Ride it out . We just have to hit the reset button and go back to square one .”
I checked back in with the hemp farmers our EVOLUTION crew toured in 2022 , looking and hoping for some good news . God knows we could all use some .
But Santa must have an abundance of coal this year . Perhaps Big Oil bought him off and sold him a fossil fuel sled . Sadly , like the lady with the pink rat , the consensus from our Missouri hemp farmers in 2023 — we ’ re “ f----d .” A sentiment shared by all . So where to from here ?
I started with the older farmers and met with Daryl Poindexter , father to Lucas and Michele of Rural Route Hemp in Adrian , MO , a multi-generational cattle farmer . Daryl was situating a hundred new calves when I arrived .
Luke Poindexter ( on left ) and Dolores Halbin shoulder deep in hemp prior to harvest at the hemp farm . ( photo by April Hatch )
“ Well , you can ’ t write what I ’ d say , so I may as well not say it .” Daryl shook his head as he drove me out to the persimmon grove . “ I just don ’ t know what ’ s going to happen . I don ’ t think there is any money in this for anybody . At least not for farmers .”
The family-owned and operated farm ( featured in The EVOLU- TION Magazine December 2022 ) started with ten acres of
Luke of Rural Route Hemp Co and Dolores Halbin bucking a fresh November hemp harvest at the hemp farm . ( photo by April Hatch )
Cook did say what he was thinking . “ We ’ re f----d ,” and explained , “ What we had here was a perfect storm . The drought , bad seed all the way around , and the cost of money has gone through the roof . And we have no capital investors to come in with big money , which is what we need . This is killing the small farmers , and big farma isn ’ t interested in switching from subsidized corn , wheat , and soy , especially with the new climate changes .” All crops in Missouri got hit hard this year from the drought , so farmers have crop insurance to ensure they stay in business — so we get fed .
44 December 2023