Reflections ►
Building The Future
Follow the Yellow
HEMP Creek Road !
by Dolores Halbin , contributing writer
Sometimes we set out on a path in a general direction without a map , just occasional landmarks and heartstrings pulling us in a direction . I wasn ’ t expecting the path I found , or maybe the path found me . I will say , so far , it has been a beautiful path lined on both sides with the most lovely fields of hemp .
Writer Karla Deel covered the history of hemp in our January and February issues of The EVOLUTION Magazine , followed my article in the May issue . Now it ’ s time for current and bright future of hemp . The path has not disappointed , and the trail has been one of the coolest I ’ ve yet to travel .
I landed at my first Missouri Hemp Trade Association meeting in Harrisonville , MO , last May to a packed room of farmers during growing season . Of all the events I have participated in , the small farmers filling this room were the most important people I have met so far . They are visionaries who , under the leadership of founder Tyler Morgan , have put the needed hard work behind the vision to save the planet — they have faith in what they are doing .
Kevin Halderman of Hemp Hemp Hooray led the May meeting and gave me my first sample of CBG flower , which has been a game changer for my health . The hemp flower had a very similar feel to it as the flower with THC , minus the tinnitus ! Hemp , hemp , hooray for sure ! Thanks , buddy !
Me , at the July meeting , thrilled to be touring the hemp fields a week before harvest . ( Photo by Chris Smith )
A few days later , Clay Stallings and I were invited by Melber to come to the Native Prairie Farm in Garden City , MO ; a family farm founded 52 years ago by the family of Bill Cook . Cook tucked us into his eight-seater open bus and took us on a tour of the hemp fields . Native Prairie has 250 acres of research hemp growing through SLU and Lincoln University , alongside corn and soybeans .
Cook pulled out his bottle of CBD oil and proceeded to explain how he and his friends had come to depend on the magic elixir to keep moving . “ This would cost $ 90 , and insurance won ’ t pay . People can ’ t afford that , so we let them adopt a plant . They come out , till the soil , and watch her grow . We even have cameras so they can zoom in and see their plants live . At harvest time , for $ 8 or $ 9 in oil , they learn how to take their plant and make themselves a year ’ s supply of CBD . We have to educate !”
Tyler Morgan smells his nearly ready to harvest hemp plant at the July hemp farm tour .
( Photo by Chris Smith )
52 September 2022
I decided to attend the July meeting in Augusta , MO , at the Ballduchi Winery for The EVOLUTION Magazine . The only way to make a hemp meeting more fun is to add my other favorite , wine , to the menu . Along with photographer Chris Smith , I toured the hemp fields a week before harvest .
In Augusta , we met 24-year-old agriculture student and hemp intern from SLU ( St . Louis University ) Mitchell Melber . Melber was at the meeting with a display of hemp flooring . He has taken his final semester off to passionately work with Hemp Day Hemp Flooring out of Kentucky to get its flooring launched . Can you imagine the sweet tinge of the terpenes emitted from the floors we walk on every day ? I can !
I have often used the analogy of hemp being the student in the back of the classroom that the teacher simply would not call on even with all five hands up .
Science class : What can we do about global climate change ? ; Hemp raises her hands .
English Lit : You ’ ll have to read your books online . We can ’ t afford the printed books . Paper is too expensive . ; Hemp raises her hand .
Hemp finally has started getting called on , and higher education sponsoring the research creates a level of discipline and integrity among the hemp industry that has been a breath of fresh air and a joy to experience .
Because Cook is an amazing visionary who believes in having fun in life , he is building the first ever hemp houseboat . “ I could live in one of these ,” I commented while standing on the unfinished deck . “ Well , that ’ s the idea ,” Cook replied . “ They are building these tiny houses for veterans , but on the rivers in Missouri , you don ’ t have to pay property taxes . If the neighborhood triggers your PTSD , pull