Illinois Hemp Growers Association
The Illinois Hemp Growers Association held its first quarterly membership meeting on February 13th, 2020.
We had a great turnout - people were waiting outside the door 20 minutes early in 10 degree weather!
State Rep. Dan Swanson stopped by, and we had a productive meeting.
We heard from guest speakers, collected ballots from our members and we opened the floor for any member to introduce any new business.
Special thanks to our guest speakers:
Stacy McCaskill, who was representing local hemp extractor and hemp growers co-op Sulcanna.
Jarett Burke, CEO of Kifcure - a seed to sale, soil to oil, total hemp solutions company and thanks to Jeff Grice and Paul Wible from the Kifcure team for bringing some samples of their Crafted Bites & Delights line to the meeting.
I tried the 20mg CBD honey stick and it is incredibly good.
We look forward to seeing all our dues-paying members at the next quarterly meeting!
Hemp Plastic
On Februrary 14th, 2020, Rep. Tim Butler introduced a new bill to the House. It's called HB5216 and this bill (just like this week's blog) is short and sweet:
Amends the Illinois Procurement Code. Provides that in awarding contracts requiring the procurement of plastic products, preference may be given to an otherwise qualified bidder or offeror who will fulfill the contract through the use of plastic products made from Illinois hemp by-products (currently, corn by-products only).
HB5216 had it's first reading today and was referred to the Rules Committee. This little change could have a big impact for the Illinois hemp industry. It opens the door for companies to:
Make hemp plastic products from Illinois-grown hemp that compete with their corn-based counterparts
Fill a niche with hemp plastic that corn products currently don't
Guarantees a market for them here in Illinois
The Illinois Hemp Growers Association supports HB5216. Contact your State Rep. and tell them you support it too!
In Other News
On February 10th, 2020, the Illinois Hemp Growers Association took part in an AMA on Reddit.
The AMA was hosted by the r/ILTrees subreddit. Here's a quote from one of the users we answered questions for,
"You have me feeling better about our future suddenly."
Click here to read the whole thread.
We have been selected to speak at the 2020 Illinois Cannabis Convention hosted by NECANN!
Name of Session: Illinois Hemp History
Day/Date: Saturday, April 4, 2020
Time: 2:00 PM
Stage: Advocacy & Justice Stage
Location: Chicago Hilton | 720 South Michigan Avenue
Southern Illinois Hemp Symposium
Now is the time to lock in early bird pricing for the Southern Illinois Hemp Symposium!
This symposium is designed for practical information and tools for the new and experienced organic hemp grower, producer, and processor. The event offers information on current research, rules and regulations, banking, insurance, security, pre-season, in season, and post season information.
Tickets are still available - but won't be for long. Registration is limited to 100 participants. Click here to visit the event page!
Welcome Our Latest Sponsor: Sulcanna!
Sulcanna's hemp is locally grown by co-op members who are provided the best genetics, education and support for a successful harvest. End user products are derived from and showcase this network of local and trusted hemp farmers. This allows Sulcanna to provide the market with producer to consumer confidence and trust that it needs. Click here to learn more.
Thank You to All Our Sponsors
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