Editor’s note: Hemp Valley is the second installment in a two-part series examining the viability of the hemp industry in Goshen County. Part one, The Savior?, appeared in the March 20 edition of the Torrington Telegram.

TORRINGTON – Right now, somewhere in Cheyenne, representatives of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture are squirreled away in their offices, trying to come up with a plan the United States Department of Agriculture will hopefully accept that could provide a major boost to Wyoming’s economy – and perhaps save Goshen County’s. 

The Wyoming Legislature passed HB 171 late in the legislative session, and it was signed into law by Gov. Mark Gordon earlier this month. The bill legalizes hemp farming and manufacturing in the state, and provide funds to create a testing process that would ensure Wyoming hemp had less the three-tenths of a percent of THC and, hopefully, provide Wyoming farmers with a new cash crop. The state legislation follows the 2018 Farm Bill passed by the United States Congress in December, which reclassified hemp as an agricultural product instead of a schedule one narcotic.

The WDA has 30 days from the signing of the bill on March 6 to submit a plan to the USDA and, according to WDA Director Doug Miyamoto, the WDA is eager to give Cowboy State farmers and hemp entrepreneurs an open door to an industry that could boom at any time. 

“With the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill and the work of the legislature throughout the session, we have been working hard on the industrial hemp program to make sure we are ready when the time comes to implement a program here in Wyoming,” Miyamoto said. “If we are legally able to do it, we are anxious to start a hemp program in Wyoming to provide more opportunities for our producers and processors with this productive, diversifying permitted crop across the state.”

Passing the bill was a major progressive move for Wyoming. Submitting the plan is the next step, and then producers will have to take a chance on it. 

Then what?

25,000 uses, 25,000 possibilities

Hemp can be almost anything. 

You can make clothes from it. You can make paper from it. You can make concrete – better known as hempcrete – from it. The possibilities are virtually endless: protein supplements, pet food, oils, lotions, biodegradable plastic, bio-diesel fuel – just to name a few. 

But all of those possibilities are moot if there’s no one to manufacture the raw product into something people can use. 

According to Colby Ochsner, a local farmer and hemp advocate, the real economic boom for Goshen County could be in the processing of the crop. 

“I think it could be grown here, that’s great,” he said. “It could be another cash crop for farmers, but there’s also an opportunity to have it be somewhat of an economic driver because of the value-added possibilities of it. Textiles, hempcrete, building materials, and if you think about how many trees are grown for things like toilet paper and paper towels, hemp is far more sustainable for that kind of thing. Even paper plates and things like that. You can grow it so much quicker than trees.”

Ochsner is right. A hemp crop can reach maturity between 85 and 115 days, according to research conducted by Dr. Carol Youngquist of the University of Wyoming. It takes years for trees to reach maturity and produce the same material goods. The Warsaw University of Life Sciences conducted a study on the viability of hemp paper as opposed to wood pulp paper, and found hemp paper is not only more durable, but the production process emitted up to 80 percent fewer harmful gases. 

And that’s just one product. According to Christine Bekes, the director of the Powell Economic Partnership and a major proponent of HB 171, Cannabis Sativa is a value-added commodity. 

“In my line of work, I’ve had so many conversations with potential processors, investors,” Bekes told Wyoming Public Media. “But there are many very credible conversations that have come to the table now, looking for private investment opportunities. And, as you know, hemp has 25,000 uses, so that value-added component is quite broad.”

‘The glass is half full here’

The hemp industry was worth $688 million in 2018, according the Hemp Industries Association, and that was before the farm bill. Ashley Harpstreith, Goshen County Economic Development Corporation CEO, said Goshen County could have potential for hemp entrepreneurs. 

“We’re primed for this,” she said. 

The closure of Wyoming Ethanol in 2014 and the shutdown of the manufacturing line at Western Sugar this year were unquestionably huge blows to the local economy and local families, but Harpstreith has to be an optimist. The closures resulted in several hundred displaced workers in Goshen County – a literal workforce just looking for a place to land. 

“Any one that wants to come in and do hemp processing, it would be great to leverage that workforce,” she said. “We’re part of that rapid response team (to help displaced workers from Western Sugar, with the Department of Workforce Services) so we’re connected in, so if something like that were to come through all of those connections are being made for any potential business looking to leverage that workforce. 

“I think this, along with being in an opportunity zone that allows for capital gains and reinvestment of capital, we’re using new market tax credits – we’ve got some innovative projects going on. The glass is half full here.”

Another potential draw for hemp manufacturers in Goshen County is there are already two existing manufacturing facilities in the currently-unused Wyoming Ethanol plant and the mostly-empty Western Sugar factory. The issues with those facilities, Harpstreith said, would be obtaining the facilities – not to mention costly renovations and retrofitting to make them useful in a totally different industry. 

“As far as Western Sugar and Wyoming Ethanol, that would be a great thing to retrofit, but that’s up to the current owners,” Harpstreith said. “Until they release that property, our hands are tied.”

Currently, the Wyoming Ethanol plant is owned by Western Plains Energy. The Western Sugar factory is American Crystal property, which Western Sugar leases for – reportedly – a dollar a year. 

“We’ve been in conversation with them,” Harpstreith said, referencing Western Sugar. “They know we’d like to renovate and reimagine that, but we’re not at the table with that yet. 

“Of course, we want to market that facility and we want to market the workforce.”

With or without the existing facilities, HB 171 could be exactly what Goshen County needs to progress. 

“They’re really priming us to do some different things,” Harpstreith said. “The pedal has gone to the metal now.

“I think in the next two or three years, we’ll see some results from it.”

Why wait? 

One Goshen County businesswoman isn’t waiting for the WDA and USDA to come to an agreement on hemp regulations. 

Amy Eisaman, the proprietor behind WyoHempHub, is doing her best to set herself up for success. WyoHempHub will be a retail store for hemp products, including lotions, creams and CBD oils. Eisaman is hard at work renovating a former body shop on US 85/26 west of Torrington to suit her store, and the official ribbon cutting will be on April 1 at 3 p.m. 

She’s been in business for three years, mostly operating online and at events like the Wyoming State Fair in Douglas. But now, with the signing of HB 171, she could be on the forefront of Wyoming’s hemp industry. 

“I will be launching Wyoming Hemp, Inc.,” she said. “Why wait?”

Eisaman decided to jump into the industry after seeing the results of CBD oil, the most popular hemp by-product, first hand. Eisaman has a severe sun allergy, and after just a few minutes in the sun’s rays, she would break out in hives. Her whole life, she’d been forced to stay inside or stay under an umbrella – until a friend introduced her to CBD oil. 

“My friend brought me a bottle of CBD and I tried it,” she said. “Over time, I realized I liked how it made me feel. It didn’t make me feel high or anything like that, it just made my body feel normal – like how it once felt before. It had been so long since it felt that way. 

“I realized I could be in the sun, with no breakouts because of CBD.”

CBD is shorthand for cannabidiol. According to projectcbd.org, it’s a compound found in the flower of the cannabis plant that has been used for medicinal purposes for nearly 1,000 years. It’s a safe, non-addictive product that has been used to treat autoimmune diseases, neurological conditions, metabolic syndrome, neuropsychiatric illness, gut disorders, cardiovascular dysfunction and skin diseases, to name a few. It’s also said to have anti-cancer properties. 

CBD oil entered the national discussion a few years ago after a viral video showed an epileptic seizure being treated instantly by rubbing CBD oil on the patient’s foot. In April 2018, the Food and Drug Administration panel voted unanimously to endorse CBD oil to treat seizures in children with epilepsy. 

Eisaman became a CBD believer after seeing the success she had while taking the oil, and began to sell it through a California-based company. She used to own a soap and lotion store in Torrington, and began to infuse CBD with her homemade products. That’s become her top-seller in nine states. 

“What CBD and other cannabinoids do is they really get in there and works with your autoimmune system,” she said. “It puts your body back into homeostasis and does all kinds of things in there.”

High risk, high rewards

But being on the forefront of the Wyoming hemp industry was risky. The products still carry a stigma because the hemp plant is a cousin of marijuana. Hemp contains very low amounts of THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana and cannot get a person high, but the similarities are enough that it carries a stigma. 

It was, after all, an illegal substance until December. On Tuesday, police raided a CBD store in Texas and removed $50,000 in hemp-derived CBD products. Until the legislation was signed into law by Gordon, Eisaman was worried she could have a similar story. 

“Up until they signed this bill, it was nerve-wracking,” she said. “Even though it would come back from the lab and say that our products had zero THC, there could be that one, small chance. If I were to get pulled over with a bottle of my oil in my car and they tested it, it would definitely turn the test purple because they have not advanced the test. They are designed to pick up any kind of cannabis, THC or not. They have not evolved with the industry.”

But still, Eisaman did all of the necessary homework – hours upon hours of research and consultation with legal minds – to protect herself and her stake in the industry. 

“I don’t think it was risky,” she said. “It was researched. I knew how it was perceived with the federal government, I knew the laws in Wyoming even though there were some gray areas in there.

“When I started three years ago, nobody knew. I got in touch with DCI, the DEA and I got in touch with the attorney general’s office and nobody really knew. It turned out that we could have CBD oil as long as there was no THC, so I ran with that. If DCI – the people who could throw me in jail for having it – told me that, I’m going with it.”

And she did go with it. According to Eisaman, all of the research and footwork was worth it, considering the potential to grow her business in light of HB 171 and the 2018 Farm Bill. 

“I researched and I spoke with many attorneys, many federal attorneys, I knew that I could have this in Wyoming and I knew if I didn’t do it, I was handing it over to somebody else,” she said. “I just went with it.”

WyoHempHub, according to Eisaman, was the first hemp and cannabis business in the state of Wyoming. She knows she isn’t the only one and the new legislation is intended to open up the industry. 

The Wyoming Hemp Seed Company has taken up root in Saratoga. GreenTree Ag Blend, an organic fertilizer company, just invested $4 million in a hemp operation in Cheyenne. Wyoming hemp is a new industry and new players will be popping up left and right. 

That’s why Eisaman is looking to diversify and grow. She said she has acreage south of Torrington she has set aside to produce hemp for fiber, which is a field crop, and has a large area in the WyoHempHub store ready to produce CBD hemp – which requires more maintenance and attention. She’s also filed for a trademark to form the Wyoming Hemp Grower’s Association, which she hopes will bring the state’s hemp producers together. Growing hemp is a high-risk proposition, she said – but the rewards could be even higher. 

“We meet with some investors every couple of weeks to keep them up to date,” she said. “There is the possibility, it’s just a matter of having the greenlight (from the USDA). It’s hard when you’re working with investors with something in its infancy like this is. It’s still pretty high risk, but if you’re one of those investors who wants to just jump in and watch it go, it could be your thing. I think a good five years is what we’ve got. This is going to boom like anything else.”

There is money to be made, but Eisaman said that’s secondary. Her biggest goal is to help people. 

“That’s absolutely my goal,’ she said. “It’s not about money or anything. This plant – it has dramatically changed my life.”

Planting the seeds

There are two hurdles remaining for the Wyoming hemp industry – federal compliance, and killing any remaining stigma that’s still out there. 

Eisaman said she and other growers are going to be partly responsible for educating the naysayers. She said educating people on the uses of hemp and the difference between hemp and marijuana eats up a lot of her time. 

“I was on one of the Facebook groups last night, and people were complaining,” she said. “They were saying ‘How could Wyoming do this? They’ve lost their Wyoming values.’ Those people still think we ride horses to the bank. Wyoming needs to evolve with the rest of the country. 

“It’s very simple. I used to spend a lot of time educating people. My phone goes off non-stop, whether it’s people inquiring about products or people wanting information. I probably spend about 90 percent of my time educating. There’s always those ones. I found it easier for me to move on and move my energy to people who want to learn and be educated.”

The WDA is working hard on being in compliance with the federal guidelines being drafted by the USDA. The federal government shutdown earlier this year made it impossible for the USDA to formulate its guidelines by this growing season. According to a press release from the WDA, the USDA has stated it would hold state plans until this fall before considering them – therefore missing the 2019 growing season. States that currently allow hemp farming under the 2014 Farm Bill would be allowed to do so – but that doesn’t include Wyoming. 

Still, Miyamoto of the WDA is hoping to get something worked out that would allow for a growing season in 2019. 

“With the USDA not approving state plans until the fall, the most important thing right now is to make sure we have the legal authority to permit and regulate hemp under the provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill and existing statutes in Wyoming,” Miyamoto said. “We are working with the Attorney General’s Office and Governor Gordon’s office to answer this question but will continue developing the program so we are ready to go when we are legally able to start permitting.”

It could be this season, it could be next season or it could take a few years, but hemp is here – and it’s got potential for Goshen County. 

“If Goshen County jumps aboard, it would be very good for our economy here,” Eisaman said.

According to Ochsner, Goshen County just has to find its niche in the hemp industry. 

“If you can figure out the best way to process it, the cheapest ways to create something and sell it, to sell a good that’s needed, there could even be a producer-owned cooperative that could sell Wyoming hemp to other states,” Ochsner said. “The market is just beginning, but there’s a lot
of potential.”