Hemp in 2025: Cliff Hangers, Course Corrections and Community

Hemp in 2025: Cliff Hangers, Course Corrections and Community

Author: Eric Hurlock, Digital Editor December 30, 2025 Duration: 31:57

2025 was a year of uncertainty, contradiction and recalibration for the hemp industry.

In this year-end episode of the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast, host Eric Hurlock looks back on a season defined by policy whiplash, shifting definitions and hard conversations about what hemp is — and what it is not.

From rumors of executive action and the collapse of intoxicating hemp loopholes to the rescheduling of marijuana and its ripple effects across agriculture, the year ended with more questions than answers.

The episode revisits key voices from across the hemp landscape — policy advocates, farmers, processors, builders and researchers — and reflects on what the USDA data, federal decisions and on-the-ground realities revealed about the fiber, grain and building sectors.

It's also a personal moment of reflection: Nearly 50 episodes, roughly 160 guests and a year spent listening closely to the people doing the slow work of building real hemp infrastructure. As the show heads into 2026, this episode pauses long enough to take stock — and to set the stage for what comes next.

Get the Benton Shirt:
https://smithandrogue.com/blog/the-benton-shirt-grown-and-sewn-in-usa

Voices You Will Hear in This Episode

Morris Beegle

NoCo Hemp Expo

Joy Beckerman

Hemp Industries Association

Chris Fontes

High Spirits

Cameron McIntosh

Americhanvre Cast Hemp

Morgan Tweet

IND HEMP

Jeremy Klettke

Davis Hemp Farms

Lynda Mugglestone

University of Oxford

Guy Carpenter

Bear Fiber

Andre West

NC State Wilson College of Textiles

Larry Smart

Cornell University

Trey Riddle

IND HEMP

Sandra Marquardt

On the Mark Consulting

Coleman Beale

BastCore

Satish Hodage

YUJ Labs

Ding Hongliang

Hemp Fortex

Maciej Kowalski

Kombinat Konopny

Dave Cook

Tuscarora Mills

Mark D'Sa

Panda Biotech

Joseph Carringer

Canna Markets Group

Micaela Machado

Old Pueblo Hemp Co.

Danny Desjarlais

Lower Sioux Indian Community

Matt Marino

Homeland Hempcrete

Steve Allin

International Hemp Building Association

Jacob Waddell

Hemp Building Institute

Thanks to our Sponsors

IND HEMP

indhemp.com

Americhanvre Cast Hemp

americhanvre.com

King's AgriSeeds

kingsagriseeds.com

Forever Green

hempcutter.com

Sunray Hemp

Palmer, Alaska

National Hemp Association

nationalhempassociation.org

Hemp Education & Marketing Initiative (HEMI)

hempinitiatives.org


There’s a quiet revolution happening in fields and factories, and it’s centered on a single, versatile plant. Industrial Hemp Podcast, guided by Eric Hurlock, the Digital Editor at Lancaster Farming, moves beyond the headlines to explore what’s actually happening on the ground. This isn’t just theoretical discussion; it’s a direct line to the people driving the industry forward. Each episode features conversations with the farmers who are planting and harvesting these crops, facing very real agronomic challenges and opportunities. You’ll also hear from researchers, processors, and policy experts who are shaping the future of hemp for fiber, grain, and other industrial applications. The dialogue digs into the practicalities-from planting techniques and harvesting equipment to market trends, regulatory hurdles, and technological innovations that are changing the game. It’s a clear-eyed look at an agricultural sector finding its footing, reported by journalists with deep roots in farming communities. For anyone curious about the business, science, and sheer hard work behind industrial hemp, this podcast serves as an essential, grounded resource. Tune in for honest talk that cuts through the hype and gets to the root of this growing field.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Industrial Hemp Podcast
Podcast Episodes
Hemp Grain for Fuel: Wendy Mosher of New West Genetics [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:35
New West Genetics has been focused on crop improvement in the hemp industry since 2014. In July of 2021, the Lancaster Farming National Hemp Tour paid a visit to the New West headquarters in Fort Collins, Colorado, where…
Melissa Nelson of South Bend Industrial Hemp on Five Years of Growth [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:48
This week on the Hemp Show, we're revisiting some of the folks we met during our National Hemp Tour of 2021. Five years ago this summer the Industrial Hemp Podcast hit the road to map the industry as it was then. Hemp fa…
Hemp on the Hill and the Silver Screen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:47
This week's Hemp Podcast is divided into two parts. First, we take a look at the recent changes in U.S. hemp policy in a conversation with Rachel Umansky-Castro, the agriculture reporter for Bloomberg Government, who has…
Seed to Style: Inside the NIHC Summit with Patrick Atagi [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:32
This week on the Industrial Hemp Podcast, we talk to Patrick Atagi, president and CEO of the National Industrial Hemp Council, the organization that's hosting the Seed to Style hemp fiber summit in conjunction with the F…
Counting the Blessings of HempWood with Greg Wilson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:16
This week on The Hemp Show, we check in with Greg Wilson from Hempwood in Murray, Kentucky where, five years ago, Lancaster Farming's National Hemp Tour made its first stop. A lot has happened with Hempwood since then, a…
The National Hemp Tour 5 Years On [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:39
This week on the hemp podcast we take a ride in the RV Time Machine. We're going back five years, back to the National Hemp Tour in the summer of 2021, when we took the podcast on the road — and took my family too. We tr…
The Fiber King In-Field Decorticator [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:34
On this week's show, we catch up with Lancaster County farmer, hemp innovator and cover-crop coach Steve Groff to hear about the progress on two machines that have been years in the making and, he thinks, are finally abo…
Hemp Week in the Hempire State [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:43
This week on the Hemp Show we're digging into a few of the calendar items we mentioned on last week's show, specifically the run of events in New York state next month. On September 15, Cornell's 10th Annual Grain and Fi…
News Nuggets and Upcoming Hemp Events [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:11
On this week's Hemp Show we are focusing on recent news stories and upcoming hemp events, including the Farm-to-Fabric Hemp Textile Symposium in New York City, September 18-20. See the full list of events below. Plus a h…
From Field to Foot: Making Hemp Socks in Poland [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:24
This week's Hemp Show takes us once more back to Poland, where Maciej Kowalski gives us a tour of his vertically integrated hemp textile company in Elbląg, a small town in Northern Poland, not too far from the Baltic Sea…