On this week's Industrial Hemp Podcast, we talk to the organizers of the Lancaster County Hemp Circuit: Sarah Mitchell, Steve Groff and Alyssa Collins.
The circuit, an event centered on growing and processing industrial hemp in Pennsylvania, is scheduled Aug. 20-21.
"It's called the circuit because we actually have four different sites and they're all in a radius of Lancaster City," said Mitchell, hemp specialist at King's Agriseeds, which is hosting the first leg of the circuit at the King's research farm in Christiana on Tuesday, Aug. 20, at 9 a.m.
"We have 28 varieties to show off from several different continents, all by breeders who are intending to either offer certified seed varieties or are breeding for certified seed varieties," she said.
From the farm in Christiana, the event moves to the Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum for an afternoon educational session, including a welcome address from Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding and a history lesson from Pennsylvania hemp historian Les Stark.
"We also have six hemp entrepreneurs from Pennsylvania," Mitchell said, "and these are businesses that are actually generating revenue from hemp. And so these are people who are not just talking about making it happen, but they're actually making it happen."
After the Landis Valley Museum and a dinner break, the circuit continues at Penn State's Southeastern Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Manheim, where Collins, its director, has been overseeing Penn State's hemp research since 2018.
The evening portion of the event starts with introductions in the barn. Attendees will then head out to the field to see the variety trials and ask questions, before returning to the barn for more discussion.
"This is a great opportunity to meet some of the next generation of hemp scientists, because we're going to have some of the students there to share their work that they've been working on the last couple of years on, specifically hemp disease and hemp processing and insect ecology in hemp," Collins said.
For those traveling from outside the county, Mitchell said a block of rooms is available at the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel in Lancaster.
The second day of the event takes place from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., entirely at Steve Groff's Cedar Meadow Farm in Holtwood, Lancaster County, where Groff has over 50 acres of fiber hemp in the ground.
The day will be full day of expert speakers, educational opportunities and equipment demonstrations from chopping and baling to no-till planting into cover crops.
There will also be a soil pit, so attendees can see the difference regenerative hemp farming has on the soil.
Groff said he is excited to unveil his four bar hemp cutter, essentially four sickle mowing bars that allow for easier harvesting of tall fiber hemp.
"And we'll be able to cut 12 feet hemp into four sections, and make it manageable then to windrow and dry it out," he said.
Lunch will be served both days, but attendees are on their own for dinner.
Space is limited, so please register soon.
Learn More
King's Agriseeds
Cedar Meadow farm
Penn State's SEAREC farm
Register for the Lancaster County Hemp Circuit
Questions about the event?
Contact: Sarah Mitchell, Hemp Specialist
717-327-6188
Thanks to Our Sponsors
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Music courtesy of TIN BIRD SHADOW.
