We held our first license workshop presentation at the Sauk Valley Community College on February 9th, 2019. Representatives from 11 farms attended the event which was scheduled for two hours starting at 8:00am. We started with coffee and donuts and a happy looking crowd of farmers filing in on that very cold Saturday morning.
The presentation began with a detailed overview of the slideshow we previewed on January 26th at the hemp hops and holism summit hosted at the same location. The discussion started right away and questions were being asked and answered consistently during the workshop.
After the slideshow, we took a break and then began going over a license worksheet we made specifically for this event. Together with a complete walk through on the information needed to complete the worksheet, we shared online tools and demonstrated how to generate a legal description and map of your land area including boundaries using any computer with an internet connection.
It was great to see the level of enthusiasm and support for organization and collaboration between farmers and processors from the farmers who want licenses. Some represented farms with over 1,000 acres of land they were willing to plant hemp on and others were from family farms looking to slowly introduce hemp into their smaller acreages over the next few growing seasons.
Some of the people in attendance were also already involved in the hemp industry. A farmer from Colorado with five years experience growing hemp and processing CBD, a post-grad student working on a hemp related thesis, and others contributed to the discussion during and after the presentation.
We ended up staying long after our scheduled two hours. Our goal was to ensure that everyone's questions were answered and that they got a good value for the price of registration. Based on the feedback we received and our continuing communications with the attendees, we achieved our goal.
We left the Sauk Valley Community College around noon that day and proceeded to attend the International Hemp and Grain Hemp Farming Presentation featuring products by Cannaraw at 6:00pm that night.
At the International Hemp and Grain event, one of the keynote speakers was unable to attend and so our chief of operations Chris Berry was asked to fill in at the last minute. Chris was able to educate the crowd on some specifics of the proposed rules and regulations for Illinois. He urged them to participate in submitting public comments and contacting their state legislators for a final push of support during the last two days of the public comment period.
After The Hemp Farming Presentation's speakers were finished, the event went well into the night and it was an incredible opportunity to network with people involved in nearly every facet of the hemp industry and others looking to break into it. We met many new people who were interested in moving the industry forward with the IHGA involved. It was a whirlwind of activity that we are still catching up from.
It's days like these that make it all worthwhile. The culmination of our serious preparation and honest dedication to the hemp industry continues to be an overwhelmingly powerful source of positive response from everyone we meet.
We look forward to seeing you at our scheduled future events including:
Wednesday February 27th, 2019 - see Rachel at the Illinois Stewardship Alliance's last stop on their annual meeting tour at Carlyle Brewing Co. in Rockford, IL.
Tuesday March 12th, 2019 - see Rachel and Chris at the University of Illinois Extension's Industrial Hemp Production Workshop at Highland Community College Student Conference Center in Freeport, IL.
Friday March 22nd, 2019 - see Rachel at the UIC Forum during the goodfoodEXPO on the Hemp Renaissance Panel moderated by the Illinois Stewardship Alliance for the Good Food Trade Show in Chicago .
Saturday May 4th, 2019 - see Rachel at the Illinois Hemp Grower's Summit with the Chicago Cannabis Company at the Quarry Event Center in Chicago.