We are pleased to announce that registration is OPEN for Hemp Today: Growing & Marketing Industrial Hemp at the Center for Agrarian Learning at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, IL. When? October 16, 2021 from 10am - 3pm *At 10 a.m. there is an optional pre-session covering the basics of hemp cannabinoids, hemp grain, and hemp fiber. We’ll kick off officially at 11 a.m. This event is coordinated by the Center for Agrarian Learning at MCC in collaboration with Illinois Hemp Growers Association. "Get the latest on the hemp industry and regulations in Illinois and beyond, and learn about the opportunities and challenges for industrial hemp farmers, processors, and business owners. Break-out sessions will cover: how to grow cannabinoid products (tinctures, oils, topicals, edibles) including processing, from seed to bottle, and how to market hemp products including compliant labeling, retail opportunities, strategy, and more. An amazing lineup of farmers and experts will be present!" Featuring Evera Ivy of Ivy League Farms - Kankakee, Illinois Kalee Hooghkirk of Midwest Hemp Coalition - West Dundee, Illinois Stacy McCaskill of Hempstock Pharms - Woodstock, Illinois Michael Perez of Planted Root Farms - Shelbyville, Illinois Phillip Scott of WI Hemp Farmers and Manufacturers Association - Madison, Wisconsin Rachael Smedberg of Tulip Tree Gardens - Beecher, Illinois & Rachel Berry of the IL Hemp Growers Association - Princeton, Illinois Get registered here: https://www.mchenry.edu/events/2021/10/cal-10-16.html

Hello hemp community! Friends at the University of Wisconsin are seeking information from farmers, landowners, and community members with knowledge of and access to feral patches of industrial hemp in Illinois. Please see the following description and attachment below to learn more about their project and how you can help: "We are researchers at the University of Wisconsin studying feral hemp (aka ditch weed; Cannabis sativa) throughout the North Central Midwest, and we’re reaching out to you for help locating populations. Do you know of feral hemp growing anywhere in Wisconsin or surrounding states? If so, would you be willing to share some basic geographic and demographic information with us? Please note that not all sites will be visited, and those located on private property will not be visited (or their location information shared with others) without consent from property owners. A brief summary of our research: Midwest farmers struggle with decreased revenue resulting from globalization, technological advancements, and extreme weather events, and diversifying agriculture can increase economic potential and help build more sustainable agricultural systems in our region. Hemp (Cannabis sativa) is an alternative crop that can be used to diversify regional agriculture; however, a lack of institutional research over the past 70 years has left hemp farmers with relatively little foundational agronomic knowledge and poorly adapted cultivars. We are working to identify and characterize feral hemp populations in the Midwest in an effort to utilize this unique resource to help the burgeoning hemp industry. Our project objectives are to: 1) Characterize phenology and preserve seed from feral hemp populations, 2) Identify site conditions in feral hemp populations and relate those conditions to Eurasian Hemp Borer (an insect pest) resistance and higher yielding hemp cultivars, and 3) Identify sources of Eurasian Hemp Borer resistance from feral hemp that can be used to create higher yielding hemp cultivars for midwestern farmers. How you can help: We’re asking for the public’s help in locating populations of feral hemp to include in our study. You can share your information about feral hemp with us in one of two ways, either via iNaturalist (a free crowdsourcing nature application available through an application on your mobile device or via a web browser) or by sending your information directly to us via email or the US postal service. Detailed instructions for both options can be found in the attached documents (both pdf and Word versions attached). The time commitment is very minimal. Please share this message widely within your own networks. Your help getting the word out is greatly appreciated! If you have questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email (bbarring@uwsp.edu) or phone (715-346-2452)." Project Contacts: Brian Barringer (Department of Biology, College of Letters and Science, UW Stevens Point) Autumn Brown (Department of Horticulture, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UW Madison) Shelby Ellison (Department of Horticulture, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UW Madison) Russell L. Groves (Department of Entomology, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UW Madison) Sophia Risch (Department of Biology and College of Natural Resources, UW Stevens Point) Bryant Scharenbroch (College of Natural Resources, UW Stevens Point)

We will be ordering in bulk from the same supplier we used last year. If you want to get a bulk discount please contact me and we will add your name and quantity to the order.