Industrial HEMP

Steve takes us on a deep and informative dive into the world, and many uses of Industrial Hemp.  it has a vast and rich history of uses and is beneficial today!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Pull up a chair. Lean in close. Got a question.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Welcome to the thirty-third podcast of Conversations with the Kough. Wow. Brought to you from the Liberty Crack Media Studios, just off of Ocean Boulevard on the beautiful Grand Strand. I'm Steve Hoffman, your host, and with me in the studio today is the executive producer of Liberty Crack Media, Trip Detmering. Today the topic is industrial hemp.

SPEAKER_07 1:50

Yay!

SPEAKER_01 1:51

Yeah, let me repeat that. We're only talking about industrial hemp. Thirty years ago, the word hemp lived in the shadows, misunderstood, mislabeled, and buried under decades of political baggage. But today, it's quietly becoming one of the most versatile, sustainable, and economically powerful crops on the planet. Industrial hemp is not a trend. It's a comeback story. A plant that can build homes, replace plastics, feed livestock, clean the soil, and clothe entire communities, and fuel new industries, all while growing faster than almost anything else that farmers can put on the ground. So settle in because the story of industrial hemp isn't just about agriculture, it's about resilience, reinvention, and the surprising ways one plant can help reshape the next century. Well, how about that, Trip?

SPEAKER_05 2:58

Yeah, that sounds uh that sounds really fantastic and interesting. Yeah, industrial hemp. And it goes back to probably the founding of the New World.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

I have some stories about that. All right, I am excited to hear about this. You're gonna be amazed at the how hemp has been used back in in history. So if you do a quick research of uh how industrial hemp is used, you'll see that uh I came up with a quick Google search, okay? Okay, do my research obviously. And uh yeah, I came up with the 17 industries that use industrial hemp.

SPEAKER_07 3:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

And of course, uh, one of them is textiles. I already mentioned that. Uh the part of the hemp product that's used in textiles is the bast fiber, the stock.

SPEAKER_07 3:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

And it's using clothing, denim, canvas, rope, and upholstery. Now, why do they use hemp? Because one thing, it's a very strong fiber.

SPEAKER_07 3:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Their clothes aren't going to deteriorate fast. Number two, the durable and breathable and renewable. Now, for those of us who live in the south, where it's pretty hot and humor humid in the summertime, you're gonna want clothes that are breathable.

SPEAKER_05 4:14

Ah, yes.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

There's nothing worse than going out in 90 degree heat and 90 degree humidity in a polyester t-shirt that's gonna stick to your body.

SPEAKER_06 4:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

Hemp won't do that. Good. So very versatile. Okay, next we're gonna talk about the paper industry. And this is where hemp really shines. Ah. Again, they use the best fiber. It's used for writing paper, cardboard, packaging, and specialty papers. So a little uh historical note about uh hemp paper. Did you know that the original Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper?

SPEAKER_05 4:55

I did not know that.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Yeah, the colonials they they knew all about hemp. They used it for paper. And uh one thing also is why would we want to switch from tree pulp to hemp pulp? And one of the reasons is hemp matures in about four to 120 days compared to 20 to 80 years for trees.

SPEAKER_06 5:24

Ah, yep.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

So, and you can also plant if you get the right climate, you can grow three or four hemp crops a year.

SPEAKER_07 5:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

And uh the hemp product could actually produce ten times more paper per acre annually than tree-based bottles.

SPEAKER_05 5:44

And I I can imagine even if you greenhouse it in places where it doesn't have the type of climate, it would probably be Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

So if you're a tree hugger, you're gonna really like that statistics. There you go. You know, save the planet, save the trees, right? There you go. Go with hemp. Uh but there's a lot of other uh ecological benefits to hemp, and we'll we'll get into some of those later. And uh, okay, so that's a paper industry. They could definitely benefit by using more hemp. And building materials. Uh here they use the inner stock, it's called the the herds, they call it. And it's used to make uh hemp crete, insulation, fiberboard, wall panels, you name it, you name it. Uh the benefit is that these materials are lightweight, insulating, moisture regulating, and carbon storage. And we'll get we'll get to that carbon storage thing a little bit more in the in the future, too. Oh, okay. Um, so if you ever if you ever watch uh Facebook reels, now nowadays you see a lot of advertising about different countries and how they're building hemp hemp creek and hemp creet uh blocks and stuff for building materials. Hemp creek, yeah. Hemp creet. Yeah. And uh it's getting more widespread use throughout many parts of the world, except the United States. So, you know, um we we live in Ory County, South Carolina, one of the fastest growing areas in the United States, and it's all kind of building going on. But I'll be doing, I don't see any hemp materials at all being used in the construction of new homes in the fastest growing area in the U.S. right now. All right. And there's a reason for that, and we'll get to that later. Okay, let's go on to uh bioplastics industry. Uh here they use the cellulose and the fiber of the hemp plant, and it's used for packaging, automobile parts, and consumer goods. Bioplastics are renewable and can reduce petroleum use. Now, why is that important? Well, what's happening right now? Whenever there's a world conflict somewhere, the the channels, the the choke points kind of are are affected, and the flow of petroleum is cut to the to the countries who need it. Well, you don't have to worry about that with hemp.

SPEAKER_07 8:21

Right.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

You know, you're not relying on petroleum. So that's a it's quite a benefit there. And also I just mentioned automobile parts. Not just automobile parts, but automobile automobiles themselves. Did you know that Henry Ford, when he designed the Model T was high? Oh, he's probably we're talking about industrial bullets. That's right, that's right. Not the stuff that I not the stuff that puts me to sleep at night. Don't mess with my gummies. So Henry Ford designed the the Model T- And he designed it to be built with hemp. Uh with hemp fiber. And he designed it to be run on hemp gasoline. Interesting. Hemp gasoline. This is back in the 1940s, right? Right. He he envisioned, again, a world of hemp. We never got there, but we're getting there.

SPEAKER_07 9:19

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

So, yeah, it's uh it's uh very lightweight, strong, and it improves fuel efficiency. If your car was made with hemp-derived materials, it would be a lot lighter. So obviously it'd get more miles per gallon.

SPEAKER_07 9:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Uh biofuels. We already mentioned that uh Henry Ford envisioned the use of hemp gasoline, but biofuels are made from the seeds and the biomass of hemp. And it's used for biodiesel, ethanol, and what they call a biomass fuel. And again, it's a renewable energy source. And again, we don't have to rely on the supply chain for petroleum, which can be quite volatile, as we've recently found out.

SPEAKER_07 10:10

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

The uh hemp products are also very absorbent. So they're used in animal bedding and mulch, landscaping and agriculture, basically to improve the soil, to retain moisture. Uh they're highly absorbent. For animal bedding, if you ever own a cat and you know that kitty litter, when you pour the kitty litter in the box, the dust just slides all over the place.

SPEAKER_06 10:40

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Well, you don't have to worry about that with hemp because it has very, very low dust. Oh. And uh the uh it also helps uh like to meet maintain moisture in the ground. So you want to use the hemp herds for uh for mulch on your landscaping. And again, it's also biodegradable. Yeah. You know, if you leave it over time, it'll biodegrade, and all you gotta do is put some more hemp herds on top of it.

SPEAKER_06 11:07

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

You don't have to totally replace it like you have have to do with some some mulch. Composites. Uh hemp, industrial hemp is also used to make composites. Uh, these are reinforced plastics that are used in the manufacturing of sporting goods and even furniture. And the benefit here is it's got a very, very high strength to weight ratio. And I already talked about hemp in construction. Uh used with the fiber, very strong, sustainable, and uh low formaldehyde. Hamp is also very good for the insulation industry for both residential and commercial insulation. Uh here we use the fiber. It's got good thermal and sound insulation characteristics. Okay. So it's very good for that. Uh filtration. You can use it to uh filter the air, filter oil, and filter and water filters. Here again, it's uh durable and it's naturally porous. It's ideal for filtration. Now, here's another one that's that's kind of for your your in my my own safety. It can be used to the seed oil can be used for paints and coatings. Oh yeah, it's plant-based and it's low VOC potential. Now, what the heck is VOC? Volatile organic compounds.

SPEAKER_04 12:45

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

When you paint the house, you ever notice how why they're wearing those masks? Mm-hmm. It's because of the VOCs. Oh, I see. Paint emits volatile organic compounds that if they get in your lungs can affect your life.

SPEAKER_04 13:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Well, uh the hemp seed oil-based paints, very, very low VOC uh content. Much better for you, for the economy, for the ecology, and for your health to use hemp-based paint.

SPEAKER_05 13:16

Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

Awesome. Utterly tubular, I'll tell you. This is a remarkable plant. And of course, our wives and girlfriends, they know all about hemp. Hemp has been used in the cosmetics and personal care industry for decades. Oh. When they go, a lot of the soaps that they buy, the lotions and shampoos and skin creams, they're got a lot of hemp in them. And the women know probably better than us that the hemp products are rich in fatty acids. And believe it or not, fatty acids are good for your skin.

SPEAKER_06 13:52

Ah, there you go.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

So do your girlfriend a favor and buy her buy her some hemp lotion.

SPEAKER_05 13:59

Rub some fatty acids on her face. Okay. Yeah, there you go. But don't say, hey, fatty, I got something for you. Yeah. Get yourself in a hemple lot of trouble.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

Yeah. I would probably need to pop a couple of gummies after that. Yeah. So let's talk about food products. Here again, that uses the seeds and the seed oil. Protein powder, cooking oil, and snack foods are made with a lot of hemp products. Yeah. And they're rich in high in protein, high in omega-3 and omega-6 fats. And I can tell you personally about shelled hemp seeds. Okay, I'm an old fart, right? I'm a senior citizen. And I have to have make sure I get a lot of protein to maintain muscle mass. Yeah. As we get older, you know, we get kind of flabby, right?

SPEAKER_05 14:51

Well, are you looking at me when you're saying that?

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Yeah. I'm working on it, all right? Damn it. So I buy shelled hemp seeds from Amazon Prime. Okay. I get about a one or two-pound bag. All right. And when I go to eat out at the eat at a restaurant, if I get a Caesar salad, I just take one or two tablespoons of those hemp seeds, spread them over my salad, and that gives me plenty of protein for my meal. Interesting. Very, very high in protein. Very, very good for you.

SPEAKER_05 15:22

Is it very expensive to get the hemp seeds?

SPEAKER_01 15:24

No, very inexpensive. Okay. Especially if you get it like uh in bulk uh Amazon Prime.

SPEAKER_04 15:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

I don't know, Kroger, Walmart, they probably all sell it. You might have to look real hard. I I love shopping on Amazon. All you gotta do is type it in the window and your door. I don't have to walk around. I don't have to get my car and drive anywhere. Yeah. If I want something. Oh, and they ship it right to your house. There you go. Yeah. So I don't have to fight the traffic. Okay, so it it's obviously good for humans food. It's also good for agricultural livestock food. Again, it's high in protein and uh it's using uh a lot of supplements for for animals. Okay, so we've got all of these different uses for hemp. If you live in rural America today, you know that farmers are hurting. Yeah. And even Donald Trump lately has had a a special program to help the farmers.

SPEAKER_07 16:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

The helmer the farmers need additional income. They need to be able to grow a variety of plants, and the the plants that they grow should be grown to meet the different market conditions.

SPEAKER_07 16:40

Right.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

And hemp can be one of those plants that they can put on their crop rotation cycle to help increase their income. And uh the one of the areas about uh income has to do with the fact that in 2025 industrial hemp represented seven hundred and thirty-nine million dollars towards the U.S. economy.

SPEAKER_04 17:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

Now that's not a lot of money.

SPEAKER_04 17:31

No.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

But it was a 64% increase over the previous year.

SPEAKER_04 17:37

Ah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

So hemp also the projections are that if we expanded our industrial hemp planting and the uses of industrial hemp, the United States could create an additional 136,000 jobs. Wow.

SPEAKER_05 17:58

That's pretty good. I believe so.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

Yeah. All we gotta do is reduce the barriers to planting hemp, and you'd see job growth.

SPEAKER_05 18:08

Well, regulations are the backbone of this country.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

And we're gonna get to that. Also, we live in the South. We live in South Carolina. If you travel through the rural counties of South Carolina, you're gonna get one impression. These people are poor. And yeah, a lot of the counties, agricultural counties in South Carolina, have poverty rates over 30 percent. Some of the poorest counties in the United States are agricultural counties in South Carolina. South Carolina has the ideal climate for growing all varieties of hemp.

SPEAKER_07 18:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

And uh it's estimated that uh in South Carolina alone, it could, if we got rid of all of the barriers to industrial hemp, we could create an additional 4,000 jobs just in this state alone. Wow. And believe me, those counties need the it's not just for the farmers, yeah. The farmers would make money, yeah, but the peripheral operations, the production, the distribution, yeah, the warehousing, they would they would also benefit. The entire county would benefit.

SPEAKER_05 19:22

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

So obviously, industrial hemp, if we expanded the the production of or growth of industrial hemp, we would have a lot of benefits. Both uh as far as freedom of choice and materials, good for the environment, all that good stuff. Uh but there are barriers to uh to industrial hemp. But first, let me talk a little bit more about the ecological benefits of of uh hemp.

SPEAKER_07 19:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

Planting hemp actually improves the soil. Interesting. Oh, yeah. It impli improves the soil because hemp has a deep root system that improves the soil structure, it prevents erosion and keep can be even used as a natural fertilizer. Also, hemp what's the what do they call that? Uh greenhouse gases.

SPEAKER_06 20:28

Uh-huh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Carbon dioxide. Boo, you know, we don't want any car CO2, right? Right. Well, hemp is great for removing carbon carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

SPEAKER_05 20:37

Kind of like trees. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:39

Kind of like trees, only better.

SPEAKER_06 20:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

The um the statistics that I saw was hemp captures 16 to 20 tons of CO2 per acre per year. While forests, the trees, only capture three to six tons. Interesting. Right. So those hemp plants out there are helping you and I breathe. Getting rid of the CO2, producing oxygen, that sort of thing. Okay. So we mentioned that there are also, wouldn't that be nice if you said more hemp planted? So what's preventing more hemp from being planted?

SPEAKER_06 21:24

Regulations.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

The government. Yep. Less government, more freedom.

SPEAKER_06 21:29

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

One of the primary reasons of what we call regulatory ambiguity. The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp.

SPEAKER_05 21:43

With an asterisk?

SPEAKER_01 21:45

With an asterisk. With a question mark, question mark, question mark. It didn't differentiate between industrial hemp and all the other forms of hemp.

SPEAKER_04 21:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

So there's policy gaps there. You know, how do you write a policy when you don't have a clear definition of what it what it is you're talking about?

SPEAKER_04 22:02

Right.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

So we need a clear framework from our legislatures on distinguishing legitimate agricultural hemp, fiber, grain, oil seed, from what they call cannabinoid products.

SPEAKER_07 22:18

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

And really, we really don't have that distinction today.

SPEAKER_05 22:23

No. And maybe that's by purpose and design.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

Could be. Also, the reason you don't have a lot of uh acreage and industrial hemp is what's taken off lately. I mean, I go to a gummy shop, right? I buy my gummies. You can't go to a gape, uh, a vape shop without CBD and THC content.

SPEAKER_04 22:48

Oh, come on, you're an Amazon guy. You can't give me that stuff about going to places.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

That's one of the few reasons why why I will leave my house is to go to the local uh uh gummy store to get my gummies. But um because of the prop popularity of THC products and C B D products, primarily coming from hemp, not marijuana.

SPEAKER_07 23:13

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

Because it's illegal to grow marijuana in in most states. Yeah. It's not illegal to grow hemp.

SPEAKER_06 23:19

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

So a lot of these products that you're getting are coming from hemp.

SPEAKER_06 23:22

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

So what are the farmers gonna do? Are they gonna plant the industrial hemp or the other stuff?

SPEAKER_05 23:29

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

Yeah, they they're gonna go for the other stuff. They wanna make more money.

SPEAKER_05 23:33

That's true.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

So because of that, um you have uh less uh industrial hemp acreage being planted than the other acreage for the uh cannabinoid hemp.

SPEAKER_04 23:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

So that's one of the things that that's keeping these other industries from from being able to have enough supply for the products that they want to build. Yeah. Yeah. Basic economics. Economics one-on-one here. Okay, I I I've already talked about this, but it's policy confusion on cannabinoids instead of agriculture. Legislative proposals have been criticized for protecting unregulated intoxicant markets rather than building a framework for the industrial hemp products. Right. For the fiber and grain and food and feed, low-dose beverages, that that sort of thing. So when they build their legislation, our uh our illustrious representatives and state senators and even the uh congressmen, they they know that hemp is that's THC. That's marijuana. That's gonna make us rape and kill. It's gonna be a gateway to heroin. That's right. They're gonna plant hemp today, and they're gonna be using cocaine tomorrow.

SPEAKER_05 24:54

Make your daughters into prostitutes.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

Right. I mean, it's only logical, right?

SPEAKER_05 24:58

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

Well, that kind of shows how ignorant our legislatures really are.

SPEAKER_05 25:02

Right.

SPEAKER_01 25:03

They don't know the difference between a cannabinoid product and an industrial hemp product. And they don't know the uses, and they're up there in the capitals making legislation. Yeah. And that's one of the things that has to change if we're gonna see our country move forward in uh widespread utilization of industrial hemp.

SPEAKER_06 25:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

But there is hope. There is a country out there that is showing us the way. Yes, there is.

SPEAKER_05 25:34

It's not Argentina, is it?

SPEAKER_01 25:36

Uh no. Oh, Javier Malay has done a lot of wonderful things in Argentina, but uh hemp is not one of them. Expanding industrial hemp has not been one of his uh miracles. So the uh Argent uh not our uh Australia. We got to be talking about Argentina. Make that Australia. There we go. Australia has uh formed a parliamentary committee that has recommended that Australia build hemp in the federal procurement policy. Interesting. So if you're gonna buy paper, if the government's gonna buy paper, make sure it's got a bunch of hemp paper.

SPEAKER_06 26:14

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 26:15

That'll help the industry and get the building codes writing a hemp construction standard. Okay. Remember I talked about Oray County lack of building material? Right. No builder in the right mind is gonna use a hemp block in the construction because it's gonna violate current building codes.

SPEAKER_05 26:39

Interesting. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 26:40

The current building codes are gonna specify a certain grade of concrete, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then nowhere in there is they're gonna mention hemp hemp crete. Yeah. So they take a big risk if they built a house with hemp crete.

SPEAKER_04 26:53

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 26:54

Then a housing inspector would come by and oh, you can't do that, and they'd tear the house down. Yeah. There'd be no investments in in uh building using hemp products. So Australia's gonna make sure that that doesn't happen. Interesting. Okay. They're also going to uh be performing more uh fire rating tests on on hemp products. It is known that hemp products are fire resistant, but we need to quantify that. We need to put it out there so everybody can know the benefits. Also, the carbon capturing capability uh of hemp, I already mentioned that. They want to make sure that uh they continue to measure that and publicize that so that the public knows. You know, a lot of people are tree huggers. Yeah. A lot of people are and they want to make sure you don't harm the environment. Right. So they will buy a product if they know that it's environmentally uh friendly, if it's gonna capture CO2, that sort of thing. Yeah. So there is a country that's out there that has your best interest and my best interest in mind. And that's Australia. Fantastic. And it would be nice if our own legislatures woke up and kind of did the same thing.

SPEAKER_04 28:09

Amen. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

Definitely amen. So in closing, you've seen that uh hemp can build houses, clean the soil, replace plastics, strengthen textiles, and fuel rural economies. The only thing is it can't do that it can't do is wait. The roadblocks are real, but they're not bigger than the opportunities. The world is hungry for sustainable materials, and hemp is standing right at the front of the line. So here's the challenge as we close today's show. Don't just listen, but act. Support hemp businesses. Ask your representatives about hemp policy. Choose hemp products, share the facts. Industrial hemp is ready. Now it's our turn. So one of the things that you probably realize during this particular episode, as I have downplayed any mention of the pharmaceutical uses and intoxicating aspects of some hemp products. Don't mess with my gummies. That will be the topic of the next episode of Conversations with the Hoff.

SPEAKER_04 29:27

Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

Thanks for listening. And now a word from our glorious leader, the executive producer of Liberty Crack Media, Trip Detmerg.

SPEAKER_05 29:36

Oh, well, thank you, Steve. This has been a great episode. And I just want to remind our listeners if you're in the Myrtle Beach area on the 20th of this month, uh at after five o'clock, say 5:30, 6-ish, when you want to get a uh a wonderful bite to eat and uh some entertainment, go visit Voodoo Brewing Company. And uh there, on that date, you will be able to test out a little bit of Rebel Rabbit THC infused drinks, and uh you'll see another absolutely wonderful use of hemp products. There you go. And uh and you will also uh as a special treat from Liberty Crack Media, get a Liberty on nicotine button free with each of your uh with each of your test outs. So go to Voodoo Brewing Company, and that's on the 20th. And uh we want to thank you, go to Liberty Crack Media for more information on our wonderful podcasts, and stay tuned every Thursday for a new episode of Conversations with the Home.

SPEAKER_02 30:54

Leaning close. Got a question in a black coffee glow from campus quads to the capital steps, we're talking who we are What comes next?

SPEAKER_03 31:12

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