Hemp entrepreneur Dan Herer and an executive group have established Herer Hemp Inc., a new entity that has positioned itself to develop products across all major industrial hemp sectors in the USA.
“We just took hemp off Schedule 1,” Herer said of recent changes at the federal level in the USA that saw hemp reclassified as a common agricultural crop. “We’re now gonna be able to get crop insurance, have bank accounts — and grow tens of thousands of acres of crops without the restrictive framework of being a schedule 1 Drug,” Herer said.
Strong roots
Herer, son of the late, legendary hemp visionary and rabble-rousing advocate Jack Herer, is also Director of the California-based Jack Herer Foundation, which works to advance the industry by emphasizing how industrial hemp can impact lives through education, community and farming.
Herer spent several years carefully developing high-quality products with a team of scientists, studying hemp and biomass for a wide, wide array of applications. It’s that work that serves as the basis for a “well rounded, diverse hemp company” going forward in the new era, Herer said.
Building relationships
“Now we’re building foundational components for a company that can do business nationally while also building relationships around globe,” Herer said.
“We’ll be growing so much hemp (in the USA) that we have to have a way to reach out and work with one another to create standards that will allow for international commerce that won’t be one directional,” Herer said.
Herer Hemp Inc. will be based in an as-yet-unnamed southern state in the USA, according to Herer, where the company has contracts with farmers, processors and producers.
Hemp explosion
Of the explosive hemp era upon us, Herer offers some caution: “If we don’t come together right now as hemp develops into a worldwide commodity, the market will be dictated by people who don’t necessarily love the product, but would look to control it,” he said.
“We need to figure out how to negotiate this enormous expansion in a way that will not let hemp be controlled by conglomerates who would put their boots on our necks and choke us out.”
