It’s hemp harvest time in Vermont, a new and blossoming industry in this state that has major economic potential for small-acreage growers. Nonetheless, these new hemp farmers are encountering the inevitable challenges of budding entrepreneurship, hitting walls as they are scrambling to find enough drying spaces while also dealing with mechanized harvesting issues. Sterling College’s School of the New American Farmstead is responding to these concerns by offering a two-day #HempHack on October 24 & 25 in Craftsbury Common.
“We planned #HempHack to bring together farmers to ‘hack’ the issues they discovered in Vermont’s first year of major commercial hemp production,” said the Dean of Professional Studies at Sterling College. “I saw a similar situation with my farmer friends in the Alps about five years ago, and they had nowhere to go–hence, the idea of bringing in Chelsea Green author and national hemp expert Doug Fine to support farmers as they reflect on the 2019 hemp growing season and plan for a successful 2020.”
Doug Fine is a regenerative hemp farmer, goat herder and bestselling author. He cultivates hemp in four states, including Vermont, where he grows and markets an organic farm-to-table hemp product.
Farmers can attend either day or both days of #HempHack. The first day will be facilitated by Fine as a collective “hacking the issues,” followed by a second day featuring a more intimate workshop focused on business planning. Registration details and scholarship information can be found here.
The School of the New American Farmstead offers professional study opportunities and works in partnership with Chelsea Green Publishing, the School’s leading underwriter, featuring the company’s award-winning authors as instructors. As a result, students have unusual access to authors of some of the most relevant and compelling books on creating a sustainable future.
