As Meristem Farms grows and enters new lives, we care about staying rooted, remembering why we started it all and why we wake up every day feeling hopeful and excited to create new products. Our love for the industry goes beyond just cannabis — it’s about the impact, the history, and the changes that mindful products can bring into our society.
Confusion and consternation now reign with the IFR in its current form, and we fear this year’s impending harvest will yield a bumper crop of bankruptcies and lawsuits rather than fiber, flower and food. Therefore we urge the Department to delay enforcement of the IFR provisions relating to the problems it has now publicly recognized, as it did for two such provisions in February, until the Rule is finalized.
"Perdue’s comments about the USDA hemp rules being a draft make a big difference to hemp producers such as Rick Fox, CEO of Meristem Farms in Vermont. Fox, who formerly worked at the USDA for 15 years, said that Perdue’s acknowledgement that the interim final rule is a draft plan means states have another full growing season to use older hemp regulations."
Meristem Farms, like many small-to-medium sized farms across the country are committed to farming artisanal, organically-farmed hemp with a very high plant-to-love ratio. For this way of cultivation to survive, USDA's hemp rule must be friendly for small and medium sized-farms.