New Holland Announces Partnership with National Hemp Association

Leading hemp association to partner with global equipment leader

  • Partnership Will Develop Educational Outreach for Farmers to Build America’s Newest Sustainable and Versatile Commodity Crop
  •  Alliance to Lay the Foundation of an Integrated North American Hemp Supply Chain and Calls on Partners to Join “Hemp Pledge”
  •  NHA Commits to Creating and Funding New “Hemp Farmer Educational Fund” to Assist Farmers in Converting to Hemp Production

It was announced today at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, that New Holland Agriculture, one of the world’s leading agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer, based in New Holland PA, has partnered with the National Hemp Association, the nation’s leading non-partisan hemp advocacy group based in Washington D.C., to accelerate the return of hemp commodity crop onto farmlands across North America, under the banner “Pushing Progress Together”.

As part of this partnership, the National Hemp Association will participate alongside New Holland at 16 national farm shows throughout North America to build out this sustainable new industry and will provide educational sessions and panel discussions as well as exhibit the multitude of products that can be produced from the hemp crop.

The alliance will also seek to move forward on solving the industry’s biggest challenge: the absence of commercial scale harvesting and decortication equipment uniting the demand of the product to the farmers that supply it. In order to begin laying the foundation of an integrated North American hemp supply chain, the alliance calls on other partners – corporations and entities to join a “Hemp Pledge” and commit to purchasing hemp grown and processed in the U.S. by U.S. farmers.

“We see this exclusive partnership as a way to bring the nation’s leading hemp advocates and educators to events where they can respond to the issues of most concern to farmers, manufacturers, processors and the general public”, says Brett Davis, Vice President, New Holland, North America. “It too will provide New Holland with the opportunity to hear from our dealer network, our customers and the more than 115,000 farmers who are looking to New Holland to bring forward supply chain solutions”.

The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 legalized hemp as a national commodity crop.  It builds upon the success seen through the hemp pilot programs by allowing states to permit large scale commercial growing and processing.  This new legislation also removed the federal barriers in place that have stifled the industry, which will help expand the domestic production of hemp. It will also give hemp researchers the chance to apply for competitive federal grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture – allowing them to continue their impressive work with the support of federal research dollars.

“The 2018 Farm Bill which contains the Hemp Farming Act of 2018 is the only legislation that we know of that both Senators McConnell and Schumer agree upon,” said NHA Chair and PAHIC President Geoff Whaling.  “Yet we know that the biggest challenge facing this crop and restricting its return is commercial scale harvesting and decortication equipment.  Without that solution, all of the promise for hemp – for the food, feed, construction, automotive, energy and textile industry will not be realized.  Our partnership with New Holland Agriculture will be the beginning steps towards that end.”

The National Hemp Association has also committed to creating and funding a new “Hemp Farmer Educational Fund” to assist farmers with agricultural, regulatory and production issues related to converting to hemp production.

“This Pennsylvania rooted partnership is very big step to building the national supply chain” said PA State Senator Schwank, the leading proponent of industrial hemp legislation in the PA Senate. “Together we need to provide any legislative fixes that are necessary as well as ensure the resources and tools are available to assist and help the industry move forward”

 

About New Holland Agriculture

New Holland is a global brand of agricultural machinery produced by CNH Industrial. New Holland agricultural products include tractors, combine harvesters, balers, forage harvesters, self-propelled sprayers, haying tools, seeding equipment, hobby tractors, utility vehicles and implements, and grape harvesters.

About the National Hemp Association

NHA is a non-profit corporation, based in Washington D.C. with more than 50,000 supporters and members, is dedicated to the development of the domestic hemp industry. This goal will be attained by coordinating legislation, agricultural organizations, farmers, processors, manufacturers, and retailers. The promotion of the hemp industry is congruent with the desire to improve the environment through production and utilization of hemp farming and products. We see a direct relationship between the products we use and stewardship of the land.

 

Contacts

New Holland Agriculture
Jon Hundleym, Marketing Manager
Email: jon.hundley@newholland.com
Phone: 717-355-3301

National Hemp Association
Erica Stark, Executive Director
Email: erica@nationalhempassociation.org
Phone: 202-706-3911

Source

New Holland Agriculture, press release, 2020-01-08.

Supplier

National Hemp Association
New Holland Agriculture

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