Ohio startup signs contract to grow hemp for bioplastics
April 23, 2024
TJ Richardson and Justin Helt were some of the first producers in Ohio to grow hemp after Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 57 in 2019, legalizing hemp production in Ohio, reports Farm & Dairy.
The pair started growing 11,000 cannabinoid hemp plants, CBD plants, on three acres of land in 2020. Eventually, they transitioned to growing grain and fiber hemp plants, following the fast-growing market for fiber hemp.
Now, nearly four years after their first plants went in the ground, Richardson and Helt’s Ohio Hemp Company landed its first contract with Michigan-based Heartland Industries to produce a bio-plastic made with hemp fiber.
