Loose Leaf Notes

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on July 3, 2019.

The Buffalo Hemp Company (BHC) is up and running.  With a focus on CBD (Cannabidiol) products, the company’s partners – Kerry Underwood, Patrick Sisk, Daniel Sowers and Derek Wall – are growing their first crop of premium organic hemp and planning for a late summer storefront opening on Main Street.

CBD oil is an active ingredient in cannabis derived from the hemp plant.  Unlike marijuana, it is not psychoactive, having no (or negligible amounts) of THC.  Preliminary studies have shown CBD to be helpful in the treatment of anxiety, insomnia, cognition issues and pain.  Evidence suggests it can be helpful in curbing opiate, alcohol and tobacco abuse and preventing or reducing symptoms of withdrawal.  Users have described CBD as having a calming and focusing effect that is fast-acting, non-addictive and without side-effects.

“The U.S. is pushing to be the third largest hemp producer, next to Canada and China,” said BHC partner Patrick Sisk.  But Sisk admits that the industry is still evolving and that there remains some stigma around the cannabis plant.  The agricultural production of hemp was legalized by Congress through the 2018 Farm Bill.  CBD was first legalized in Virginia in 2015 for the treatment of epileptic seizures, but since then, laws have allowed its use and availability to be expanded.

Sisk, who grew up in Fauquier County, first came to the area through an agricultural scholarship to Virginia Tech.  He said BHC would like to see the company be a boon to the area.  The partners hope to eventually process their crop into CBD products on site, but the changing laws may have them going out of state for processing. BHC paid $50 for a grower’s certificate before breaking ground, but, so far, only a handful of companies in Virginia have been granted the right to process hemp.

“The demand for this product is growing quicker than it can be grown,” said partner Kerry Underwood, “but because of our farming heritage, we’ll be able to meet that demand.”  In the mid ‘90s, Underwood owned and managed a Hemp store in Roanoke that sold mostly items made from hemp fabrics. He noted that hemp was grown by our founding fathers and that cannabis has been a safe part of our nature-based pharmacy for ages.

“To be able to grow this plant is an honor and privilege,” Underwood continued. “It can make a huge contribution to solving the ecological problems of the planet.   An acre of hemp will consume over 1 ½ tons of carbon dioxide.  And it’s a soil remediator, leaving the soil better than it found it,” he said.  “But it’s not growing tomatoes.  It’s a lot more complicated than that,” he joked.

Currently, the BHC has a 75 acre farm on Franklin Pike that they are leasing to buy, along with an 8,000 square foot building and out buildings that provide plenty of room for the business to grow. Their first field acre of hemp for CBD should be ready for harvest around October.  Other plants have been grown onsite in greenhouses and some that will be used for free-roll CBD smokes is hanging in a drying room.

Each of the BHC partners own other successful businesses and their entrepreneurial spirit can be traced to that.  Sisk and Underwood are owners of 5 Mile Mountain Distillery, Floyd County’s first distillery since Prohibition. The business features micro-distilled moonshine with Appalachian roots and houses a tasting room and gift shop.  Daniel Sowers owns and operates On The Water, a Floyd kayak, canoe and tube outfitter along the Little River.   Derek Wall is co-owner of the Thomas and Wall Real Estate firm.

Together, the four partners manage logistics, marketing, retail, as well as getting their hands in the dirt. “We have a great team.  I can’t imagine doing this without any one of us,” Sisk said.  “We all bring something to the table.”  – Colleen Redman