In the Hemp Studio with Farmer Steve Groff

Update: 2025-12-03

Description

We have a special in-studio guest this week on the Industrial Hemp Show.

Steve Groff, third-generation Lancaster County farmer and hemp innovator from Holtwood, Pennsylvania, stopped by the Hemp Studio at the Lancaster Farming Office in Ephrata.

We talked about machinery, long fiber, seed spacing, planter design and why farmer economics need to make sense if this industry is ever going to scale.

"Farmers are gonna have to get 10 or 20% more profit per acre for this hemp out the gate," he said.

We also talked about the green decorticator he's been working on.

And when we got back from lunch at Tacos El Gordo in Ephrata, we talked about the recent changes to the federal definition of hemp and what it will mean for the industry.

Steve Groff

https://stevegroff.com

Tacos El Gordo

A special thank-you to Tacos El Gordo for fueling our in-studio conversation during this episode.

https://lancastertacos.com/

News Nuggets

Intoxicating hemp ban deepens uncertainty at some publicly traded cannabis firms

HempToday reports that the federal crackdown on intoxicating hemp-derived THC is reshaping financial forecasts for Curaleaf, Tilray and CBD-only companies, exposing fragile balance sheets across the sector.

Chinese study shows novel pre-treatment could cut energy use in hemp-fiber processing

A research team at Qingdao University has developed a low-temperature, chemical-free fiber pre-treatment that may reduce energy use by up to 60% while improving fiber quality — an encouraging development for textile-grade hemp.

Austria's plan to put hemp flowers under tobacco monopoly is called unconstitutional

Austria is facing a constitutional battle after approving a measure that would place smokable hemp under the national tobacco monopoly, threatening hundreds of hemp shops despite EU rules allowing hemp flower trade below 0.3% THC.