The Southeast is emerging as a hotbed of hemp textile activity, with the expected unfolding of a value chain picking up momentum.  At the Industrial Hemp Summit yesterday in Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina, we saw the field deepening in terms of professionals populating various aspects of a value chain, starting at the farm level, and running right through a series of essential processing steps like degumming, spinning, and weaving.  

North Carolina hemp producers had an excellent crop in 2021, harvesting several tons/acre on Gary Sykes farm in Eastern North Carolina.  Nebraska-based Bish Enterprises laid the crop down with one of their specialized 3-pt./ pull-behind harvesters.  The machine is a multi-gang sickle bar design with some clever features, like independently driven hydraulic cutters and transport capability for covering back roads.

 The Bish Family were attending the Southeast Hemp Expo last fall with their