Largest Hemp Auction in the U.S. to Take Place in Tennessee

Cannabis Blog Sep 30, 2019

By: Justin McNaughton, Senior Counsel

Franklin, Tennessee (just south of Nashville) will be the location of The International Hemp Auction & Market (IHAM), being billed as largest hemp auction to date in the United States. The auction will be held on November 19-21 and will feature a live auction of COA-carrying Hemp Biomass, Smokable Hemp Flower, CBD Crude Oil, CBD Distillate, CBD Isolate, CBD Blends, CBG Products, Seed, Mothers, Seedlings, and Clones.

The event is organized by the Southern Hemp Marketplace (SHM), and they expect as many as 1,000 farmers, growers, processors, and traders at this first-of-its-kind auction. “The hemp industry is evolving rapidly and, with a critical harvest period upon so many first-time crops, it’s crystal clear that thousands of hemp growers across the United States need venues for fair-market pricing,” said Mark S. Case, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Southern Hemp Marketplace in a statement. “Likewise, hemp CBD extractors and processors need access to large volumes of quality hemp and related product inventory to meet consumer demands, but also to ensure operations are at maximum utilization.”

One of the difficulties that has plagued farmers and processors in the new hemp economy is finding buyers and getting a good price. Many farmers opted against early contracts for their hemp crop because of price fluctuation concerns. There is a serious lack of liquidity/transparency in the hemp market, which must change as the industry grows into its projected $26 billion dollar market by 2025. One of the first problems to be solved is bringing simplicity and confidence to the buying process.

The International Hemp Auction aims to establish a norm for hemp that is similar to any other agricultural commodity. Right now some contracts for hemp biomass are priced based on the actual extracted CBD content (which is inefficient and slow) while others are based on COA testing. Farmers are selling their crops before they even plant them or even know what the market price will be while processors are uncertain what quality of product will be delivered.The International Hemp Auction is intended to take the age-old agricultural auction and apply it to hemp. Bidders will be able to inspect the products and view COA certificates on site. Sellers will have the confidence that they can display their products and sell them easily.

We look forward to welcoming a new era of transparency and legitimacy to the hemp industry. More information can be found here.

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