Hemp naturally has the potential to be a sustainable crop. And sustainability is core to the Victory Hemp brand. It starts with our CEO, Chad Rosen: “Environmental climate change is a core issue for me. I’ve always seen [climate change] as an enormous issue needing an enormous solution to right the ship. I kept coming back to agriculture because it has the potential to either be a major problem or a major solution."
At Victory Hemp, we want to contribute to the betterment of the world, not the detriment. So, to be a part of the solution of climate change, we contract with U.S. farmers who also want to move the needle.
Meet the Vollmars: Pioneers in Regenerative Agriculture & Sustainable Farming
Based in Caro, Michigan, Vollmar Family Farms is a sixth-generation family farm and has been certified organic since 1996. Their forward-thinking helped pioneer organic farming in their region. Twenty-five years later they’re still experimenting for the betterment of the environment. These days, they’re taking their sustainable farming practices further with regenerative agriculture by working towards their a Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC). “We’re really sold on the benefits of regenerative farming, and hemp is going to fit into that really well, particularly in our region and hopefully take the place of a lot of our corn acres,” says Mark Vollmar.
They’re working towards the Silver Level certification. But what does ROC-Silver mean?
Here are Some of the Criteria:
- Maintain year-round vegetative cover on 50-75% of all cultivated land
- Minimum of four crops rotated through the same area
- Four additional regenerative practices are used including mulching, perennial planting, grassed waterways, vegetative barriers, water conservation and/or wetland restoration.
“I’m really looking forward to having cover crops that will bring beneficial insects back in and get all of our nutrients from the plants and the atmosphere,” says Jordan Vollmar, who is Mark’s son and runs Vollmar Organics, a subsidiary of Vollmar Family Farms.
How Hemp Is Sustainable (Contributes to Regenerative Agriculture)
Hemp can better the environment—and a farm—in many ways, even beyond what Jordan outlined.
For one, hemp sequesters carbon, meaning that it pulls carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and stores it in the soil. Plus, hemp’s deep roots can feed carbon deeper into the soil for long-term storage.1
Second, when a farmer practices minimal-till management, those deep hemp roots provide underground biomass to increase soil organic matter, which in turn increases soil water holding capacity and the farm’s ability to withstand drought. The roots also protect against soil erosion caused by excessive tilling, herbicide applications, etc., and the roots loosen the soil for the next crops, which is why hemp is great for crop rotation.
Third, incorporating hemp helps to diversify farm rotations, and that encourages a more balanced level of soil nutrients and disrupts established rhythms of pest development. It’s also a great cover crop that shades out weeds so fewer synthetic herbicides are needed.1
Learn more about growing hemp here.
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