EMAIL: [email protected]
PHONE: 720.213.5963

Laura Drotleff

Laura has specialized in agricultural journalism for the past 20 years. Most recently she served as the editor of a B2B publication and multimedia properties focused on productivity, efficiency and profitability in commercial greenhouse cultivation. She has reported on multiple aspects of specialty crops including floriculture, fruit, vegetables, citrus and cannabis. She also has served extensively on various horticulture industry association boards. Laura is a Michigan State University graduate and is based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Hemp boom: States report dramatic licensing increases for 2019

Published March 25, 2019 | By Laura Drotleff

Hemp production is about to shift into overdrive in states where growers have been licensed to get started with the 2019 planting season. There is a dramatic increase in interest among new farmers looking to capitalize on hemp in states that have been growing the crop under pilot programs. Here’s an early look at 2019 […]

FDA commissioner: Rules for CBD in food, supplements could take years

Published March 22, 2019 | By Laura Drotleff

Rules for use of CBD in food products and dietary supplements won’t be coming any time soon, according to the outgoing head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). With roughly two weeks left of his tenure as commissioner of the FDA, Dr. Scott Gottlieb said at an event hosted by the Brookings Institution […]

Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue issues warning for hemp farmers

Published March 20, 2019

As the hype around hemp ramps up and states issue record numbers of licenses to farmers wanting to capitalize on opportunities the new crop may offer, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said this week he isn’t so sure hemp will be the cash crop everyone is hoping for. “What is the market potential of […]

Sales of hemp products in Kentucky surged in 2018

Published March 19, 2019

Kentucky’s resurgent hemp sector flexed more economic clout in 2018, with processors reporting sharply higher sales and farmers reaping more than twice as much income from their crop. The state’s hemp processors reported $57.75 million in gross product sales last year, compared with $16.7 million in 2017, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles said Monday. Processors […]

USDA offers full recording of Farm Bill and hemp webinar

Published March 18, 2019

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) listening session on domestic hemp production last week is now available to view at the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) website. USDA-AMS said the broadcast received an “overwhelmingly positive response,” with more than 2,000 people participating in the webinar that was designed to collect public comment on hemp and […]

Australian farmers in Tasmania increase hempseed production for food

Published March 18, 2019

The number of hemp producers in the Australian state of Tasmania, which produces 66% of the nation’s commercial hemp crop, has nearly doubled – and it’s projected to continue growing because drought is causing supply shortage in other regions, according to Australia’s ABC News. Tasmania has produced hemp for fiber and cosmetics since the 1990s, but […]

10 things the hemp industry wants most from the USDA

Published March 14, 2019 | By Laura Drotleff

The hemp industry wants faster rule-making, immediate hemp-transportation laws that were promised under the 2018 Farm Bill, common national THC-testing standards and an end to restrictions on imported seed in time for the 2019 season. Those were some of the top requests in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) webinar this week to solicit public […]

South Dakota governor vetoes legal hemp production

Published March 13, 2019

The hopes for legal hemp production in South Dakota came to a halt when Gov. Kristi Noem vetoed a bill approved by the state’s Legislature. Concerned that South Dakota was “not ready” for legalized hemp production because it would prove too difficult for law enforcement to regulate, Noem previously made it known she was opposed […]

SodaStream CEO invests in cannabis tech firm Seedo, joins board

Published March 12, 2019

The CEO of a beverage company recently acquired by PepsiCo is placing his bet on marijuana, joining the board of directors of and making a significant personal investment in an agriculture business working in cannabis production. Daniel Birnbaum, CEO of at-home carbonated drink maker SodaStream – which PepsiCo acquired last year for $3.2 billion – will join […]

Federal lawsuit against West Virginia hemp farm dismissed

Published March 7, 2019

The owners of a West Virginia hemp farm were cleared of federal drug charges after they were accused of violating the federal Controlled Substances Act for purchasing seeds from Kentucky. A U.S. district court judge dismissed the case against Grassy Run Farms and its affiliated company Commonwealth Alternative Medical Options (CAMO Hemp WV) on Wednesday, the […]

Hemp industry ponders CBD’s future after FDA commissioner’s resignation

Published March 7, 2019 | By Laura Drotleff

Hemp and CBD industry leaders expressed mixed reactions to this week’s resignation of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb. Gottlieb’s resignation came just as the industry was hoping the FDA would start work on developing a framework for how cannabidiol could be regulated for inclusion in food, dietary supplements and cosmetics. […]

Mile High Labs alleges copyright infringement in tobacco deal

Published March 6, 2019

Mile High Labs, a CBD extraction company in Loveland, Colorado, is suing a Rhode Island firm for stealing its extraction technology to secure investment from a tobacco company investing in hemp. Mile High said in its copyright-infringement lawsuit filed Tuesday that privately held CBD extractor Canadian American Standard Hemp (CASH) used work created by Mile High Labs […]