For decades, Jammie Treadwell’s family operated a foliage and tropical plant nursery in Lake County. Recently, the Treadwells have transitioned to growing hemp, a cannabis plant that doesn’t contain enough THC to make a person high but does contain cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical compound that can be distilled into an oil.

They had dabbled in the cannabis field before. In 2017, the Treadwells won a coveted medical marijuana license from the state but sold it a year later.

“When we went into this initially, we were just going to have our own nursery, grow for ourselves and then make our own products,” says Treadwell, one of more than 700 growers around Florida who received licenses to cultivate hemp since the state started accepting applications last year. To help the fledgling industry gain a foothold in Central Florida, Treadwell Farms ended up coaching 10 local farmers on how to grow the crop, which can be difficult to cultivate.

This story also features expert opinions, business briefs and people in the news: Universal Orlando; PopStroke; Aaron DeGroft; Jill Vaughan; Dark Storm Industries; Tribune Publishing; Blue Origin; L3Harris Technology

 

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