Hemp Ban Hits Home in Beecher

The once bright future for Beecher’s first-generation farmers, Jesse and Rachael Smedberg, is now bleak, thanks to a vote by Congress that essentially obliterated the hemp industry — and their business. 

“It seems unfortunate that every time a profitable plant is brought to market, farmers are prevented from growing it. It’s devastating to see that farmers aren’t allowed to grow the most profitable cash crop in the world,” Jesse Smedberg said in an interview with The Vedette.

Tucked inside a bill aimed at ending the government shutdown was language that eliminated the past provisions legislated to promote hemp production. 

Hemp production had previously been legalized thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill.

It was that legislation that opened the doors to farmers like the Smedbergs. By legalizing hemp, a type of cannabis, the bill allowed the hemp industry to flourish and provided farmers with another crop to sell. It also established legal pathways for all kinds of hemp products to be produced, from therapeutic CBD products, like what the Smedbergs sell, to textiles and more.

With backing from the federal government, the Smedbergs went all in seven years ago and realized their dream of establishing Tulip Tree Gardens Co., farming their 120-acre property on Eagle Lake Road. Previously, the couple had owned a manufacturing business, which they sold to get their farm up and running.

The Smedbergs’ farm already endured a major blow earlier this year when DOGE cuts eliminated their Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) contract, which supported about 75 percent of the farm’s business. 

Through that cooperative, the Smedbergs, along with a network of 80 other farmers throughout the state, supplied food banks and food pantries with fresh produce, milk, and eggs. Without their work, the food banks and pantries mostly offered shelf-stable goods.

With the LFPA funding no longer an option, the Smedbergs relied on hemp to keep the business afloat.

“They encouraged us to do it — they told us to do it. To cut it off so quickly without any care is just the biggest slap in the face I could’ve imagined on top of losing the LFPA funding. How bad is this going to get?” Jesse Smedberg said, the loss palpable in his voice.

Despite the positive intentions of the Farm Bill, which created opportunity for the Smedbergs, it also created opportunity for those looking to manipulate the crop and produce a product that could create a high, much to the dismay of those in it to create therapeutic products and lawmakers alike.

“We begged for regulation, good regulation for years,” Smedberg said. 

“We were the good players in the industry, and they never regulated it. Why? It’s obvious. If there was good regulation, the product would be in a much better position in the market and we’d get more people well. Without regulation, it was left to flounder, and bad products ended up on gas station shelves. Somebody somewhere said, ‘See, see, it’s bad!’. And nobody came here and asked our patients. That’s the real tragedy,” Smedberg lamented.

The latest legislative move doesn’t just restrict businesses like the Smedbergs; it effectively slams the door on a thriving agricultural sector that was just getting off the ground.

The bill’s language is broad, essentially prohibiting: “(iii) any intermediate hemp-derived cannabinoid products which are marketed or sold as a final product or directly to an end consumer for personal or household use.” 

That’s the part that effectively wipes out small business owners like Tulip Tree Gardens, who relied on direct-to-consumer sales of their products, which include a wide variety of CBD offerings. 

“On paper you can have CBD, but it’s insanely small amounts. I’ve grown a lot of the plant, and it’s impossible to grow a plant at low enough [THC] quantities to make it legal,” Smedberg explained, noting that the THC amount would be over the legal limit even in industrial varieties. 

“It effectively bans all plant production. Opens the door to synthetics and what we’ll have in the market long-term is another synthetic compound that was regulated into existence,” Smedberg said.

The ban effectively established a breeding ground for what legislators claimed they were trying to eliminate — synthetic THC and other drugs, along with unregulated black market products — and what was the opposite of what legal hemp growers provided.

“This isn’t the bad drug dealer, this is the young mom and dad, this is us, we sit next to you in church, we’re not criminals,” Smedberg said of legal hemp growers who have now been shut out.

“The black market isn’t going to check for ID,” he quipped.

The impact of the legislation won’t just affect Smedberg and his wife, who is currently pregnant, but it will affect their customers, too, who Smedberg says weren’t able to find relief through prescribed or over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. 

The Smedbergs worry about how those customers will get by.

“That’s the toughest part is seeing these people leave who we’ve been seeing for years and improved their conditions or their children’s conditions,” Smedberg explained. He told of one Tulip Tree Gardens patient whose epileptic son suffered from 30-40 seizures a day. 

Not only were the child’s seizures suppressed, but he was able to laugh.

The stories Smedberg recalled aren’t just anecdotal. The therapeutic efficacy of CBD has been studied and proven by the National Institutes of Health, offering scientifically backed, peer-reviewed evidence. 

One 2024 NIH study showed that nearly 70 percent of patients found CBD to be effective in relieving stress and anxiety. A 2020 NIH study reported, “There is clear evidence supporting the utility of CBD to treat epilepsy.” 

There is a myriad of studies, with different controls conducted in different years, that all seem to reach the same conclusion: CBD is effective in treating many conditions.

“It just absolutely was life-changing to the patient. That’s just one story out of dozens that walk through the farmstand every week. Now that’s all going to be gone. That’s not a loss for us as a farm, but the people, families and kids, who have grown to use and appreciate the plant as a natural, holistic approach to severely debilitating conditions. That’s the greater tragedy in it all,” Smedberg said.

Smedberg explained they offer a personalized experience, getting to know the patient and their ailments, and help them select the best product for their needs — and it’s not a product dispensaries typically sell. 

The thought of telling a mom and her 10-year-old to go to a dispensary and see a “budtender,” often young and focused on the THC products, made Smedberg shudder. 

“If you try to find CBD at the dispensary, it will be few and far and between. The CBD products in dispensary are all very low [in potency], and they’re not dispensing at the appropriate dose,” Smedberg explained, noting that they focus on THC products that ultimately get users high.

“When we lost LFPA it was devastating to us, when we lose this, I’ve got virtually zero options here. What they do want me to do is open up an event space and sell alcohol – that’s the answer to what a wellness farm is supposed to do.”

Smedberg explained that their mission has always been to provide wellness, therapeutic relief, and fresh food to their customers, and they remain steadfast in their commitment to continue doing what they can.

One surviving part of the Smedbergs’ farm is their local CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) coop. The CSA offers fresh produce and meat to local sign-ups, but it accounts for only 2 percent of their total business —  it was also the least profitable.

Though the hemp market was originally not the largest part of their business, until earlier this year when DOGE cut the LFPA contract, its higher profit margins made it possible to do the work with the food banks. 

“That’s how we were able to offset the losses selling vegetables,” Smedberg explained.

As for what’s next, the Smedbergs are still trying to wrap their heads around the loss. Despite the grim outlook, Smedberg says he’s an eternal optimist, and they aren’t throwing in the towel.

“We’ve always had to pivot. With COVID, we had to deal with that major change. We’ve had a number of ventures and partnerships that we had to pivot away from, so we’re no stranger to that, but the one caveat is that we always had the higher-margin products to lean back on. Without those, it’s going to be difficult,” Smedberg said.

One bright spot has been their ability to adapt and think outside the box. They’ve worked with the Chicago Wilderness Alliance to come up with profitable alternatives for the long-maligned Peotone Airport — answering a question of what else could be done with the land in lieu of the airport. 

The threat of the airport has persisted for 30 years, and legislators still claim it is the best use of the area, while residents remain largely opposed. Smedberg is hopeful that Governor J.B. Pritzker may consider the proposed uses from the CWA.

“We’ve developed incredible scenarios on revolutionary agricultural uses with high-paying jobs,” Smedberg explained, noting how much of the agriculture industry is now tech-driven. 

“I dream of that land taking my kids to co-op,” Smedberg said, rattling off a number of possible scenarios from fruit and vegetable processing to partnering with the area’s community colleges.

As for what’s happening immediately, the Smedbergs, though heartbroken, are staying positive and focused. 

“We’d really love to be able to expand our local food fund to achieve some significant impact,” he said. 

Those wanting to learn more can visit https://tuliptreegardensco.com/ or find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tuliptreegardens.

Stephanie Irvine is a freelance reporter.