How Drag Racing Champ Matt Hagan Became A Virginia Pot Pro

By Sylvia Muñoz Campo

Unlike previous anti-drug campaigns and the stigma surrounding cannabis, more people are joining the industry for its enormous potential.

We are shifting from seeing cannabis enthusiasts as hippies, Rastafarians and criminals — among other typical stereotypes — to anyone who sows and understands the love of the plant, its benefits, and its profit.

People who are currently joining the green rush are different from what mass media in the past tried to portrait. Nowadays, so-called "cannapreneurs" can be anyone. An excellent example of this trend is public or famous people who are not only joining the industry, but as well become advocates of the cause to legalize and end the stigma. Matt Hagan is a two-time NHRA Funny Car World Champion turned hemp farmer. He's also a great example of how the cannabis industry is shifting and who is representing it.

Hagan hasn't been shy about his support to the industry. He has converted 2,000-acre cattle and horse farm in Christiansburg, Virginia into a growing hemp farm.

For many years, Hagan envisioned the possibility to join the business, however, only after the state of Virginia passed the Virginia Industrial Hemp Law in March 2019, he was able to go onboard.

Hagan recently told CompetitionPlus.com that once the farm bill passed and Virginia decided hemp was no longer on the scheduled drug list, he knew this was what he wanted to do. Originally he planned to partner with a university for research purposes but with the possibility to do commercial hemp he didn't doubt joining the lucrative hemp production.

Noticias sobre cannabis en Español en El Planteo.

By June 2019, Hagan and his team of 20, worked their way to plant 140 plants on 90 acres. He has invested in state-of-the-art equipment and facilities to maximize efficiency and expects to multiply. He expects to scale up to 500 acres this year and to farm up to 800 seeds. As a matter of fact, Hagan's farm — TruHarvest Farms — is the first one to do it to this type of scale.

TruHarvest guarantees that all its products are locally grown, and processing follows the best manufacturing practices. He plans on selling the plant to be used to create CBD oil and strives to break the stigma behind hemp. As everything Cannabis related, the biggest challenge aside from learning, is the stigma surrounding the industry. "It is like denying farmers the opportunity to grow grapes because wine can be made from it," Hagan said to Competition Plus.com. We will overcome the stigma and turn this into something special."

We are excited to see what Hagan has for us soon. We are sure he will keep making news. Keep racing!

See Also:

Photo via TruHarvest.

Posted In: CannabisEntrepreneurshipMovers & ShakersSmall BusinessMarketsGeneralCBDMatt HaganTruHarvest
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