Farmer recruitment booklet for southern Virgina hemp fiber company
Many challenges exist when building a new industry, particularly so when a major component of that industry is rooted in agriculture. With the rising global need for sustainably sourced products across all market sectors, the interest and demand for hemp has grown considerably in a relatively short period of time. The hemp industry in the US has already experienced a roller coaster ride of successes and failures in only a few years. Farmers and investors alike have been left wary of hemp as an agricultural commodity from recent disappointments, despite acknowledging the regenerative aspects it provides to both organic resources and material goods. Companies involved in the industrial hemp space now are much more risk averse, many choosing to focus on succeeding at a very small scale in their first couple of years, rather than spending large amounts of initial capital to scale quickly. The idea of this capstone was to create marketing material, backed by leading research, for FyberX for the scaling phase of their operation. The booklet was designed specifically with farmers in mind, to inform any interested and curious growers who have wanted to start cultivating industrial hemp. It shares evidence-based industry standards, photos taken from the field, and lessons learned first-hand. The booklet is appealing and tangible, and can be passed from neighbor to neighbor. It is durable, printed with a laminated front and back cover, so it can withstand the damage and weathering from a farm truck. This farmer recruitment booklet will play a role in scaling acreage, and subsequently, the entire FyberX enterprise.