In the News
Below is a sample of the media attention Farm Genesis Group and its hemp products have been receiving.
Waskada Welcomes Hemp Company
Broadcast on Tue, 15 April 2008 on CKX Brandon
In a town that’s known for farming and oil - another type of oil is on the rise. “Hemp is known as the next super-food,” says Markus Schmulgen. “We weren’t interested in just another commodity. We wanted to do something that not everybody has.”
Waskada is a town of about 200 near the U.S. border in South-Western Manitoba. Today it’s home to the farm genesis group, a co-op of thirty-two producers who started the company about two and a half years ago as a way to supplement low commodity prices.
The initial idea was bio-diesel. “Farming wasn’t going that good so we had to try and figure out something that was going to work,” says Keith Hannah, the President of the Farm Genesis Group and a producer from the Waskada area.
“We needed something that we could get some extra income out of and something that could help the community.”
“The bio-diesel project is still on the go and we are right now analyzing the feasibility of producing or building a bio-diesel facility that will serve our members only,” says Schmulgen.
The company is now focusing on it’s new line of hemp-seed products. Hemp lotion, hemp shampoo, and their newest product hemp milk, which they are hoping to have mass-produced and on store shelves in a few months.
“It’s a very healthy food product for you,” says Schmulgen. “You can use it a nutritional supplement, you can use it as a snack food. It’s very versatile and we have the processing capacity to in Manitoba to produce large quantities.” “It’s a little tougher crop to combine,” says Hannah. “It grows a little bit taller. It’s a little harder on equipment but they are breeding new breeds that are shorter.”
They’re looking at more than just padding their pockets too. Schmulgen and Hannah bought and re-opened Waskada’s only hotel, bringing back 14 jobs.
That’s part of what they refer to as their second priority - the community.
“It’s been a real win-win situation, but job creation is always big in a town like Waskada, and that’s been a big part of it,” says Waskada’s Mayor Gary Williams.
The Farm Genesis Group is marketing their hemp-based products internationally first, then locally second, which many may say is backwards. But that’s their goal, to be the global leader in hemp-foods, and put Waskada back on the map in the process.
The Recorder, Boissevain, MB - March 8, 2008
Melita New Era and Deloraine Times, February 2, 2008
Melita New Era, Melita, MB (Front Page) - February 2, 2008
Portage Daily Graphic, Portage la Prairie, MB - April 3, 2007
