February 10, 2020 | Montpelier, VT – The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) recently finalized a strategic contract with Vermont based company Trace, to utilize the company’s blockchain-based platform with a secure soil-to-shelf hemp registration, licensing and enforcement tracking system. This first-in-the-nation hemp tracking system will allow the Agency to assist Vermont’s hemp growers and processors with the rapid expansion of the hemp marketplace.
“The Agency is excited to partner with Trace, in developing blockchain technology to administer the Hemp Program’s registration, and crop and product tracking needs to help ensure consumer protection and quality control in Vermont’s growing hemp industry,” said Cary Giguere, VAAFM Director of Public Health and Agriculture Resource Management. “We are excited to partner in the rollout of this new and innovative work. Vermont producers and consumers will benefit from the transparency this partnership brings to the Vermont hemp industry.”
“We are thrilled to be partnering with the State of Vermont in this endeavor,” said Trace CEO Josh Decatur. “Our company was born in Vermont so we’ve been able to see firsthand the value Trace can bring to Vermonters growing, cultivating, testing and selling hemp.”
The Trace platform will allow hemp growers, processors and certified laboratories to register online while also acting as the administrative management system for the state hemp program. Trace technology will allow the Agency to track the status of the state’s hemp crop and ensure that Vermont’s reputation for producing high quality hemp is maintained through monitoring and enforcement. Vermont will also become the first state in the nation to have a fully integrated registration and tracking system for its hemp program.
VAAFM Secretary Anson Tebbetts said, “The Agency is delighted to partner with a Vermont company to develop this exciting new agricultural crop, and to help our growers meet the expectations of a high-quality Vermont product.”
The passage of the 2018 Farm Bill has legalized hemp in all 50 states, with Vermont seeing rapid growth in hemp grower registrations from the 2018 to 2019 growing season. In 2018 the Agency issued 461 grower licenses, up from 89 in 2017. In 2019 that number grew to 986. “This growth has required the Agency to move forward with innovative ideas to ensure the Agency can assist our hemp growers to produce the premium quality that consumers expect in a Vermont product,” Tebbetts said.
The new technology will be employed for the 2020 Hemp Program Registration season.
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Trace is a Vermont based company that provides a blockchain regulatory platform for the legal hemp and cannabis industries. Using cutting-edge blockchain technology, Trace provides a platform for businesses and consumers to verify basic information about the provenance and current state of cannabis products from seed to shelf. For more information about Trace and blockchain technology, visit https://tracevt.com/faq,
For questions related to Trace, please contact:
Todd Bailey | 802-917-1227
For Agency of Agricutlure questions, please contact:
Stephanie Smith | VAAFM Hemp Program Manager
802-661-8051 | mailto:stephanie.smith@vermont.gov