URGED gathering gives hemp lesson

A packed Mountain View Restaurant in Monte Vista learned about FormationAG, a division of PowerZone north of Monte Vista. Photo by Patrick Shea

MONTE VISTA— The Mountain View Restaurant was filled to capacity for the Upper Rio Grande Economic Development (URGED) meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 12. Noting the full house at the start of the breakfast gathering, URGED President Andrea Oaks-Jaramillo joked that Corbett Hefner should be her sidekick for every meeting because he draws a crowd.
Hefner works for PowerZone, a local engineering company north of Monte Vista currently specializing in the design and implementation of new equipment for agricultural solutions. FormationAG is a subsidiary of PowerZone, and the division’s work has been the bright spot of PowerZone’s business since oil price changes stunted the company’s drilling work.
Founded in 2001 by Don Toews and his son, Trevor, PowerZone started as an agricultural equipment reseller but quickly evolved to repair and augment equipment instead. By 2014, the company had hired multiple mechanics, welders, salesmen and machinists and carved a niche with their pumping technology.
Today, FormationAG in particular might be the only hemp processing laboratory in the world with engineers. PowerZone employs 42 people in the Valley and in Denver and Houston offices as well. Working for FormationAG, three engineers and three electrical engineers collaborate with Hefner. The group conducts research and also development in-house and fabricates designs and equipment on-site. FormationAG plans to increase staff to 10 or 20 as the hemp market develops.
“Last year we could not make equipment fast enough,” Hefner explained, noting the timing between orders and delivery. “Some of the farmers are not great planners. I’ve watched people cutting hemp with scissors because they didn’t plan ahead.”
Hemp is tough on equipment, and farmer’s appreciate the FormationAG approach of adding parts to existing equipment instead of forcing a huge purchase for new machinery. During Hefner’s presentation, he showed his company’s machines in action in Colorado, Canada and Kentucky. Hefner reported that some Canadian hemp farmers check equipment every few hours to make sure the fiber isn’t wrapping around blades and arms. When that happens, fires are not uncommon, prompting operators to keep fire extinguishers handy.
Hefner described the three primary hemp markets: cannabidiol oil, grain products and variations derived from the stems and stalks of hemp plants. Earlier in his career, Hefner couldn’t find a truly biodegradable plastic bag design. Not all of the components break down. But hemp can be used for bags or turned into mesh for packaging.
For health issues, Hefner said, “It baffles me to hear the great stories from patients managing arthritis and other conditions with hemp products.”
Corbett has traveled the country to give presentations and see what hemp farmers are doing in different regions. Some are making batteries out of hemp fiber and conducting current. Others are developing tinctures from different strains. Hefner passed around samples of “hemp hurd,” which is separated from the fiber and cut into short pieces of hemp stalk to create insulation and other products.
One of the first PowerZone/FormationAG products was the GrassHopper Hemp Wagon, a unit that collects chaff from the combine. Other devices solve different hemp cultivation problems, and PowerZone engineers are looking for new solutions as well.
Noting a hemp event in Asia, Hefner said he was very interested to learn what they discussed, adding, “We’ll catch up with other parts of the world because we lost 80 years of research.”
In addition to Hefner’s presentation, URGED Director Marty Asplin provided an update of economic activity for the entire group. In addition to touching on the 2018 annual report and other recent events, Asplin mentioned giving another doctor a tour of the Valley’s highlights. Representatives from town and counties gave short reports as well.