When Ryan Eakes surveys the sprawling farm he manages in the Uncompahgre Valley surrounding Montrose, he thinks about how he could be standing in the global epicenter of production for a natural health and wellness product. Yet that future hangs on the same material as certain drafts of the U.S. Constitution.
Following negotiations to reopen the federal government during the shutdown in November, the U.S. Senate surprised the hemp industry when it included language in a 2026 Agriculture appropriations act that effectively bans all intoxicating hemp products within one year of President Donald Trump signing the bill on Nov. 12.
Eakes manages Typhoon Farma, the largest grower of hemp for cannabinoids in Colorado. He grows his crop on 315 acres and says he employs 13 locals year-round and as many as 40 during planting and harvest seasons, subject to contracts.
Typhoon Farma sources supplies from many local companies that generate a half-million dollars locally, Eakes said. It generates between $600,000 and $700,000 in local wages annually. The organic hemp he grows contains nonpsychoactive cannabinoids that don't get a person "high" but may help relieve a variety of ailments including chronic pain and inflammation, epilepsy, anxiety, mood disorders, insomnia and addiction cravings.
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