Freedom Seed and Feed Partners With University of Pikeville to Expand Industrial Hemp Cultivation on Former Mine Sites in Central Appalachia
Marketwired
DENVER, CO--(Marketwired - Apr 2, 2015) - Mountain High Acquisitions Corp. (OTCQB: MYHI) ("Mountain High" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Freedom Seed and Feed, Inc. ("Freedom Seed and Feed" or "FSF"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, has entered into a collaborative partnership agreement with the University of Pikeville ("UPIKE") to further develop and execute a strategy for utilizing post-mine land to grow Industrial Hemp in central Appalachia. The Company considers this R&D program strategic to enhance the long-term viability in its base commercial enterprise of growing high-grade hemp for commercial use through the use of its innovative soil building methodology.
"While Freedom Seed and Feed already has an innovative proprietary soil building methodology in place for post-mine Industrial Hemp development, having respected partners like the University of Pikeville and the Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research will clearly expand the resources available to us. These enthusiastic partners will help the company to effectively execute its plan to maximize the reclamation and utilization of the approximately 1,000,000 acres of idle post-mine site land throughout central Appalachia. The company's goal is to positively impact the entire region," stated Michael Lewis, Chief Operating Officer of Freedom Feed and Seed, Inc.
Tom Hess, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UPIKE, commented, "This type of collaborative effort between educational institutions and business is exactly the kind of mutually beneficial partnership that leaders across central Appalachia need to be developing. We are excited to continue this process with Freedom Seed and Feed, and to have the opportunity to explore how Industrial Hemp can play a central role in our region's efforts to bolster its economy."
Researchers from the University of Pikeville are collaborating with Dr. Hans Schaffers, Research Director at Aalto University School of Business, Centre of Knowledge and Innovation Research (CKIR) in Helsinki, Finland, to build a unique Living Lab open-innovation ecosystem for the Industrial Hemp sector.
Dr. Schaffers commented, "Given that we are in the early stages of the re-development of a modern Industrial Hemp sector in North America, the Living lab innovation process is well suited to produce practical solutions and profitable outcomes. As a researcher, I can appreciate the vision of the University of Pikeville and of Freedom Seed and Seed's management team, and I look forward to helping to bring that vision to reality."
Lewis added, "We are very excited about this partnership with the University of Pikeville and the Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research. It is our belief that true and lasting economic development should come from the ground up, and this project quite literally allows that to happen. Our innovative soil building methodology is applicable across the Industrial Hemp sector and these mine sites will provide an invaluable proof of concept. It's simple. If we can increase our yields on these marginal lands, we can increase yields anywhere."
With transitioning central Appalachia in mind, Mr. Lewis concluded, "We look forward to working together with our partners to create and develop sustainable models that will allow central Appalachian farmers to prosper, and in turn, add some much needed agricultural revenues to local rural economies."
About Freedom Seed and Feed, Inc. (FSF)
Based in Lexington, Kentucky, Freedom Seed and Feed, Inc. ("FSF"), through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Healing Ground Farms and Freedom Hemp Works, is an innovative Industrial Hemp cultivation, processing, and marketing company. FSF's expertise in the production, processing, and supply chain management create a safe, traceable, and seamless transition of crops from seed to delivery. Healing Ground Farms currently operates a 128 acre farm in the state of Kentucky. The company's 2014 hemp harvest is currently being used for research and development purposes with a global branded clothing manufacturer, and nutraceutical and pharmaceutical development partners. In addition, the company also conducted yield trials on high CBD strains of outdoor grown certified organic hemp. This plant material is set for processing into sample products in partnership with a U.S. pharmaceutical company.
About Mountain High Acquisitions Corp. (MYHI)
Mountain High Acquisitions Corp. (www.mountainhighac.com) is a diversified holding company focused on the acquisition and development of businesses within the hemp and CBD nutraceutical sectors. The Company's wholly owned subsidiary, GreenLife BotaniX, Inc. (www.greenlifebotanix.com), is a California-based developer and marketer of the "SuperCBD" brand of CBD hemp oil infused nutraceutical products. Freedom Seed and Feed, Inc., also a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, is an innovative Kentucky-based Industrial Hemp cultivation, processing, and marketing company. In 2014, Michael Lewis, COO of Freedom Seed and Feed, became the first federally permitted private citizen to farm hemp in the United States since 1937.
Mountain High Acquisition Corp. files reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company's SEC filings can be viewed at www.sec.gov.
Disclaimer/Safe Harbor: This Mountain High Acquisitions Corp. news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act. The statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events that involve risks and uncertainties. Among others, these risks include failure to meet schedule or performance requirements of the Company's contracts, the Company's ability to raise sufficient development and working capital, the Company's liquidity position, the Company's ability to obtain new contracts, the emergence of competitors with greater financial resources and the impact of competitive pricing. In the light of these uncertainties, the forward-looking events referred to in this release might not occur as planned or at all. The Company does not and will not grow, harvest, distribute, or sell cannabis or any substances that violate United States law or the Controlled Substances Act, nor does it intend to do so in the future.
