Vancouver, BC, Feb. 15, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Future Farm Technologies Inc. (the “Company” or “Future Farm”) (CSE: FFT) (OTCQB: FFRMF) is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, Future Farm Maine, LLC, has received three licenses from the State of Maine for the cultivation of industrial hemp in 2018. Future Farm Maine received one license for each of its Amity and Hersey farms, as well as one for the Belfast processing facility.
Mr. Bill Gildea, CEO of Future Farm comments, “We are thrilled to have received these three licenses to operate our industrial hemp business in Maine and are excited to build our high value, vertically integrated industrial hemp farm and CBD oil production facility in 2018.”
As recently announced, the Company signed a lease agreement for an initial 12,960 sq. ft. of space in a 60,000 sq. ft. building, with an option to expand or buy the building. Future Farm Maine will use the Belfast building to germinate 250,000 hemp seeds over the next few months, which then will be planted to meet the summer growing season at the Amity and Hersey farms. With over 100 organic certified acres ready to plant and an additional 1,000 acres available for expansion, Future Farm Maine is poised to be the largest hemp farm in the North East.
Future Farm Maine plans to use feminized seeds of the highest quality, CBD strains in the industry that test in compliance of hemp laws of having .03% THC or less while averaging 15% CBD. The hemp seeds will also be germinated under the Company’s LED grow lights, which will save on electricity costs and further leverage its in-house technology. Once harvested, the hemp will be dried and further refined using Future Farm’s high output oil processing equipment creating both CBD oil and high value isolate for making edibles, creams and lotions.
Future Farm is also pleased to announce that it has engaged Mr. Zachary Lapan to oversee the Company’s Maine cultivation and processing operations. Mr. Lapan has worked closely with Derek Ross providing operational oversight for ten years. Mr. Lapan has deep community and agricultural ties to Maine, and is excited to provide operational expertise in Future Farm Maine’s portfolio of projects.
"Growing hemp in northern Maine requires local, agricultural and climate expertise,” comments Derek Ross, President of Cannatech and Future Farm’s joint venture partner in Maine. “Mr. Lapan is a successful, seasoned hemp farmer and I’m excited that he has joined the team.”
Comments Mr. Lapan, “It is time to get to work! This is going to be fun and I'm excited to be on the forefront of the hemp industry here in Maine. We have an aggressive schedule to develop our propagation facility and we will hire the best and most talented local resources to get the job done.”
The market for CBD is poised for expansion due in part to the FDA’s acceptance of a New Drug Application submitted by GW Pharmaceuticals plc for Epidiolex®, a drug containing CBD. Three Goldman Sachs analysts projected 2025 worldwide sales of US$2.2 billion for Epidiolex®, with more than half (56 percent) of the sales coming from off-label use. Sales of CBD in the United States across the hemp-derived, marijuana-derived and pharmaceutical industries is projected to reach $1.1 billion by 2020, according to Hemp Business Journal.
The Company also confirms that the Board of Directors has approved the cancellation of 3,875,000 incentive stock options currently exercisable at $1.24CDN.
On behalf of the Board,
Future FarmTechnologies Inc.
William Gildea, CEO & Chairman
About Future Farm
Future Farm Technologies Inc. is a Canadian company with projects throughout North America including California, Florida and Maryland. The Company’s business model includes developing and acquiring technologies that will position it as a leader in the evolution of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) for the global production of various types of plants, with a focus on cannabis. Future Farm provides scalable, indoor CEA systems that utilize minimal land, water and energy regardless of climate, location or time of year and are customized to grow an abundance of crops close to consumers, therefore minimizing food miles and its impact to the environment. The Company holds an exclusive, worldwide license to use a patented vertical farming technology that, when compared to traditional plant production methods, generates yields up to 10 times greater per square foot of land. The contained system provides many other benefits including 90% less water, fertilizer and land used, less travel costs, seed to sale security, scalability, consistency due to year-round production, cost control, product safety and purity by eliminating environmental variability. The Company also utilizes a leading cannabis oil extraction technology, which enables the Company to process 20lbs/hour of cannabis plant to yield approximately 908 grams/hour of oil.
The Company is also in the business of designing and distributing LED lighting solutions utilizing the COB and MCOB technology. The Company is focused on delivering cost efficient lighting to North America via advanced e-commerce sites the Company owns and operates. LEDCanada.com, which caters to B2B customers, is a supplier of the newest and highest demand LED solutions. The Company also owns and operates COBGrowlights.com, which caters to both large and small agriculture green houses and controlled cultivation centers.
The Company recently acquired the exclusive right to use a patented, augmented reality (AR) technology in the cannabis industry. As described in more detail above, the Company has decided to spin this asset off to its shareholders.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.
This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws.