Cynthea Hausman said she drained about $15,000 in savings before agreeing to settle her lawsuit in October 2018.
“I just ran out of money,” Hausman told Seven Days on Thursday.
She originally got into the hemp business to make money. Hausman said she hooked up with the Vermont Hemp Company and its founder, Joel Bedard, in the spring of 2017. The two hatched a plan to grow seven acres of hemp that year on Hausman’s mother’s farm in Addison, which was in foreclosure; the cash to be made from the harvest was earmarked for the bank.
Hausman claimed in her lawsuit that Bedard guaranteed she’d make $45,000.
“It’s money that could have gone to the mortgage,” Hausman said of the legal fees. “But I thought it was worth a chance because he owed me $45,000. So I spent all my savings.”
Bedard denied he ever guaranteed her a certain return, and he countersued her, alleging she defamed him and his company. The settlement means that counterclaim is dismissed as well.
“Nobody wants to have these experiences, and it’s unfortunate that it occurred,” he said. “But we stand by our original position that there was no fault.”
Desmond said she, too, signed a contract with Bedard and grew about the same acreage for Vermont Hemp in 2017, before she was working for the company. It took about a year before her crop was sold to Victory Hemp Foods, a company that pressed the hemp seeds for oil. Desmond wouldn’t divulge what she made off the deal but said it was nowhere near $45,000 — and she never expected to make that much.
As per the settlement, the company returned about 800 pounds of hemp it harvested, according to Hausman, who said the stuff is in her garage. At this point, she said, she’ll probably donate it to a farm for animal feed.
“There’s nothing I can do with it,” she said.
Hausman still has her mother’s farm — but not her mother, who died in April. Madelyne Wight was suffering from dementia and lung cancer, according to her daughter, and then she fell and broke her hip and injured her head. Hausman had hoped her mother could spend her final days on the farm, but Wight needed too much care following the fall. Wight died in hospice care in Middlebury a few days short of her 80th birthday.
Hausman is still negotiating with the bank and hopes to resolve the property issue after more than two years of chaos.
Despite the setbacks, she’s staying optimistic about the future — which may or may not include another attempt this year at growing hemp.
“I just put one foot in front of the other,” Hausman said. “I’m definitely not giving up.”
Read the settlement here:
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I’m confused by this — the settlement is dated October 2018. Why is this news now?
Sasha, Thank you very much for another informative article. “800 pounds of hemp it harvested, according to Hausman, .. said, shell probably donate it to a farm for animal feed” Are Vermonters aware that livestock are being feed cannabis sativa (hemp) as this article suggests? Would any THC present in the VT milk supply be the nail in the coffin of VT dairy? Please see article published in CLINICAL TOXICOLOGY28(2), 255-260(1990). Also ERIN BUBB from the Penn Dept of Agriculture testified to the FDA yesterday that PENN is not allowing hemp feed to livestock because this is not deeded safe. FDA officials were concerned to hear about CBD or THC or other active components of cannabis sativa (HEMP) possibly entering the US food supply through feeding cannabis sativa ( Hemp) to livestock such as dairy cattle.
I realize my comment is not related to this article. I posted a comment on vt digger over 2 hrs ago, “comment is awaiting moderation”. My comment is in regard to the recent Newport EB-5 Scandal lingers dashed hope.
My hope is someone see this and the home will be marked appropriately, not for me but for my Grandfather and Father.
Like many others following the eb-5 case for years, this case hits close to home. This is only the beginning. Vermonters, not only those who live in the NEK (the area most affected), but throughout Vermont, people want and need to know the truth. Over the years, I’ve read many comments and bitten my tongue.
My Grandfather was one of the original owners who established Burke Mtn Resort. This story and case are heartbreaking. My Grandfather, a true Vermonter, a hard worker, and with an honest days pay, the days of the conservation camp. My Father, telling me stories of how he remembers growing up there, the family farmhouse, The days of the toll road being built. To this day, there is a home, named which is incorrectly named after my Grandfather, maybe someday this will be made right. I am asking.
@GREENMTCAT
I have to wonder, are you an anti-hemp industry propaganda troll? Your post is the most ridiculous diatribe of nonsense & fearmongering I’ve seen on this subject in some time. Hemp & POT/Marijuana are two completely different plants. Your trying to demonize Hemp for THC content is like demonizing English Ivy growing up the side of a house by comparing it to Poison Ivy. The malicious bias couldn’t be more obvious.
Hemp seed is well known & proven to be extraordinarily nutritious & health promoting. You can buy it in practically any supermarket. The plant itself when fed to animals capable of digesting such things is equally nutritious. The FDA on the other hand is well known to be unfathomably corrupt and incompetent. I wouldn’t trust them to be able to keep a goldfish alive.