- A group of farmers is suing a processing company in South Carolina for allegedly mishandling and destroying their crops.
- Two of the farmers involved in the lawsuit were the first of 20 to receive a license to grow hemp under the South Carolina 2018 industrial hemp pilot program.
- Both attorneys are looking forward to resolving the issue.
A South Carolina hemp processing company is being sued by a group of five farmers for allegedly mishandling and ruining their crops.
One of the five farmers involved in the lawsuit is Danny Ford, former football coach at Clemson University. Ford, along with another farmer in the suit named Tom Garrison, are both residents of Anderson County and were two of the first 20 farmers to be granted a license to grow hemp under South Carolina’s 2018 industrial hemp pilot program.
Ford and Garrison are saying that David Bulick, owner of the processing company Charleston Hemp Co. and Carolina Botanical Genetics, was negligent with his extraction and processing, resulting in the plants “being rendered useless.”
The three other farmers involved in the lawsuit are accusing Bulick of selling them hemp seeds that were described as “inadequate, contaminated, deficient, and/or otherwise nonviable.”
Attorneys Weigh In
It comes as no surprise that the two attorneys involved in the case have very different opinions on the allegations.
E. Merritt Farmer Jr., Bulick’s attorney, stated Thursday that Bulick “vigorously denies all of the allegations made in what appears to be a frivolous lawsuit.”
The representative of the five farmers, Kyle J. White, states that he believes that “accountability is important, particularly in relatively new industries like the South Carolina hemp industry.” He will “look forward to pursuing accountability at a jury trial when the time comes.”
Until that time comes, all we can do is wait.
