Franny Tacy, owner of Franny’s Farmacy, is the first female hemp farmer in North Carolina. She has degrees and work experience in forestry and education and worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than a decade. Tacy is one of the preeminent experts of all things hemp, participates in the Hemp Research Trials with North Carolina State University, has a TEDx speech on hemp and is a founder of the non-profit Women in Hemp.

Question: You are the first female hemp farmer in North Carolina in the last 75 years. What made you decide to farm, and why did you choose hemp as your crop?

Answer: My early years were spent growing up on a farm in Tennessee, riding horses, planting gardens, feeding cows, running through the fields, playing with my buddies in barns, creeks, always outside and unsupervised. Living the dream! Funny too, my childhood nickname was “nature mama.”

At school age, my mom moved us to the city and private schools, and we spent weekends and summers on the farm with our dad. I always knew I would have a farm. I earned my bachelor’s degree in forestry at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. While in school, I went back to my farming roots and lived like a kid again on a farm, with my friends and lots of animals. After jobs with the Forest Service, earning advanced degrees in education, living in five states, teaching for six years, I moved to Asheville, NC and spent over a decade career in pharmaceuticals. But for me, it was the wrong “pharm,” and my passion for a real farm with acreage and the homestead life was calling again. We bought land in 2012 and named it Franny’s Farm. This has truly been a labor of love. We built our barn house, animal shelters and a progressive eco-village on the ridge, planted gardens and filled our farm with all sorts of livestock—chickens, cows, goats, sheep, bees and a rescued donkey named Abigail. I eventually quit my pharmaceutical career after creating business enterprises, such as a CSA, events, lodging to sustain the farm financially.

I was teaching heritage poultry classes across the state when discussions about hemp began. It took over a year to fulfill criteria of signatures, setting up a co-op and raising $200k to fund the North Carolina Hemp Commission. In 2017, the NC Industrial Hemp Pilot program passed just weeks before it was time to plant the crop. Ignoring critics and trusting my gut, we dove head first into the industry and I became the first female farmer in North Carolina to plant hemp. Also, I was the first person to do a TedX on “Hemp as a Crop” and the representative voice for small scale farmers across the country at the National Press Conference on the passing of the Farm Bill.

Question: How did you transition from working in pharma to owning Franny’s Farmacy?

Answer: I learn by adventure and I am risky by nature. I always wanted my farm and the year before buying it, l claimed my next move was “Pharma to Farm.” Well, we built our farm and farm business for three years before I could quit my corporate job. As a driver in moving hemp legislation in North Carolina, it was obvious we would plant hemp on our farm. Our first grow season culminated in a hemp festival on our farm. We donated our entire crop to research and had hundreds of people participate in various workshops from paper making, weaving, old-time harvest and braking, grower panels, making oils and foods. As we looked to the next grow season, we chose a hemp CBD variety and began plans to launch a product line and open a local dispensary, Franny’s Farmacy! We put the “farm” back in the word where it belongs and now have a vertically integrated business with hemp growers and processor, Franny’s Manufacturing, Franny’s Distribution to wholesale, drop ship and retail accounts and now Franny’s Franchising.

Question: Please describe your business model. What are the benefits of being vertically integrated?

Answer: Franny’s Farmacy is a vertically integrated family of businesses that includes Franny’s Farm, growers’ network, Franny’s Manufacturing, Franny’s Distribution, franchising, dispensary, wholesale and eCommerce businesses. Being vertically integrated ensures that our quality standards are met through every step of the process, from seed to shelf. In an unregulated market, it is more important than ever to choose a brand that is transparent and trustworthy. These are values our company upholds along with integrity, teamwork, experience, knowledge and providing CBD products you can trust.

Question: What is your advice for natural product retailers who are selling hemp and CBD when they are discussing products with customers?

Answer: Hemp is a wellness product in an unregulated industry. It is crucial that you know what is going into these products so that your customers can be confident they know what is going into their bodies. Your products should be backed by certificates of analysis provided by DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration)-certified testing facilities so that you can be as confident as possible that you are providing healthy solutions. Franny’s Farmacy provides this, along with all of the marketing and business support you would expect from a best-in-class partner.

https://frannysfarmacy.com
www.instagram.com/franny_tacy/