ROSEVILLE, ILLINOIS -- After a harsh harvest season for many farmers, Andy Huston and his team at American Hemp Research in Warren County are turning harvested hemp plants into CBD oil.
"We made some mistakes," Huston said about harvest season. "We ended up out of 17 acres with about 22,000 pounds of biomass."
Huston bought his own extractor to make locally grown CBD infused products.
"I've been a farmer for about 25 years here, and I've never gone to the retail market with a product."
The extractor washes the hemp plants with ethanol, creating a alcohol and oil combination.
"The alcohol and the oil mix, and that washes the oil off of the plant material," American Hemp Research Oil Extractor, Dave Beck said.
Next, they filter out the ethanol, making crude oil.
"We grow it in Illinois, here in Roseville," Beck said. "We harvest it here in Roseville and it is turned into crude here in Roseville."
Huston says crews at American Hemp Research can make one large jar of crude oil everyday. It has around 50 percent of CBD oil in it before it gets distilled. After it's distilled, it can make more than 400 bottles of CBD oil.
"Doing our own oil extractions makes it a lot more cost effective for making our own products," Huston said.
Huston's crude oil gets distilled, tested and labeled in Chicago, but he says he's still saving money by extracting the oil in house.
"It's probably about at least a 50% savings," Huston said. "I'm really curious to see how this stuff markets and sells."
Huston says he hopes to have his online shop open to customers next week.