Hemp, plastics and new opportunities for farmers

Florence, Ky. — BrightMa Farms Inc. CEO and founder Harold Singletary has reached another milestone in his journey to produce sustainable automotive parts from a composite material containing hemp grown by his Charleston, S.C.-based company.

Founded in 2018, the agricultural technology business, which has farming roots going back to the end of the Civil War, successfully produced two parts for Volvo Trucks at one of its "cluster partners," Core Technology Molding Corp., in Greensboro, N.C.

The truck parts are made from a formulation of a nylon and natural hemp fibers developed with KraussMaffei Corp., another cluster partner in Florence, Ky.

The hemp comes from two BrightMa growing campuses in Orangeburg and Cordesville, S.C., each about an hour from the corporate offices in Charleston.

The Cordesville land has been in Singletary's family since 1865, when his great-great-grandmother Katie Heyward, who became known as BrightMa, was freed and settled on a 10-acre tract not far from the plantation where she had been enslaved.

The Cordesville farm has produced cotton, rice, corn, tomatoes, okra and sweet potatoes over the years, but with hemp growing legalized in 2018, the minority-owned and veteran-managed company moved into an ag-tech direction with a focus on triple-bottom line benefits for people, the planet and profits.

"The impact hemp can bring to the plastics ecosystem is amazing," Singletary said. "We just need an entry point and an opportunity. I love our timing with the White House and mandates. It makes for an easier conservation when everyone has to check ESG [environmental responsibility, social impact and corporate governance]."

In the field, hemp, which has no value as a recreational drug, grows in a variety of climates and soils. Production requires less water than other crops. The plants also grow without harmful herbicides and pesticides while replenishing soil quality and capturing carbon emissions from the atmosphere.

In factories, Singletary sees opportunities for hemp fibers as an alternative to synthetic textiles, clothes and upholstery; hemp seeds to add anti-oxidants and vitamins to food and personal care products; "hempcrete," a construction material made from hemp fibers, lime and water; and hemp plastic as an alternative to petroleum-based plastic — for lighter, greener Volvo truck parts and more.

"My goal is to push past conversations. That's why I'm in the field doing real R&D that brings products that shows we can improve our market ecosystem," Singletary said. "This isn't just me chasing a purchase order. From the seeds of farmers all the way to the producers of goods, we all have a hand in the solution."

Ashley Campbell, purchasing and supplier diversity manager for Volvo Group, is rooting for the BrightMa CEO.

"In sustainability and circularity you have to start small with a huge heart and a big passion for change. Harold Singletary at BrightMa Farms Inc. embodies this spirit in person," Campbell said in a recent Linked In post.

The comment was shared along with a group photo, including Singletary and Core Technology Molding CEO and owner Geoff Foster.

"Super excited about this project and looking forward to the next steps," Campbell added.

BrightMa's Cordesville site is a licensed nursery with a 3,000-square-foot headhouse for utilities, potting, transplanting and shipping and a 7,200-square-foot greenhouse to grow a variety of hemp for fiber, grain and cannabinoid production.

A breeding program develops plants with optimal performance for a variety of applications, such as improved fiber quality for textile and industrial applications, nutrient-rich for food, and high CBD content for therapeutic benefits.

The company also sells rooted clones to other farmers for large-scale production. The goal is buy product back from them for composite materials, plant-based food and more.

"Lets be realistic. Most Black farmers have been farming for survival. With this new emerging crop, it's a great opportunity for them to be at the front of it and start farming as a business," Sherman Evans, chief strategy officer for BrightMa Farms, said during a plant tour of KraussMaffei.

At KraussMaffei, the BrightMa team turned to experts to formulate the material for the sustainable truck part.

Edward Gay, KMC's process engineering manager, conducted the material development trials that resulted in a process hot enough to melt the polymers without degrading the natural fibers.

During a recent plant tour, Gay was monitoring the strands of composite material moving through a trough of water set at quickly dropping temperatures to pull heat from the process.

"The formulation we processed yesterday has 20 percent filler. Today we're at 40 percent filler, which is very rigid. We're light years ahead of where the customer has been in previous trials with a competitor," Gay said.

Singletary left KMC with three potential formulations.

"Having an amazing cluster partner like KraussMaffei puts us in the room with like minds. And like minds do amazing things," Singletary said.

A couple weeks later he was running successful parts at Core Technology Molding.

"I'm passionate for a reason," Singletary said. "We're engaged. Yes, we can produce the hemp. Yes, we have partners supporting the opportunity. Yes, the White House is saying we have to make a change to greener fuel and bio-manufacturing. We do not keep electric vehicles on the road with the existing weight packages of design. There's work to be done."

The work that has been done to date and the opportunities ahead would likely impress BrightMa, Singletary said of his great-great-grandmother.

"Thinking about her sacrifice, commitment and ability to dream, she'd say this is worthy of the journey," he said.

Not much is known about Katie Heyward, not even how she became known as BrightMa. The one account that was passed down through generations was about how she escaped a beating by running into a river.

BrightMa recounted the incident for Singletary's grandmother, Katie Roper, who shared it in an oral history with Edward Ball, a descendant of slaveholders and author of Slaves in the Family.

BrightMa worked in the Ball family fields of Berkeley County, S.C., probably growing rice. After she was freed, she settled nearby and her family grew food crops and fished.

Now Singletary, who grew up working on the farm then became an accountant, is putting his mark on the land as an ag-tech business.

"The generation behind me is super proud," Singletary said. "This gives BrightMa recognition as a visionary, putting her hands in the soil to nurture the earth that we're trying to save. This is getting back to legacy roots and helping displaced minority farmers at the same time. It's uplifting my community, trying to create generational wealth and building it forward. I think BrightMa would be amazed and proud that we haven't forgotten."