OCONOMOWOC NEWS

Meet the two women who started one of Lake Country's first hemp farms

Evan Frank
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Maureen "Moe" Lawrenz (left) and Rebecca Ramage started one of the Lake Country's first hemp farms called Lake Country Growers.

After a conversation last Christmas with her brother, a hemp activist, Oconomowoc's Rebecca Ramage began a journey that led to one of Lake Country's first hemp farms.

Ramage, along with her best friend, Maureen "Moe" Lawrenz, started Lake Country Growers. The two grew all the plants at Ramage's Oconomowoc property and then hand planted the seeds at a 10-acre farm in Jefferson County that they leased.

Since spring 2019, Ramage and Lawrenz have grown nearly 20,000 plants. The crop is being processed and developed into hemp/CBD-based oils called the Gold Leaf Collection, which the families plan to sell both online and in local retailers in early 2020, as well as to other CBD manufacturers across the U.S.

"I grew up on a farm in Iowa, and I know just how hard cultivating crops can be," said Ramage, a married mother of three. "I have family in other states that has seen success with the hemp industry, and when the pilot opened in Wisconsin, I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of. I needed to find the right partner, so I called Moe."

Lawrenz and her family recently moved from Milwaukee’s upper east side, where they spent nearly two decades raising four kids, to Watertown, which is closer to the farm. Herself an entrepreneur who saw success with the sales of organic food products, she jumped at the opportunity when Ramage called.

"I’ve known Rebecca for many years, and her energy and enthusiasm for ideas is second to none," Lawrenz said. "When we started to connect about the idea of this adventure, it didn’t take long for me to see the vision."

The two had worked together at a direct sales company that focused on organic foods. But this summer, the company decided it would no longer have representatives, so the hemp farm became the primary focus for Ramage and Lawrenz.

"It fast-tracked our business plan when we went from having jobs to not having jobs," Ramage said. "We were like, 'OK, now we really have to make this happen.'"

Ramage said research on starting the business was difficult because the hemp industry is so new.

"It's a lot of piecing together farming from the past, but not real crop farming," Ramage said. "It's more of horticulture model. We don't have decades of innovation. Finding equipment or sourcing tools was not even really an option. You had to get really creative."

Their retail product line will feature a CBD-rich lotion, relief sticks, a bath soak and smokable flowers. The line will also offer products for pets, including dog tinctures and dog treats.

"We had never worked so hard in our lives," Ramage said.

A launch party for Lake Country Growers was scheduled for Dec. 6 at Fête in Wales, where Ramage and Lawrenz will share more details on their product line.

For more information, on the company, visit lakecountrygrowers.com or facebook.com/lakecountrygrowers.

Contact Evan Frank at (262) 361-9138 or evan.frank@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Evanfrank_LCP.