Why We Started in Illinois

Some things come together all at once. The land, the timing, the people, and the law. When that happens, you recognize it. You do not hesitate.

That is how Banner Harvest began in Illinois.

The Farm Was Already There

Paul’s uncle Bud Grieves had a farm outside Peoria with land that had been fallow for decades. No pesticides. No herbicides. Just rich, dark Illinois soil resting and rebuilding itself the way good farmland does when it is left alone. When we started talking about growing hemp, that land was not a compromise. It was ideal.

And the farm already had everything we needed. Equipment. Hanging space for harvest. Infrastructure that would have taken years and significant money to build from scratch. Bud had it all. What he had was exactly what we needed.

That kind of alignment does not happen by accident. We paid attention to it.

Family Roots in Peoria

This was not just land to us. It was home.

Bud Grieves had served as mayor of Peoria. Paul’s cousin Captain Alex ran the Spirit of Peoria riverboat downtown. His mother Vicki was moving back to the area she had grown up in, returning to her roots, and she wanted to help us build something real. She did not just offer encouragement. She showed up. She planted seedlings alongside us.

When you plant 15,000 seedlings by hand with your mother and your family on land your uncle has tended for decades, you understand something about what you are building. This was not a business plan. It was a continuation of something that was already there.

The Law Made It Possible

None of this would have happened without the 2018 Farm Bill.

Federal legalization of hemp gave us a pathway we had been waiting for. We had the knowledge. Paul had spent decades learning this plant from cultivation through extraction and formulation. We had the mission. What we needed was the legal foundation to build on, and when that arrived, we moved.

We were not chasing a trend. We were ready for a law that finally caught up with what we already knew to be true about this plant.

Why Florida, Why Leesburg

Illinois gave Banner Harvest its roots. Florida is where it grows.

Paul was born in central Florida. Leesburg is home territory, and it sits right next to The Villages, one of the largest and most active retirement communities in the country. Year round residents. Statistically one of the safest areas in Florida from hurricanes. A charming downtown with genuinely friendly people who take care of each other.

The people here are exactly who we built Banner Harvest for. Active adults who want to stay that way. People who have earned the right to feel good and are looking for natural solutions that actually work.

What Illinois Means for Every Product

When you ask where Banner Harvest comes from, the honest answer is a fallow farm in central Illinois with rich dark soil, a family that believed in what we were doing, and a law that finally opened the door.

That origin is not a story we tell for marketing purposes. It is the reason our hemp is different. Decades of clean soil. In-house cultivation. Small batch manufacturing. A supply chain we control from seed to finished product because we were there from the beginning.

Illinois is in every bottle we make. That matters to us, and we think it matters to you too.

FAQ

Q: Where does Banner Harvest hemp come from?

Banner Harvest hemp is grown on family farmland in central Illinois with rich dark soil that had been fallow for decades with no pesticides or herbicides. Paul ImOberstag oversees cultivation and in-house manufacturing, bringing decades of experience with the plant from soil through finished product. That origin and that standard of care are what make Banner Harvest different from brands that purchase from commercial brokers.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.