Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1441944
farm406 18 in Canada. Unfortunately, the hemp crop sat in a bin for two years before the purchase was completed. Not ideal when trying to preserve the quality of a crop. e next year they decided to go off on their own with an acre of CBD hemp. It proved to be labor-intensive, and stakes were high as they planted each $1 seed by hand in a greenhouse. en mice ate a third of their plants. ey hand-planted the remaining plants in the field, and things were looking up until an early snowstorm in September killed all the plants before they reached the necessary 10% CBD concentration. In 2020 they found an agronomist who secured contracts for CBD hemp, which provided seed and some machinery. ings were going well until an infestation of grasshoppers. e lack of a spray labeled for hemp use contributed to a significant loss of biomass, and then a snowstorm and freezing cold killed the remaining plants. In 2021 they decided to pivot back to industrial hemp with the support and encouragement of a new company, IND HEMP in Fort Benton, the nation's first state-of-the-art, large- scale hemp grain, and hemp foods processing facility. ey seeded in early April, and the heat-loving plants were growing well with warm weather in May and June. A July hailstorm did some damage, and then Nathan says, "e water turned off." is past summer's drought was brutal on the water-loving hemp plant. Nathan says the plants came out okay overall, but with a lower yield percentage than they hoped. It fell over 300 pounds short of his personal target of 1000 pounds per acre. Aer four years of experimentation and challenges, Nathan is still thinking positively. His enthusiasm for the future of hemp is infectious as he notes, "It has thousands of uses." Food products such as hemp hearts, flour, and protein are touted for their high content of protein and antioxidants. Hemp is also used in a wide range of other products, including oil, rope, paper products, personal care products, textiles, shoes, animal bedding, concrete, auto parts, insulation, biofuel, and biodegradable plastics. In April 2021, legislation in Montana was passed to allow the use of hemp for commercial animal feed. Upham Farms is growing industrial hemp processed at IND HEMP in Fort Benton, the nation's first state-of-the-art large-scale hemp grain and hemp foods processing facility.