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Photo by Fritz Busch
Lower Sioux Indian Community Hemp Coordinator Joey Goodthunder harvests industrial hemp in a field just west of Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel near Morton. The tribe and Minnesota Department of Agriculture held a field day at the Industrial Hemp Campus Thursday.
REDWOOD COUNTY — Joey Goodthunder had a wide smile on his face before he climbed into a tractor and began cutting industrial hemp just west of Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel Thursday.
“Now, I’m going to do what I really love to do,” he said at the Lower Sioux Industrial Hemp Campus Field Day.
A Lower Sioux Indian Community corn, soybeans and Industrial hemp grower, Goodthunder graduated from New Ulm High School in 2009. He was a New Ulm FFA vice president and sentinel during his high school years before his family moved to Redwood County to farm.
“I’ve been growing industrial hemp for five years for the tribe. Like most farmers, I was skeptical at first. I wondered what we would do with it. Hemp is so tough, they make rope out of it. But, I came around. Here we are now,” said Goodthunder.
He began industrial hemp planting May 15 at 60 pounds an acre.
Horizon Hemp Seeds Sales and Marketing Manager Derrick Dohmann said one of the nice things about the industrial hemp seed variety planted by Goodthunder has a “decent amount of seed on it.”
“We pay our growers on clean pounds. When you get more seed, it goes with the cost we pay and ultimately lowers producer cost,” said Dohmann.
He said the Canadian variety seed has been used for the past six years and is very low in THC.
Goodthunder said industrial hemp can be used as home insulation and other items like pre-fab wall panels.
“We built pre-fab houses with Industrial hemp at Lower Sioux. It’s a great crop. I get to see it from seed to a wall. We do all the industrial hemp processing here. We’re growing it on 100 acres here. We’re looking for area farmers to grow for us so we can grow about 2,000 acres,” he added.
Goodthunder said industrial hemp he grows can grow up to 10 feet high and it is really hardy. The hemp is cut with a disc mower.
The Lower Sioux Hemp Program issued three licenses to grow 62 acres of industrial hemp in 2021. Six licenses were issued to grow 120 acres in 2022.
Last year, three Lower Sioux homes were built with hempcrete (biocomposite material used for construction and insulation).
This year, the Lower Sioux Industrial Hemp Campus farms, processes and refines and stores hemp hurds (woody, inner core) blocks used to build homes and insulate walls.
Hemp refers to plants grown specifically for industrial use for fiber, seeds, oils, and a wide range of products including textiles, paper, biodegradable plastic and food.
In the U.S., hemp is defined legally as cannabis plants containing 0.3% THC or less by dry weight.
Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) Commissioner Thom Petersen said Lower Sioux has been in hemp production partnership with hemp insulation production and home building with the MDA for a number of years.
“The tribal council is committed to it. It’s not a one and done. Minnesota has been producing hemp for almost 10 years. We’re still growing it on couple thousand acres. I think we’re finally getting there. Farmers will grow a third crop if they have a market,” Petersen said.
He said a recent ruling by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows industrial hemp in poultry feed that will help the market.
“We’ll be coming out with guidance on getting it into chicken feed. It hasn’t been approved for turkeys yet. We also continue to work with new industrial hemp processors in Minnesota,” he said.
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“}]] REDWOOD COUNTY — Joey Goodthunder had a wide smile on his face before he climbed into a tractor and began cutting industrial hemp just west of Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel Thursday. “Now, I’m going to do what I really love to do,” he said at the Lower Sioux Industrial Hemp Campus Field Day. A Lower Read More