Stay Informed

With the passing of the 2018 farm bill and Indiana Senate Bill 516, a select group of licensed farmers were approved to grow hemp crops in 2019 as part of a research trial.  Several Indiana Farm Bureau members were among this group and used the 2019 season as an opportunity to learn about the crop and the different markets for hemp, such as fiber, grain and oil. 

Mark Boyer, owner of Healthy Hoosier Oil in Miami County, planted 50 acres of hemp this spring. Boyer owns an edible oil company and is incorporating food-grade hemp oil, which his customers will use for cooking, into his existing lineup of products, which include sunflower and canola oil. Because of Boyer’s experience with oils, he felt uniquely prepared to try the new crop.

“We have a food-grade, cold-press oil extraction facility on our farm where we extract oil that goes directly into distribution,” said Boyer. “I’ve been doing that for six years, and I learned that the only way hemp seed oil can be extracted for food grade is through cold press, and that’s exactly what I am set up to do.”

While Boyer grows a grain variety of hemp, Jay Berry, Grant County farmer and owner of IGNITE Racing Fuel, is growing a fiber variety, which can be used for clothing, home interior products and even automotive interiors, such as the reinforcement of door panels and passenger rear decks.

“A lot of my connections are in the racing industry,” he explained. “Hemp fiber is cheaper and stronger than something like carbon fiber, so just in the performance world there is a massive market that is interested in it.”

Other Indiana farmers are growing hemp for CBD, an oil popular in the wellness industry. The end-use of the hemp dictates different growing, harvesting and processing requirements. Compared to corn and soybeans, Boyer and Berry see many differences in the way they care for hemp.

“Growing hemp is a lot more labor intensive than expected,” said Berry. “I’ve been through the field twice as many times as corn and beans.”

“People have joked that it could grow on a rock, but that has not been my experience,” echoed Boyer. “It has been very challenging to grow and it requires a lot of conditioning at harvest.”

For many Indiana farmers, the possibility of diversifying their farms with the addition of hemp is intriguing during a down farm economy. However, as with any new crop, farmers are learning about the viability of new markets to determine if growing hemp is a wise business decision for the future of their operation. 

“We need to be sure we establish the markets and see where this has the potential to go,” said Boyer. “Hemp is exciting as it has so many diverse uses, but how many of those uses are economically viable for us, we just don’t know because we haven’t had the time to test it out. The markets will develop and we will get there, but it takes time and plenty of work.”