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On this week\u2019s hemp podcast, we talk to Dalton Wittmer, agronomist at IND Hemp, a hemp processing company based in Fort Benton, Montana.

Growing up and working on a farm in southern Indiana and graduating from Purdue University's agronomy program, Wittmer has been chin deep in agriculture his whole life.

\u201cI worked on a farm since I was 12 and just been around livestock \u2014 cattle, pigs, a little bit of turkeys. And row cropping, corn and soybeans mainly, so I've had a pretty good learning experience on the farm,\u201d he said.

His interest in industrial hemp was piqued in college where one of his advisers was leading Purdue\u2019s hemp research program.

Wittmer knew there was stigma around hemp, but he said he wanted to help \u201cbring the goodness of hemp to America and across the world\u201d for its environmental and economic benefits.

Wittmer relocated to Fort Benton a year and half ago and has been enjoying his new life in the West.

\u201cI\u2019'm an outdoors person. That's my happy place, and in Montana, you have anything outdoors you could ever imagine,\u201d he said.

\u201cAnd it's right outside my living room window. I get to see antelope, mule deer, moose, bears, whatever it is,\u201d he said.

The town of Fort Benton is along the Missouri River in north-central Montana, where the land is generally flat but the conditions are dry and often difficult for farming.

Between scant rainfall, destructive hail storms and clouds of hungry grasshoppers, farming in Big Sky Country isn\u2019t a walk in the park.

Wheat is the main crop in Montana, and it\u2019s a challenge to get the small-grain guys thinking about growing a new crop like industrial hemp.

\u201cThey like growing wheat. That's what makes them their money. And they know that,\u201d Wittmer said.

But there are farmers in Montana who are willing to put in some acres of hemp and give it a go.

This year, Wittmer said, IND Hemp has contracted farmers to grow around 7,000 acres of hemp.

Five thousand of those acres are what Wittmer calls a dual-purpose crop that will yield both grain and fiber. The remainder of the acreage is a single-purpose fiber crop, he said.

About half of the acreage is under pivot irrigation, but so far this year, the dryland acreage is keeping pace with the irrigated crops.

\u201cThe majority of the state is sitting pretty good with moisture this year,\u201d he said. \u201cThe rains have been coming, and they've been nice amounts. You know, they've been a half-inch here, an inch there.\u201d

Thanks to our sponsors for their generous support:

IND HEMP
https://indhemp.com/

Mpactful Ventures
https://www.mpactfulventures.org/

HempWood
https://hempwood.com/