Hemp in South Dakota is just beginning to find its footing, and already the commodity is making waves across the ag industry. At the same time, a war-torn nation begins to take its baby steps into the business.
It’s a cold late January night in Pierre, South Dakota, but in a meeting room just off the main drag the conversations surrounding this newfound cash crop are heating up.
On a table, presented by the South Dakota Industrial Hemp Association, are samples of the seemingly endless uses of industrial hemp. It’s part of an effort to engage lawmakers and teach them about the crop.
In one corner, pastas and cooking aids surrounded by the fibrous hemp stalk. Further down the table, blocks of hemp wood strong enough to tile your kitchen, industrial, biodegradable plastic-replacement pellets, and “hempcrete” blocks.
For association president Ken Meyer, it’s proof of concept for an up-and-coming commodity.
"It is new, so we’re making mistakes, but we’re also doing well in some areas," Meyer said. "One of the successes we’re really happy about is, even though we came late to hemp in South Dakota, right away we’re a leading state.”
And just what makes South Dakota a hemp powerhouse in waiting?
"We have advantages over a lot of places in the United States for growing it," Meyer said. "We do not need to grow it under pivot, hemp needs less rain than corn and the amount of rain we get in eastern South Dakota grows a nice hemp crop. We’re in the same latitude where a lot of the hemp genetics are grown across the globe.”
That means many of the healthiest, and most profitable, hemp varieties are already able to be grown in South Dakota from day one of planting, but it also means the hearty stalk can stand up to the state’s more arid west historically seen as cattle country.
“I’ve seen people grow good hemp crop on as little as seven inches of rain," Meyer said. "Of course, every plant needs rain to get established and get those roots going down, so you need the rain at the right time, but it needs a lot less rain than other crops.”
Producers like West River hemp farmer Al Meier, no relation to Ken, who has just thrown his hat into the hemp business.
“We grew 500 acres last year,” Meier said.
The Meier family operation is located west of Hayes in Stanley County. He said it’s another potential money-making, and soil saving, option.
“It’ll be a pretty good rotation (crop) because it’s completely different from anything else we’re using, which is always good," Meier said. "We’re always searching for more broadleaf type crops because we raise a lot of wheat, corn, milo and millet. Most everything else is a grass.”
More crops in rotation means healthier, more nutrient-rich soils, which helps contribute to the long-term sustainability of farms like the Meier’s.
Meier said one major shortcoming in South Dakota is the lack of processing facilities to turn the plant into, say, lotions, plastic, or pellets. With only one in the state, it quickly becomes apparent the loss of money in transport is a major hurdle to overcome.
However, today isn’t the only for lobbying developments in a burgeoning state industry. Al is opening his home and operation to a collection of hemp farmers from Ukraine, looking to get their own feet under them.
Oleh Zapletniuk is the group’s foreman and explains the group's nearly 200,000-acre operation.
“The main crops are corn, soybean, winter wheat, rapeseed or canola, sunflower, and we saw the potential in the hemp,” Zapletniuk said.
That potential drove them over 5,000 miles to South Dakota, as they tour some of America's most successful hemp producing regions.
“The market in Ukraine is rising, and another point in Ukraine is, during the war, you had a lot of soils, problematic soil, mines, or the echoes of war," Zapletniuk said. "You simply cannot produce another crop. The hemp can clean the land from the heavy metals.”
Far from the front lines, where this group had some of their land occupied by Russian forces, South Dakota offers a safe place to learn about the industrial process for producers worldwide.
“At the beginning of war, we had some issues and deficiencies with goods like fuels, fertilizers, and seeds," Zapletniuk said. "There are some issues that we’re used to. The rockets are flying from time to time. We have rocket strikes in Kyiv, we have rocket strikes on the electrical infrastructure, but we can handle it. We can handle it, but we need support from the U.S.”
For the time being though, Al said this moment is a chance for everyone to learn about the broader world, alongside hemp.
“I actually want to learn from those guys too, you know? I guess talk about our experiences with different crops and the hemp," Meyer said. "Just chat and see what comes out.”
The group continues their tour of American hemp facilities through early February.