Scott and Megan Booher have worked on a lavender farm and been part of the legal cannabis industry in California, but their first season growing hemp in Iowa was a learning experience.
First, there was wild hemp pollen and corn borer worms to avoid. Then the Aug. 10, 2020, derecho knocked their acre of hemp plants flat.
“Luckily, they were small enough we could stand them back up,” said Scott Booher, 42, of Homestead, south of Amana. “In the end, we felt really fortunate to have a harvest.”
Last year was Iowa’s first year of legal hemp farming. The state granted 85 licenses to growers in 48 counties who filed planting reports on a combined 680 acres, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship reported. The Boohers’ Four Winds Farm LLC got one of five licenses in Johnson County. One license was granted for Linn County.
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