South Dakota farmers are harvesting hemp on 1,600 acres in 2021, and state officials say they expect that number to grow in 2022.
Katie Sieverding, Executive Director of the state’s hemp program, said interest is strong as word about hemp travels the South Dakota farming grapevine in the first year of growing.
“What’s exciting is that people who planted it are getting a lot of interest from neighbor farmers,” Sieverding told radio station KXLG. “Everyone I talked to who planted this year plans to plant next year, and plans to plant more. I think we’re going to see a big increase for next year,” she added.
Roughly 20 farmers were licensed to grow about 2,300 acres in 2021, but Sieverding said some of those licensees decided not to plant hemp in the first year and some fields were lost due to drought.
Read more at hemptoday.net