It's just after 10 a.m. on a sunny and brisk fall morning in southeastern Minnesota's farm country, a short distance from the Mississippi River bluffs. A crew of three men is hard at work harvesting the season's bounty. But this is not your typical farm.
Rather than rows of corn or soybeans, this crop comes with names like Blueberry Muffin, Glue 31 and Platinum Lemon Cherry Gelato. The 13-acre fenced compound outside of Hastings is owned by the Prairie Island Indian Community, which operates the Island Pězi marijuana dispensary near Treasure Island Casino.
As Minnesota's cannabis industry gets up and running, both state officials and consumers are counting on tribal cannabis businesses to help meet some of the initial demand for legal marijuana. Until the first crops from state-licensed cultivators hit shelves, the tribal operations and the state's two medical cannabis suppliers are the only game in town.
Prairie Island's autumn haul, easily one of the largest legal cannabis crops ever harvested in the state, could help with a supply bottleneck that has left some dispensaries with empty shelves and frustrated customers.
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