Winnebago Tribe selected as one of the first farms to grow hemp in Nebraska

The Winnebago farm, which is located just north of Omaha is one of the ten farms that was given licensing approval to start growing the plant in Nebraska.

The hemp pilot program kicked off this year.

176 farmers applied but only 10 got accepted, including Ho–Chunk farms which is owned by the Winnebago tribe.

“We see that it’s a new young industry that has tons of potential. Commodity markets ain’t great right now, so the more we diversify, the better sustainability there,” Aaron LaPointe said. 

The topic has been controversial around Nebraska but Aaron LaPointe, the Ag business manager at Ho–Chunk farms, says they are looking forward to the learning opportunity.

“Every hemp producer I’ve ever talked to says they’ve learned something every day about hemp and have been doing it for years, so we know it’s going to be a learning curve for us,” LaPointe said. 

The plant can be made into CBD oil, rope, clothes and more. With the uses being so versatile, growing hemp was a no brainer for LaPointe.

“It uses less water, less inputs and it’s much easier to grow. It almost has its own ways of controlling weeds because really it’s an invasive plant,” LaPointe said. 

They plan to plant the crop as soon as this weekend, harvesting it by October.

LaPointe says not only will they be able to collect data to share with other farmers, but the information will benefit the newly built ag extension at the tribal’s community college.

“They’re going to help with a lot of the research and data collection. It’ll help advance our college as well,” LaPointe said.

They don’t plan to make a lot of money, but are collecting data and hope to get bigger next year.