Hemp cooperative looks for growth at Great Northern Fair

At the Hill County Fair Commercial Building, the Montana Hemp Cooperative is looking for interested people to sign up this weekend. They are looking for farmers who want to get involved with the cooperative, or everyday citizens who are interested in investing. 

“If they are interested and wanting to know how to grow hemp, come see us because we want to do this together,” Chuck Holman, owner of Earth In Hand: Soil Health Services and organizer of the co-op said.

The co-op has recently gotten it’s final approval of its articles of organization by the state of Montana’s Secretary of State and are open for memberships. They are also collecting signatures from producers who are interested in becoming members as well as citizens who are interested in investing — or purchasing preferred stock.

Holman said that preferred stock is not available yet but will be at a future date.

“We want to make sure we are doing everything right,” he added.

Holman said the introduction of hemp into the agricultural market could turn the market in the right direction and help many family farmers and the communities surrounding them. The Montana Hemp Co-Op, although centered in Chinook and made up of Blaine County producers, can be utilized by the entire state, and possibly restore the town “back to the way it used to be.”

“In one sense, help growers come together as a group, come together as a cooperative,” he said.

The co-op is looking to open a processing facility in Chinook for fiber and grain, he added. By doing this, the co-op will improve price points and will retain profits to give the farmers a better payout.

The market currently is having companies sell producers seeds, having the farmer pour their sweat, money and equity into the harvest, then selling the crop back to the company at the end of the season. Holman said that this gives farmers only one tier of income while also putting farmers in competition with each other to receive better prices.

“Here the cooperative wants everybody to succeed, because once you do we’ll all benefit from it,” he said.

The co-op was previously at the Blaine County Fair with a booth, and in two weeks will also have a booth at the Phillips County Fair for people interested in learning more about hemp production and the co-op.

“Come to us and we’ll educate you and start working with you on how to be successful,” he said.

Sign-up is open to everyone across the state, he added.

Holman said that after the Phillips County Fair, the co-op will also hold a membership meeting where they will be available to answer more questions.