Justin Loeffler, owner of GreenTree Ag, LLC., had a decision to make when Wyoming announced it wasn’t legal to produce or process hemp until its state plan was approved by the USDA. Loeffler said he found a farm in Colorado on a whim and changed vendors all within about a week and a half. He said, “Financially, it was a huge blow. You’re probably looking at several hundreds of thousands of dollars that it could cost us to make those changes, but we had to keep moving forward.”
Loeffler said he thinks Wyoming’s decision to wait for approval, instead of Governor Mark Gordon (R – Wyoming) signing an executive order, is better for the state in the long run. Though the company is doing research in Colorado now, he said he wants to get back to Wyoming.
“My farmers are in Wyoming. When you start working with a set group, you understand their practices, you understand their stewardship of the ground. And then you look at their families and then you also look at how much of a grind it is everyday for these guys. If I can bring a crop that actually puts money into their pocket, and helps them make money year after year, that’s why I really want to get to Wyoming,” Loeffler said.
The Wyoming Department of Agriculture announced in April 2019 that it was waiting on approval from the USDA.