Looming ban could spoil Minnesota hemp industry, but farmers still see future possibilities

A Minnesota hemp farmer won't let a looming federal ban cut down his efforts to create family fun.

Hemp Maze Minnesota, off Highway 52 just south of Zumbrota, officially opens Saturday. The annual tradition started well before hemp-derived THC products hit the shelves, which soon could be banned.

The maze is one of the features at Willow's Keep Farm, where visitors can get lost in an acre of the towering plant. Owner Ted Galaty said his variety will reach 12 to 15 feet tall at its peak in the coming weeks.

"I tell people to come out and expect an hour to two hours (in the maze). It depends on how long you want to spend out here. Really, it's more about education and information," he said.

Signs are scattered across the maze teaching people about hemp's variety of uses. The hemp for the maze is a fiber crop. Galaty said its end use would be for textiles or rope.

Other hemp farmers in the state however have been growing it to create low-dose THC products, like gummies or drinks, to get high.

But a looming federal ban on those products could cripple the booming industry. It's set to take effect in November. A bill recently passed in the U.S. Senate would delay the ban an extra month.

With our without the delay, Galaty said several hemp farmers are pulling the plug.

"When I first started growing in 2018, I think there was 47 (hemp) growers, and then at the peak we were almost 600 growers in the state. I would say we're down to probably around 50 again," he said.

Galaty's reason for growing hemp has always been for topical creams, which he sells at his store on the farm, as well as its industrial uses. He feels the latter is the plant's future.

"When you talk about the fiber, when you talk about the wood that's inside the stalks, even when you talk about the seeds that have high protein and are good omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid, that's actually where this plant is headed," Galaty said. "We need to have facilities that make press board. We need facilities that are going to make the animal bedding. We need these facilities to use the plant as it was meant to be used and that's these thousands of industrial applications."

Hemp Maze Minnesota also includes a disc golf course. It's open on weekends from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. through Oct. 11. Admission for the maze and disc golf course is $10.