Locally Grown Hemp Spawns Business

When Chad O’Brien attended a conference in Colorado in 2016 about hemp, the wheels started turning in his head. O’Brien is a massage therapist and holistic health practitioner. He spends most of his time in Colorado these days where he and his wife run the business Be Free Massage, but O’Brien is a native of the Britton area, having graduated from BHS in 1997.

O’Brien was interested in hemp as the source of CBD. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a chemical in the Cannabis plant, also known as hemp. CBD is used in various forms. A prescription form of CBD is used for epilepsy. CBD is also used for anxiety, pain, and many other conditions.

As a holistic health practitioner and masseuse, O’Brien said he’s been using CBD products on his clients for years to good effect. After learning more about hemp at the conference, he began thinking about how he could grow his own organic hemp product in the rich Dakota soil.

O’Brien said he began chatting about the idea with his brother, Nate, who was farming the family’s land northeast of Britton right on the North Dakota border. The O’Brien’s dad Bob and their uncle Bill farmed that area together for many years. They also had land in North Dakota.

“We almost got started in 2019,” said Chad. The brothers were thinking about renting land in North Dakota to grow hemp. At the time, growing hemp was legal in North Dakota but not South Dakota. Though the plan did not come to fruition then, circumstances beyond their control would give the O’Briens a push the next year.

In 2020, the O’Brien family decided to take a leap. Due to COVID, Chad found himself unable to massage due to state restrictions. This gave him the opportunity to try something new. The brothers decided to rent an acre of land owned by a friend just over the border in North Dakota. Chad emphasized that it was important that the acre had not been farmed as he wanted the end product to be certified organic.

After hours and hours consulting with the Department of Agriculture and a longtime hemp grower friend in Colorado, the O’Briens were ready to get going. Chad drove from Colorado with 1,800 tiny hemp plants. It was an epic journey.

“When I drove through South Dakota with a minivan full of hemp clone plants, I got special permission from the captain of the South Dakota Highway Patrol,” said Chad. “He told me I was the first person to ever go through South Dakota with any kind of cannabis legally, and because I was honest about it and they were on the edge of legalizing the hemp bill, he made a rare exception. If he hadn’t done that, I would have had to go through Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota where hemp was already legal.”

The O’Briens planted all those hemp plants in June of 2020. They used drip-line irrigation for water. They say the whole family got involved from their parents to the grandkids. It was a big family affair.

“We did everything by hand,” said Chad. “We didn’t know if anything would grow and if it did, we didn’t know if we would make a cent off of it.” They also had to pass a Department of Agriculture inspection. If their hemp had more than .3% THC, the legally-allowed amount, their whole crop could have been destroyed. They passed all inspections.

The next part of the process was a big one. The harvest. Chad explained what this involved: “We harvested in mid-October. We first cut down the plants and brought seven trailer loads to our heated shed where we had to cut them apart so they weren’t too heavy for our drying wires. Then we let them dry for about ten days. Then we hand shucked them all, saving the leaves and buds and throwing out the stocks and stems which took us close to a week.”

At that point, the O’Briens made the decision to acquire the services of a certified organic processor in Colorado called Rocky Mountain Extraction Services. The processor took their 1000 pounds of hemp biomass and turned it into around five gallons of hemp concentrate ‘crude oil,’ which has the consistency of thick honey, Chad said.

From that processed material, the O’Briens again took a leap and decided to make and market their own CBD product. Under the company name Dakota Organics, they sell their own CBD salves and tinctures. Chad explains that they originally tried the products themselves and on their clients with good results.A nd as they began selling, they received many positive testimonials.

According to the O’Briens, their products help with a variety of ailments. “They help you get better sleep, stay asleep and reduce stress,” said Chad. “They also can treat pain and reduce inflammation.” He added that multiple massage therapists in the Britton area use Dakota Organics products.

When asked what they hope people understand about their products, CBD and hemp in general, the O’Briens remind people that these are completely legal products. Hemp and CBD is now legal in South Dakota. Using a CBD product is not like using marijuana, they assert.

The O’Briens are pleased with how their business is progressing. As they look towards the future, they hope their business keeps growing. “Right now, we’re well stocked up on products,” said Chad. “But we would love to get to the point where we need more material and then would get to plant a second hemp crop on the family farm this time. It’s really a fun family activity.”

To learn more about the O’Briens business and see the products they offer, visit their Facebook page or website, dakotaorganics.net. They will also have a table at the Harvest Days Vendor Fair in Britton next weekend.