TORRINGTON – President Lisa Johnson called the meeting of the Torrington Rotary Club to order. Following the Rotarian formalities, Wally Wolski had the privilege of introducing Justin Loeffler, a hemp entrepreneur known locally as “Mr. Hemp” who operates out of Hawk Springs, Wyoming. Originally a Nebraska native, Loeffler now makes the daily commute from Cheyenne – approximately 45 minutes to an hour away from his Hawk Springs operation. According to Wolski, Loeffler is engaged in innovative work within the hemp industry.
Loeffler wasted no time explaining his mission: to convince Wyoming farmers and business leaders hemp could save rural communities.
As founder of Wyoming Hemp Company, the state’s largest hemp operation, Loeffler has spent the past five years proving industrial hemp can thrive in Wyoming’s challenging climate and provide an economic lifeline to struggling agricultural regions.
“Wyoming Hemp Company was founded here in Goshen County. We started in 2020,” Loeffler said. “Our main focus really when we started Wyoming Hemp Company was bringing a new crop and climate to our farmers here in Wyoming.”
A struggling agricultural state
Loeffler pulled no punches when describing Wyoming’s agricultural standing.
“If you really understand agriculture in our state, we don’t exist. We do not exist on an agricultural spectrum at hardly any level,” he said. “Our number one ag export is hay.”
The state’s limited crop diversity and short growing season have left farmers with few options. Wyoming Hemp Company set out to change this by introducing industrial hemp as a rotation crop requiring minimal infrastructure changes.
Industrial hemp, not CBD
Loeffler made clear his company focuses exclusively on industrial applications, not cannabidiol products or marijuana.
“We focus on the industrial side. So no CBD, no THC products is legitimately tree replacement,” he said.
The plant yields three valuable components. The outer fiber provides material for clothing and textiles. The inner woody core, called hurd, serves as a wood replacement. The seeds offer nutritional and oil products.
“Think of the stock material as a banana. The banana peel is the vitamin. That’s where you’re going to get all your clothing, your textiles, your non-wovens,” Loeffler explained. “The inside, the banana itself is the herd. That is the wood replacement.”
The varieties Wyoming Hemp Company grows contain virtually no THC, eliminating concerns about crops testing “hot” and requiring destruction under federal regulations.
Wyoming’s competitive advantage
Hemp thrives in conditions other crops cannot tolerate. Wyoming’s alkaline soils, with pH levels between seven and eight, pose challenges for conventional crops but suit hemp well.
The crop grows in 90 to 120 days, fitting Wyoming’s short growing season, and uses one-third less water than corn. Farmers can plant and harvest hemp with conventional equipment including drills, swathers, balers and rakes.
“It rotates in with what we’re already farming. So it is a very easy pass through to our farmers,” Loeffler said. “We’re not having to compete with corn and soybean acres in other states.”
From bedding to building materials
Wyoming Hemp Company’s flagship product emerged from the horse industry. Hemp bedding proved ideal for horses due to its absorbency and dust-free properties. The equine industry in Wyoming’s region represents $3 billion annually from Texas to Montana.
“We stuck our, the hunger hats on that product, and currently today we’re in Walmart, Amazon, feed stores and several other locations,” Loeffler said.
But the company’s ambitions extend far beyond animal bedding. Loeffler envisions hemp as the foundation for building materials, paper products and construction supplies.
“I’ve always thought of him as the tree replacing society of our industry. Who better to grow the future’s next building and construction materials than our farmers?” he said.
Loeffler referenced a conversation with a Georgia Pacific analyst who calculated replacing one year of U.S. paper products would require 500,000 acres of hemp, using the formula of one acre of hemp replacing four acres of trees.
“Is there a way to prevent the toilet paper shortage of 2020? If you dig deep enough, you will find out the United States is in a paper shortage of building construction material shortage. That is just a fact,” he said.
Pilot mills for rural communities
Loeffler outlined plans to establish small processing mills across Wyoming’s agricultural pockets rather than concentrating operations in major cities.
“The pilot mills are going to run anywhere between 3.5 and 5 million dollars,” he said. “Each one of those mills on one ship will create 2,200 four by eight sheets of plywood on one ship. On two ships, 4,400.”
Each pilot mill would employ five to eight workers and require 500 to 1,000 acres of hemp to operate. Once a pilot mill proves successful, the company would install full-scale production facilities capable of producing 33,000 to 45,000 sheets per shift.
“We can start doing this very, very systematically. Put in a mill, do a couple small hundred acres, start getting the jobs lined up and then as the process paid off, maybe more building, more construction, we can add in and grow to the program,” Loeffler said.
Keeping it rural
State officials have questioned Loeffler’s decision to focus on small towns rather than Casper or Cheyenne. His response reflects a commitment to rural economic development.
“We talked to the Wyoming Business Council, we talked to the USDA, we talked to everybody. Every grant funding program Wyoming can throw at us and everybody keeps asking me why I’m not putting it in Casper or Shining or one of our big, big city areas,” Loeffler said. “Because they don’t need it. We do.”
Locating mills in communities like Torrington, Sheridan, Powell and Loveland would provide jobs where they’re needed most while minimizing transportation costs for farmers.
“We need to be able to keep these mills locally, like in our smaller communities like Torrington, like Sheridan, like Powell, or Worland, in those areas where we can use the jobs, but we’re not having the farmers truck this all over the country,” he said. “And that allows us to keep our product prices below and allows everybody access to this.”
Industry partnerships and product development
Neiman Enterprises, which operates lumber mills across the region, has expressed interest in incorporating hemp processing into existing facilities. However, logistics and financial constraints present challenges.
“Yes. Very interested. They would love to have our equipment at their location where they already have these mills set up,” Loeffler said. “The issue is, by the time you start running the numbers on the logistics, the farmers kind of hauling stuff up there in the booth out, would increase the price.”
The processing equipment can produce various thicknesses of plywood panels suitable for sheathing and subflooring. The company continues exploring applications including tongue-and-groove boards and finished surfaces.
The company plans to utilize all processing waste, including wood particles suitable for composite materials.
“One of the cool things about him is always trying to find every avenue for all of the material,” Loeffler said, holding up a sample. “We’ve got IKEA furniture right here.”
When asked about hail resistance, Loeffler acknowledged the crop’s vulnerability early in the growing season but noted mature plants demonstrate remarkable recovery.
“But once you start getting it to where it’s six foot and above mid-season, it’s pretty resilient. I mean, I’ve seen this drop, they’re completely down, and they come back up. It’s amazing,” he said.
A vision for Wyomingís future
By establishing local processing facilities, creating jobs and providing farmers with a viable rotation crop, Wyoming Hemp Company aims to revitalize rural areas bypassed by other industries.
“The cool thing about Wyoming is we have pockets of agriculture. We’re not just blanket map like South Dakota or urban grass. We have pockets,” Loeffler said. “In those pockets we can stand these plants up. These pilot plants.”
Rather than competing for contracts in oversaturated commodity markets, farmers could supply local mills employing community members.
“Instead of trying to fight for a procurer’s contract or sugar-peed contract, and nothing exists and nobody wants anymore, you can fill that and change that up with industrial hemp,” he said. “And now they’re not worrying about going across the board of the field. They’re worrying about local milk hires local people out of their community.”
