This week on the FarmHouse, a podcast by Lancaster Farming, we talk with Sarah Mitchell, an industrial hemp sales specialist with King’s AgriSeeds.
Mitchell initially studied agriculture at the University of Wisconsin and worked in the greenhouse industry.
Working with industrial hemp farmers was new for her, but the industry has turned out to be a good fit.
“Really, we’re at the birth of a brand new industry, which for me, it suits my personality perfectly,” Mitchell said. “There is a lot of investigative work that has to be done. You need to talk to a lot of people, different types of people. And I find people really interesting. I often say, I don’t know what I like better, people or plants.”
But as a new industry, there can often be struggles with a lack of understanding, a common one being people not realizing the difference between hemp and marijuana.
Mitchell works with farmers growing industrial hemp in a way that doesn’t look too different from other agricultural crops, planting crops in rows and harvesting with a combine.
“That part is traditional agriculture, and that is what industrial hemp is,” Mitchell said.
While hemp is Mitchell’s current specialty, she’s also spent years working in greenhouse production, and has seen a lot of technological advancements over the years leading to fully automated planting and growing processes.
“Greenhouse production is really about precision,” Mitchell said. “It’s really remarkable all the precision that is happening in the horticulture field.”
Her expertise doesn’t stop there. Mitchell also has a background in specialty fertilizers, and works with her farmers to make sure they get the complicated balance of fertilizing correct.
Similarly with hemp, fertilizer is another aspect of agriculture where Mitchell sees some disconnect between public perception and actual uses.
“The connotation that people have is that it pollutes our waterways,” Mitchell said. “So what I would like the general public to understand about fertilizer is just that farmers aren’t pouring it on. They are really being as judicious as possible with this expensive resource in order that they use it in the right way.”
In this episode Mitchell also shares insights about the world that lives in the soil beneath our feet, the importance of forecrops and cover crops, and some of the many unexpected ways industrial hemp can be used. She also reflects on how her career path has perfectly suited her personality.
“I think being a woman in ag really can nurture your soul,” Mitchell said. “Being involved with people and plants, for me, is just the best of both worlds.”
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