This is the second article in a series highlighting the projects of Minnesota Farmers Union Foundation Cooperatives for Climate grant recipients.  

As climate change continues to impact agriculture across the state, there’s opportunity for cooperatives to meet the need for meaningful, farmer-centered solutions. Farmer-owned cooperatives reduce costs of production, maintain a reliable source of inputs, effectively market and process farm products, improve livelihoods and help strengthen rural communities.

Cooperatives for Climate is a Minnesota Farmers Union Foundation grant program that funds farmer cooperatives in developing solutions for climate resilience. These grants support MFU members who have, or are in the process of, organizing themselves into cooperatives that respond to climate-related challenges and opportunities.

The grants provide support for technical assistance and business development services. This support includes a wide range of services, including feasibility study, business plans, market assessments, establishing governance documents, and carbon and greenhouse gas inventory or assessment.   

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40 Acre Cooperative, based in Sandstone, is a part of the first cohort of Cooperatives for Climate grant recipients awarded in the summer of 2023.   

40 Acre Cooperative aims to create access and opportunities for historically marginalized farmers in Minnesota and the surrounding region and build climate resilience through operational support for specialty crops, specifically hemp. 40 Acre is proud to be the first national Black farmer cooperative since the reconstruction era. Projects funded through the grant include a market assessment and specialty crop business planning guide. 

This is the third year that 40 Acre has been holding grower-member meetings. Angela Dawson, Founder and CEO of 40 Acre, noted that it is important for hemp growers to be highly adaptable due to frequent changes in the governing laws. Dawson often provides one-on-one assistance to help ensure growers have the correct compliance and license materials. Dawson also highlighted the need farmers have expressed in meetings for assistance in accessing grants and developing business plans. 40 Acre is currently working to develop an Intro to Business Planning guide for specialty crop growers. 

The cooperative has also been holding trainings where Dawson, alongside other growers and technical experts, teaches the basics of how to grow hemp using 40 Acre’s hoop house model. Trainings go through important steps including site preparation, necessary supplies and proper hemp genetics. Through this work, Dawson has also seen the need for more foundational knowledge on cooperatives which she incorporates into lessons.  

There has been a significant increase of people interested in growing hemp, especially from Indigenous producers. In the spring, 40 Acre worked with Loretta Hansen, Education Developer for Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, to hold two trainings for Tribal members at the Hinkley Community Center. Dawson noted there is a need for emerging farmer resources that use more Indigenous language and methods, which she is working with Hansen to develop.  

One resource that has been important to the cooperative is the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute’s (AURI) research on value added products, including the Minnesota Hemp Value Chain Analysis, which informed 40 Acre’s educational strategy. Dawson appreciates the work AURI has done to support the growing hemp industry in the upper Midwest and beyond. 40 Acre is dedicated to expanding its network of hemp growers across Minnesota through providing education, training and increased market power to growers. 

Visit https://www.fortyacre.coop/ to learn more about the history and mission of 40 Acre Cooperative.  

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Questions with Angela Dawson. These responses have been shortened for length and clarity. 

Why a cooperative model?  

Angela: Cooperatives are important for smaller and regenerative farmers because there are so many issues we face that there really aren’t many resources for yet. The co-op model is a great way to respond to those needs more efficiently. I’m excited about the new opportunities emerging to support this model, like MDA’s cooperative development grants.  

What have been some challenges thus far? 

Angela: A lot of the challenges we’ve faced have been external things we can’t control. Weather and regulations have made things more unpredictable, and we’ve had to pivot to adapt. In the last two years, members have had issues with storms that cause delays in planting and all kinds of things like damage to infrastructure which is super expensive to repair. The tornados that came through last year were devastating and tore down all but one of our hoop houses – that took a lot of reworking. We fixed a lot of it now, but it was basically destroyed. The neighbors came together to help fix it. 

There’s also been a lot of fluctuation in pricing that makes it hard to determine proper projections for the crop. Two years ago, the price was high but then for six months there was a rule that made hemp oil illegal so there were no sales. It’s leveling out now, after this new cannabis law is enacted next year things will be steadier. 

What have been some successes thus far? What will success look like? 

Angela: I am super excited about how open and receptive ag leaders have been to small farmers and really taking hemp seriously as a commodity crop for MN. I appreciate the receptiveness from policy makers and appreciate that it has been easy to work with the MDA and MFU.   

Over the last couple of months there has been steady product demand, which has been encouraging. Education and marketing are important, but I want there to be strong financial incentives for people to participate [in growing hemp]. That happens when you have consistent demand.