Dalton Wittmer isn't your typical suit-and-tie executive. Honestly, if you ran into him in Fort Benton, Montana, you’d probably find him knee-deep in a field of industrial hemp, squinting at the soil or checking for grasshoppers. As the lead agronomist for IND HEMP, Wittmer has become one of the most critical figures in the American hemp landscape, basically acting as the bridge between "this sounds like a cool idea" and "this is a profitable crop that won't ruin your farm."
He grew up in southern Indiana. Agriculture wasn't a hobby for him; it was the scenery. Starting at age 12, he was already working with cattle, pigs, and row crops like corn and soybeans. By the time he hit Purdue University, he wasn't just looking for a degree in agronomy—he was looking for the "next thing." He found it when one of his advisors started leading Purdue's hemp research program. While most people still looked at hemp with a side-eye of suspicion or stigma, Wittmer saw a plant that could handle a drought, fix the soil, and maybe even save some rural communities that were struggling to stay afloat.
Why Montana Farmers Actually Listen to Him
Farming in the "Golden Triangle" of Montana is brutal. It’s dry. The hail can be devastating. The grasshoppers arrive in clouds that look like something out of a biblical plague. Most of the guys out there are "wheat guys." They know wheat. They trust wheat. They make their money on wheat. Convincing them to throw out a few hundred acres of industrial hemp is a massive ask.
Wittmer gets it because he speaks their language. He’s not coming from a place of corporate theory. He’s coming from a place of "how does this affect your bottom line?" In 2023, he helped IND HEMP contract around 7,000 acres of hemp with local farmers. That’s not a small experiment; that’s a significant shift in land use. About 5,000 of those acres were what he calls "dual-purpose" crops—plants that provide both grain for food and fiber for industrial use.
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The Realities of the 2023 and 2025 Trials
Wittmer doesn't just guess which seeds will work. He runs trials that would make a lab scientist sweat. In 2023, he oversaw extensive seed trials across Montana to see which varietals could actually handle the lack of rain and the high-altitude sun.
- Finola: This one is the "drought warrior." It’s compact, flowers early, and emerges quickly. Wittmer likes it for tight planting configurations because it doesn't wait around for permission to grow.
- Bialobrzeski: A mouthful to say, but a beast in dryland conditions. It’s tall (9-11 feet) and pumps out serious fiber and hurd.
- Earlina 8fc: This is a fan favorite because it actually deters grasshoppers. In Montana, that’s basically a superpower.
- Henola: Notable for its "fan leaves" that let light penetrate deeper, which helps with medium yields even when the sun is being stubborn.
By 2025, those trials started paying off. Wittmer noted in recent updates that the fiber hemp crops were emerging uniformly across the plains. He’s observed that when the fields are green and healthy, grasshoppers actually tend to leave them alone in favor of drought-stressed crops elsewhere. It’s a bit of a "strength in numbers" strategy for the plants.
Moving Past the Hemp Stigma
There is still a lot of confusion about what Dalton Wittmer actually does. People hear "hemp" and their minds go to a very different industry. Wittmer has been vocal about wanting to "bring the goodness of hemp to America" by focusing on its industrial utility. We’re talking about hempcrete for construction, fiber for textiles, and grain for protein-rich animal feed.
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He recently took this message to Wright State University, guest lecturing for a graduate-level Sustainable Agriculture class. He wasn't there to talk about CBD oil or retail trends. He was there to talk about how hemp uses 30% less water than cotton and produces three times the fiber per hectare. He’s pushing the idea of hemp as a carbon sink—a plant that breathes in more CO2 than it takes to grow it.
"Hemp's adaptability to different soil types and relatively modest fertilizer needs make it a great fit for Montana's grain systems." — Dalton Wittmer
He's not claiming it's a magic plant that solves everything. He’s realistic. He knows that if it doesn't make the farmer money, it doesn't matter how sustainable it is. That's why he spends so much time on "phytoremediation"—the plant's ability to suck toxins and heavy metals out of the soil. It’s a way to clean up land while still growing a crop that has value.
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The Montana Lifestyle and the "Happy Place"
You can’t talk about Wittmer without talking about his move to Fort Benton. He’s an outdoorsman. He’s mentioned that his "happy place" is right outside his living room window, where he can see antelope, mule deer, and the occasional bear. This personal connection to the land is likely why he’s so effective at his job. He isn't some guy in an office in a city telling farmers what to do; he’s living in the same environment, facing the same weather, and seeing the same wildlife.
He’s part of a bigger mission at IND HEMP. The company, founded by Ken Elliott, Julie Elliott, and Morgan Tweet, is a B Corp. That means they care about the impact on the community as much as the profit. Fort Benton only has about 1,400 people. When IND HEMP builds a massive state-of-the-art processing facility there, it changes the entire economy of the town. Wittmer is the guy who makes sure there is actually a crop to process in those facilities.
Actionable Insights for Growers and Investors
If you're looking at what Dalton Wittmer is doing and wondering how it applies to the broader market, there are a few key takeaways that are essentially the "Wittmer Playbook" for modern agronomy.
- Stop Guessing with Genetics: Don't just buy "hemp seeds." You need to know if you're planting a grain variety, a fiber variety, or a dual-purpose one. If you're in a dry area, you look at Bialobrzeski or Finola. If you have irrigation, you look at Yuma T.
- Soil Health is the Real ROI: Hemp shouldn't just be a cash crop. It should be used in rotation with wheat or corn to break pest cycles and improve soil structure. Wittmer’s trials show that the deep taproots of hemp help prevent erosion in ways shallow grains can't.
- Local Context Matters: What works in Indiana (where Dalton grew up) doesn't work in Montana. You have to account for "Golden Triangle" specific issues like high-altitude UV and specific local pests.
- Relationship over Revenue (For Now): As Morgan Tweet often says, this is a "long haul" industry. If you want to make millions in two years, get out. If you want to build a resilient agricultural system, you follow the agronomist's lead and focus on the data.
Wittmer is currently looking ahead to the rest of the 2026 growing season. With the foundation of the 2023 and 2025 trials, the goal is now scaling. It’s about taking those 7,000 acres and proving they can be 70,000. It's not just about the plant anymore; it's about the proof of concept for a whole new way of farming in the American West.