Our guest this week is Danny Desjarlais, head builder for the Lower Sioux Indian Community in Morton Minnesota, where the tribe is undertaking one of the most ambitious hempcrete building projects in the country.

Desjarlais said his community is has been experiencing a housing crisis. No so much homelessness, he said, but overcrowding—extended families all living together in small, poorly constructed houses on the reservation.

But with hempcrete, he sees a path forward to provide respectable, comfortable, dignified housing for the people of the Lower Sioux in an efficient yet timely manner.

In the past two years, Desjarlais and his crew have completed four hempcrete houses and a retro fit of an existing house. More hempcrete houses than most communities in the world, but still it’s not enough.

“Our main need here in the community is housing. And so we really need to make a difference,” he said. “And even four houses, five houses a year isn't going to make a big enough impact for what we need.”

A recent census of the community determined the need was closer to 200 houses, which would more than double the number of houses on the reservation.

One of the issues with building in Minnesota is the weather. Desjarlais said winter starts late and ends early, so there is a limited window for on-site construction, which is why the tribe is planning to make prefab houses from hempcrete panels—4' by 8' sections of walls that can be built in a facility and then assembled on site.

This is the plan the tribe is working towards. To that end, they have developed a processing facility that will be opening soon, so they can be self-sufficient. They’ll grow the hemp, process the hemp, and build houses for their people.

The hemp houses and processing facility will be on display to the public on September 5, 2024, when the tribe is hosting their inaugural field day.

Also, on this episode, we hear from Morgan Tweet and Andrew Bish from the Hemp Feed Coalition moments after AAFCO voted to approve hemp as a livestock feed for laying hens.

Learn More: Lower Sioux Indian Community

Thanks to our sponsors: IND HEMP Forever Green

Music courtesy of Tin Bird Shadow