New York Farm Offering Hemp Tours, Planning U-Pick Fields in 2021

Move over sunflowers, there's a new field people are taking pictures in.

There's a farm in New York offering hemp tours with plans for u-pick fields next year.

Minard's Family Farm in Clintondale is among the first farm in New York to plant CBD hemp and you can tour the fields before it's harvested. "There's a great turnout every weekend of people wanting to tour the 15 acres," says Jason Minard. "Most people just want to take a picture in the middle of the hemp fields."

If you want a tour, you'd better hurry. Harvesting will begin in a few weeks. "Once the hemp is harvested, it hung to dry for 5 to 10 days and then cured in barrels," says Minard. The hemp is then shipped to other states. "As a New York grower, we can only sell out of state or to processors or those with processing licenses."

2020 has been a challenging yet exciting year for Minard. "The hemp industry is young and it's a lot of work, but the quality is even better this year. And we've been busy launching our new retail line as well."

Minard has no plans of slowing down despite the challenges. "We hope to have u-pick fields in 2021 once New York officially drops the New York Hemp Program later this year," explains Minard.

For now, you can look, but not pick. If you're interested, hemp field tours are held every Saturday & Sunday from 10am to 6pm through October.

After touring the hemp fields, don't forget to stop into the Minard's Family Farm store to pick up a memento or two of your tour.