Meet Our Growers:
An Interview with Chris Thorson

Published on: 05/13/2024

Interviewer: So Chris, what made you look at a crop like camelina oil in the first place?

Chris: I've always been interested in dabbling in different crops and giving them a try. Probably never grow hemp again but I'm still growing camelina so I guess that's a good sign.

Interviewer: Do you think it's particularly well suited to a certain soil type or farm type?

Chris: I think it's probably well suited to pretty well any farm, but as far as soil types I've grown it on heavy clay and I've grown it on lighter soils. It really seems to perform better than anything I've grown on the lighter soils. Even in a dry year it seems to do fairly well.

Interviewer: So how do the input costs compare to some of the other crops you grow?

Chris: Looking at even your cereals, camelina is probably one of my lowest inputs on the farm for sure.

Interviewer: What kind of yields do you usually get

Chris: I've had anywhere from think my best was 39 bushels per acre and my worst yield was 27 bushels an acre. Which I'm still profitable on. It was an extremely dry year where we had some weed issues, putting it into dry soil maybe a little too deep. We're learning still and we'll learn every year and just get better.

Interviewer: So how do the input costs compare to some of the other crops you grow?

Chris: Looking at even your cereals, camelina is probably one of my lowest inputs on the farm for sure.

Interviewer: What kind of yields do you usually get

Chris: I've had anywhere from think my best was 39 bushels per acre and my worst yield was 27 bushels an acre. Which I'm still profitable on. It was an extremely dry year where we had some weed issues, putting it into dry soil maybe a little too deep. We're learning still and we'll learn every year and just get better.

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Meet Our Growers:
An Interview with Chris Thorson

At Smart Earth we rely on local farmers to produce the highest quality Non-GMO camelina oil on the market. Meet Chris one of our dedicated farmers, this is his story!

Interviewer: So Chris, what made you look at a crop like camelina oil in the first place?

Chris: I've always been interested in dabbling in different crops and giving them a try. Probably never grow hemp again but I'm still growing camelina so I guess that's a good sign.

Interviewer: Do you think it's particularly well suited to a certain soil type or farm type?

Chris: I think it's probably well suited to pretty well any farm, but as far as soil types I've grown it on heavy clay and I've grown it on lighter soils. It really seems to perform better than anything I've grown on the lighter soils. Even in a dry year it seems to do fairly well.

 

Interviewer: So how do the input costs compare to some of the other crops you grow?

Chris: Looking at even your cereals, camelina is probably one of my lowest inputs on the farm for sure.

Interviewer: What kind of yields do you usually get

Chris: I've had anywhere from think my best was 39 bushels per acre and my worst yield was 27 bushels an acre. Which I'm still profitable on. It was an extremely dry year where we had some weed issues, putting it into dry soil maybe a little too deep. We're learning still and we'll learn every year and just get better.

 

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