Brian, together with his wife, has built Schafer Farms and Schafer Hemp into what it is today: a working farm and processing operation rooted in the kind of hands-on, generational know-how you can’t shortcut. Farming isn’t a new venture for the Schafers, it’s the foundation everything else here is built on. That legacy is what shaped how Brian approaches industrial hemp: with the same patience, discipline, and respect for the land that’s guided this family’s farming operations for years.

That focus led them to hemp. As Brian puts it: “Years ago, soybeans started getting to be tough…we needed to find something that can make money.” He started growing hemp in 2019, drawn in part by how little water it needs, about five inches a year under irrigation, a real advantage in a region watching the Ogallala Aquifer closely.

What began as a new crop on the Schafers’ own ground has grown into Nebraska’s first industrial hemp processing plant. Today the plant processes hemp from seven farmers within a 60-mile radius, handling around 4,000 acres with room to grow to 10,000.

For Brian, Schafer Hemp isn’t just a business, it’s an extension of a family farming legacy, adapted for a new crop and a new industry, but built on the same values that have always guided this operation: hard work, integrity, and a deep connection to the land.