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EVANSTON — “My cousin in California is a hemp grower, and as soon as Wyoming made it legal, he encouraged me to start growing it here,” Amy Schofield Kitchel of Bridger Valley told the Herald. “My cousin, Ramona Hobbs Allen, and I have been making and selling CBD products for a year and buying the oil from him and others, so it made sense to grow our own. Our company, High Uinta Hemp, is completely woman owned and woman operated.”

The website for High Uinta Hemp in Bridger Valley displays a variety of CBD products, ranging from capsules, gummies, massage oil, pet herbal drops, tincture drops, gels, sprays and ointments. The majority of their sales are done online, at craft fairs and through repeat customers. Their motto is “The Hemp Paved Road to a Better Future.”

Kitchel and Allen both decided they wanted to work for themselves and started their company. They have grown up with ranching and farming, so they said they felt comfortable moving into growing their own hemp.

Kitchel and Allen are working with a consultant and the Bridger Valley Hemp Association. Their hemp-growing business has been licensed and approved by the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, and they use recommended reputable resources for seed.

“I believe we are the first ones in Uinta County to grow hemp,” Kitchel said. “We will be growing the hemp for CBD oils to use in our products and the flower will be used as a smokable product, which will meet the legal low amount of THC.”