PILGER – Over 150 farmers packed into the Cooper Family Community Center in Pilger, Nebraska Friday. They’re all hoping to learn more about the same plant: hemp.

"It's very nice," event organizer Alex Seyfert said. "It's very pleasing to see this many people show up. We have almost every seat full."

The Midwest Hemp Forum put on the event. They brought in hemp farmers from other parts of the country and Canada and professors from Doane, UNK and UNL to give more information on the subject.

"It's just bringing the experts together so farmers can concisely learn about hemp and make opportunity cost decisions about if this is how they want to diversify as they look to make more money for their operation in this tough economy," event organizer Colin Fury said.

Seyfert says hemp has several uses, such as plastic, textiles and biofuels. He says if we can take advantage of the plant’s diverse portfolio, it could greatly impact the economy.

With hemp, everything we're shipping around the world, we could get right here in Nebraska," Seyfert said. "We don't have to outsource things. A trade war is really irrelevant if we get a hemp-based industry."

Even with the number of attendees, Seyfert says there’s still work to be done.

"I always want more," he said. "It's gonna take more people knowing. It's gonna take investors, entrepreneurs, you know, a person with an idea can find the right investor, and that's how this market is going to build. It's kind of like we gotta shout it from a rooftop. It's here, now let's learn about it and get it going."

Fury said Midwest Hemp Forum will be at Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island in September. They will also host another public forum in York on October 11th.