Once again, the Manitoba government is investing in its local hemp industry once again. In early April, the provincial government announced that it would be investing a half-million dollars into a hemp processing plant that is expanding its operations. As the CBC reports:
The provincial government is giving $500,000 towards the expansion of a Manitoba hemp-processing plant — an investment it says is the first of its kind in Canada.
Plains Industrial Hemp Processing Corp. is based in Gilbert Plains. The company currently manufactures hemp pellets, animal bedding and insulation, the province said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
However the company is expanding its business to be able to make hemp fiber. The new plant will allow it to produce 18,000 metric tonnes of fibre a year, Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Minister Stan Struthers said.
This is not the first time that Manitoba (the second largest producer of hemp in Canada) has invested in its hemp industry. In October of 2008, the provincial government invested $4 million in a hemp processing facility that would make home insulation and animal bedding from hemp straw.