Australian Farmer

Almost a year and a half after Australian farmers were encouraged to grow hemp in the province of New South Wales, it looks like their counterparts in Queensland are sufficiently interested in the crop that they’re considering building a hemp mill to process the fibres of their future cash-crop. As ABC.net.au reports:

A hemp fibre processing mill is being proposed for the Hunter Valley after a strong response from farmers interested in growing the product.

Queensland company Ecofibre undertook a series of crop trials across the Lower and Upper Hunter during last summer which achieved better than expected results.

The fibre would replace imported hemp used by an Australian company in the manufacture of flotation products.

Ecofibre managing director Phil Warner says interest in growing the crop this year would allow a local processing facility to be established.

In 2008, the Australian government passed legislation that allows the plant to be cultivated for use in products ranging from bio-fuel to dog food.These aren’t the first Australian hemp trials to go better than expected. And since then, these aren’t the only hemp trials to produce encouraging results. In November of that same year, another Australian company, Hemp Resources, reported that their initial hemp trials had gone better than expected.

It’s not surprising that Australia has moved forward so quickly with adopting hemp as an industrial crop while US law continues to make no distinction between hemp and its psychoactive counterpart. While the US can import much of its hemp from its northern neighbour, Canada, Australia is sufficiently isolated that the costs associated with having to import all its hemp would be extraneous to say the least. Now that Australia can cultivate and process its own hemp, not only will farmers have another cash-crop, but consumers will also benefit from cheaper hemp products.

Now that Australian the province of New South Whales has legalized hemp farming, the CEO of Australian hemp lobby and research company Hemp Resources, Kim Hough, is wasting no time in pushing the envelope. You see, even though it’s now legal to grow hemp for fiber, it is still illegal for Australians to consume hemp-food products. Mr. Hough, however, is riding the wave of Australian media buzz around the hemp farming law to push to have the ban on hemp-foods lifted. As TheWest.co.au reports:

Hemp Resources chief executive Kim Hough has written to his local MP and Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith calling for an exemption from the Australian food standard which makes hemp foods illegal for human ingestion.
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Mr Hough said it was shortsightedness not to allow a valid industry that could be earning thousands of dollars every year. He said hemp protein foods and oils were highly nutritious because they were rich in proteins and the essential fatty acids omega 3 and omega 6.
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Mr Hough said the ban on the use of hemp in food products could also be contrary to Australia’s obligations as members of the World Trade Organisation. [...]

Unlike marijuana, hemp has no psychoactive properties. Consuming hemp-based foods, then, offers you a number of health benefits, such as an unparalleled balance of omega fatty acids (get some hemp recipes here).

Given the way things have progressed in Australia, it seem that Mr. Hough is probably on the right track. After all, we’re not talking about just some hippy-health-nut, here. Under Mr. Hough’s leadership, Hemp Resources recently conducted two successful hemp trials: one in China, and another in Australia. In other words, Mr. Hough is a competent businessman who is, for the most part, taking up a completely reasonable cause.

New legislation in Australia recently legalized the cultivation of industrial hemp in the province of New South Wales. Farmers in NSW are now being encouraged to take up the crop. Although it still remain illegal for humans to consume hemp product in Australia, it seems that dogs are exempt. That’s right, farmers are being to encouraged to grow hemp that will be used in everything from bio-diesel to dog food. And it looks like farmers are keen on playing ball. As ABC.net.au reports:

New South Wales farmers are being encouraged to start growing industrial hemp.

The Government recently passed legislation allowing the plant to be grown for use in products ranging from bio-fuel to dog food.

The Primary Industries Minister, Ian Macdonald, says measures have been put in place to prevent hemp crops being used to camouflage marijuana plantations.

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“It’ll require farmers who wish to grow industrial hemp to register to get a licence.

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“Already we’ve had over 200 farmers express interest in growing hemp across the state,” he said.

Well, I guess that dogs really are man’s best friend down under — to the point of receiving preferential treatment. I wonder if hemp-based food products will also be made available to dingos… it just might keep them well-nourished enough to keep them away from all the babies.

Yesterday, we posted about how Hemp Resources, that recently conducted hemp trials in China, also concluded additional trials in its native Australia. Well, last night, the managing director and CEO of Hemp Resources dropped us a line with some additional insight into just how well the Australian trials went. Kim wrote:

The trials in Kununurra have been extremely promising to date and we’ve just managed to locate a decorticator for processing and separation of the fibre and hurd.

We’ve also produced over 6,000 kgs of parentage seed for re-planting next season so there’s an air of excitement about next season with the ability to process on a large scale, a real key factor.

So it truly does seem that whether or not there’s a change in Australian hemp laws (it is legal to grow industrial hemp, but not to consume it) hemp, Hemp Resources will be moving right ahead with another crop. More importantly, they have secured the resources process the fibers. That should significantly reduce the cost of selling the hemp for fiber.

Normally, the costs associated with having to outsource the fiber production and then ship the fibers to an additional third party can be rather high, especially on a continent as isolated as Australia. By processing the hemp themselves, however, Hemp Resources would seriously be cutting down on the volume of material that needs to be shipped — not to mention the total distance over which their crop has to travel before being ready to go to market.

Click to Enlarge

Australian based firm, Hemp Resources, that recently conducted hemp trials in China just concluded additional trials in its native country. It also seems that they went well enough that the firm is considering cultivating another crop next year, even though Australian law would prevent them from selling it in the country. As ABC.net.au reports:

Western Australia’s Ord Valley region has just wrapped up its first hemp harvest in nearly a decade, and the company involved in the trial says it will now look to plant 500 hectares next year.

Hemp hasn’t been grown in the Kimberley since an unsuccessful trial in 2000, and growers have mixed feelings about the crop’s value.

The story goes on to explain how Chief executive of Hemp Resources, Kim Hough, believes that the Australian law that prohibits the consumption of hemp will soon be changed, and if that change doesn’t come soon enough, Hemp Resources will simply look at exporting the seeds. Hemp Resources is both a company focused on developing sustainable business and lobbying for hemp in Australia. Here’s a picture of their team (click to enlarge).

An Australian based firm, Hemp Resources, is preparing to harvest its first crop of industrial hemp grown in China. Although industrial hemp is already gown in China, the purpose of these trials is to determine how the plant copes in the country’s tropical regions. So far, the crop seems to be doing just fine. As The West Australian reports:

The Ord irrigation region has produced a variety of crops in its 45-year history, but few have attracted as much interest [...] as current trials of Chinese hemp. 

Reaching 2m, the industrial crop was planted in June by Perth-based Hemp Resources to test its performance in the tropical region. 
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Hemp Resources got permission last year from the State Government to import 70 million hemp seeds from China and has begun trials in Kununurra and the South-West. 
  
Mr [Kim] Hough [managing director] said the growth of the southern Chinese variety, known as Yunma Four, on a Department of Agriculture and Food site had been impressive. 
  
The crop was due to be cut and the seed harvested in about two weeks. Depending on final results, more widespread plantings are planned in the region next year.
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Industrial hemp crops are controlled under State legislation, with police and specially appointed inspectors able to enter and inspect properties, examine seed, plants or crops and remove them for testing. 

Although industrial hemp is already grown in China, and valued for its food potential, it’s consumption is prohibited in Australia. Hemp resources, however, is lobbying to change Australian hemp laws.