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.

This past Wednesday marked this year’s annual meeting of the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance. The meeting was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and this year’s event saw the announcement of a national plan to promote and advance the industrial hemp industry in Canada. The plan mapped out the responsibilities of the private and public sectors, including both the provincial and federal governments in Canada. As Country-Guide.ca reported:

Market research and development, quality control and processing capacity are among the goals of a new national strategy mapped out by Canada’s industrial hemp growers.

The strategy was rolled out Wednesday at the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance’s meeting in Winnipeg, mapping out the market potential and obstacles in the food, fibre and oil markets, as well as in hemp production and plant breeding.

[...] The provincial and federal governments funded the strategy’s development through their joint Agri-Food Research and Development Initiative (ARDI).
[...]
The strategy’s recommendations were drafted in consultations with stakeholders including farmers, processors, marketers and researchers across Canada, the province said. The initiative was backed by joint support from the federal and provincial governments, the CHTA and the Composites Innovation Centre.

This strategy will be shared between provincial governments, hemp industry groups and other stakeholders across Canada to help guide future initiatives and investments, Wowchuk said in the province’s release.

Industrial hemp has been being cultivated in Canada since 1998. This is in stark contrast to its neighbor to the South, the US, where hemp products are legal, but growing the plant is not. Although some individual states have legalized the cultivation of industrial hemp, any farmer who does so is still subject to prosecution under federal law. This kind of catch-22 is precisely what’s behind the current North Dakota case where two farmers are fighting for their right to grow hemp.

With a decade head-start on their neighbors to the south, however, Canadian hemp producers are beginning to truly consolidate their industry, from the growing of hemp to the processing of it. Much of the drive behind their efforts, moreover, is a growing demand in the US for hemp products, but no rival supply — i.e. Canada is the closest source of hemp fiber and seeds to the US.

A plan like this one, then, is both unexpected and overdue. As the Canadian industry has matured, it is only natural that various players will get more organized, form farmers to regulatory bodies. As evidenced from government involvement in this strategy, the Canadian hemp sector is approaching the point where it will become an institutionalized part of Canadian economic policy. This is evidenced by both the Manitoba government investing $4 million in a processing plant, as well as a number of Canadian farmers considering hemp as a stable recession crop.

It seems that the Canadian capital of the hemp industry is about to get to added support from the provincial government. The current administration is investing $4 million into a hemp production facility. Just this past weekend, the Winnipeg Sun reported:

The NDP government yesterday announced $4 million in provincial loans and grants will kick-start the development of a “world-class” hemp production plant in Dauphin.

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Funding will enable the $20-million enterprise to transform 23,500 metric tonnes of hemp straw into home insulation and animal bedding each year.

This kind of forward thinking comes as little of a surprise in Manitoba. The province is already the second largest producer of hemp in Canada, and its capital city will also host the 2008 Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance National Hemp Conference in November. The government’s website also features a number of pages dedicated to industrial hemp.