Hemp Notes » Video

Hemp Science Explained

Kristoffer James — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:35:04 +0000

The company Naturally Advanced Technology has been on quite a roll lately. They successfully conducted some bulk commercial hemp trials that have already lead to a partnership with Hanes, and the scientists who made those trials a success then won an award for figuring out how to alter hemp fibers so that they could be processed on cotton machinery (it’s called Crailar fiber).

The breakthrough is a big deal because this way, no new machinery needs to be invented and then sold to fabric manufacturers. It will pretty much make processing hemp affordable which, in turn, will make hemp products affordable which, in turn, will fuel hemp industry growth. That’s important because the sooner that hemp can replace cotton, the sooner we can depleting our soil and water supplied just to put clothes on our back.

In any case, here is a clip of that scientist, Dr. Wing Sung, explaining how its done.

North Dakota Update

Kristoffer James — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:42:47 +0000

A few days ago, we posted about how two North Dakota farmers were finally getting their day in court. In June of 2007, the farmers filed a lawsuit against teh DEA’s band on commercial hemp farming in the US, and on November 12, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit will begin hearing oral arguments. Well, the Wisoncisn Ag Connection has some clarification on the exact nature of the lawsuit:

In 2007 the North Dakota Legislature removed the requirement that state-licensed industrial hemp farmers first obtain DEA permits before growing hemp. The question before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals will be whether or not federal authorities can prosecute state-licensed farmers who grow non-drug oilseed and fiber hemp pursuant to North Dakota state law. Vote Hemp, the nation’s leading industrial hemp advocacy group, and its supporters are providing financial support for the lawsuit. If it is successful, states across the nation will be free to implement their own hemp farming laws without fear of federal interference.

So basically, while the state of North Dakota permits farmers to grow industrial hemp, the federal government does not. Consequently, therefore, a state license to grow hemp is pretty much useless because it does not protect you from federal indictment.

Complete background information on this case is available on the Vote Hemp – Legal Cases: North Dakota page. And here is some footage of the post-court press conference last November.

Hemp vs Cotton

Kristoffer James — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:01:38 +0000

Today has been a slow day in terms of hemp related news, so I thought I’d post this video on one man’s effort to replace cotton farms in Whales with industrial hemp farms. Hemp has a number of advantages over cotton:

it can produce 250% the amount of fibre
it requires little to no pesticides
and it requires much less water to grow

Overall, hemp is a much more sustainable crop than cotton. The only thing really holding back the hemp fiber industry is the technology required to spin it into fiber — which could easily catch up if enough interest was stirred up in the marketplace. The need to incite such interest, moreover, couldn’t be more pressing because cotton is one of the most destructive crops there is. Consider the following:

half the pesticides used in the US go to cotton alone
cotton takes up 3% of the world’s most arable land, but is responsible for about 25% of the pesticides used
one pound of cotton require 100 gallons of water, and hemp can subsist off of rainfall in most climates

Add these environmental tidbits to the reality that hemp makes for a more durable, insulating, and absorbent fiber than cotton, and the choice seems obvious. The only drawback is that hemp can’t be used to make fibers as light, fluffy, and soft as cotton can.

Pro Skateboarder Digs Hemp Foods

jamie — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:30:27 +0000

This is a clip of Bob Burnquist, a professional skateboarder who started skateboarding at the age of 11. In this clip, he is at the Manitoba Harvest booth, talking about which hemp food products he likes, and why he prefers them to the unnatural supplements.