New direction for hemp

[Oz]

Agriculture could take on a new direction, according to NSW Member for Barwon, Kevin Humphries, who this week pledging his support for the Hemp Industry Bill 2008.

 

Mr Humphries said the the bill would enable low-TCH hemp to be cultivated and supplied for commercial production and other legitimate purposes.

 

Speaking to the Parliament, Mr Humphries said he believed the hemp industry was a significant player as a fibre crop, with hemp already successfully grown in the Darling Downs and Wide Bay areas of Queensland.

 

"Places such as Barwon, because of the nature of the soil, the climate and water availability has the capacity to ramp up hemp production quite quickly," Mr Humphries said.

 

Mr Humphries said hemp currently grown in the Darling Downs is exported to France for processing, as Australia cannot get a mill to establish this value-adding process.

 

"Australia is short of a fibre-processing mill, which would create jobs in regional areas not only for domestic consumption but also for export and the creation of such a mill is vital."

 

Superior paper pulp, biodegradable plastics, automotive and aerospace components, animal bedding, absorbent materials, textiles, building products and insulation are some of the by-products of hemp fibre.

 

"We have the capacity, with our sustainable agricultural practices and our environmentally friendly techniques for fibre production, to build a new industry."

 

Moree’s Ross Munro, who was involved in a pilot project in Dalby, believes there is great potential for an industry in NSW.

 

Mr Munro is one of a number of growers in the Moree area working in collaboration with Ecofibre Industries, instigating hemp trails in the district and designing relocatable milling plants.

 

Phil Warner, Ecofibre Executive Farming Director said that to overcome current transport conditions and compete in an international, heavily subsidised, market Australia needed to become more efficient in the way hemp is processed and handled.

 

He said there were currently developing new harvesting and module building techniques based on those used in the cotton industry, allowing 60-80 percent of the crop to be processed in the field.

 

Mr Warner said the relocatable milling systems would also compensate for Australia’s varying seasonal conditions and with hemp internationally dual cropped and processed for food and fibre, it had a huge market.

 

"Canada’s hemp industry has grown from a value of $50,000 to $50 million in six years," Mr Warner said.

 

Mr Warner said he was disappointed that it had taken NSW so long to investigate the possibilities of the industry.

Author: Fairfax?

Date: 15/05/05

Source: Stock & Land

Copyright: 2008. Fairfax Media.

[grace]

Hi Oz, industrial hemp has been grown here in Qld for years. I love my hemp shirts and knickers he he . It's good to see NSW is catching up. Ecofibre in Qld are building a processing mill so hopefully we can buy more locally made clothes as a lot is coming in from China at the moment as it is so much cheaper. At least the industry is moving along and from a legal perpective I see it as good news for anyone wanting to appy for a licence to grow cannabis for medical use - any takers?

 

Queensland leads nation's hemp industry with new plant

By Alice Plate

 

Friday, 07/07/2006

 

Hemp has been harvested for the first time in many years in southern Queensland.

 

Six farmers near Dalby have wrapped up the first year of a three-year trial of the summer crop. They're hoping new plantings will attract lucrative returns overseas.

 

Locals say there used to be crops and a processing plant in the area in the 1930s around Cambooya, before it was banned. The irrigated plant is grown with licensed varieties from the state's Department of Primary Industries - which are mainly fibre or seed-based plants. Hemp is also grown in Tasmania; however growers there are still struggling to get varieties licensed.

 

Dalby cotton grower Kym Bremner had just pulled up after harvesting eight hectares of a hybrid variety of hemp. He says the plant looks just like marijuana, but has small quantities of the illegal toxic agents known as tetrahydrocannabinol or THC that cause side-effects. Mr Bremner says the plant has 0.3 per cent THC, as opposed to the 20 per cent in marijuana.

 

In total 180 hectares of hemp will be delivered to a processing plant next door to Kym Bremner's property just south-west of Dalby. Growers say hemp should reap the same returns as corn, but not quite as good as cotton.

 

The $3 million facility, to be built by Ecofibre in following months, will process three tonnes an hour. Managing director Phil Warner says growers will receive about $245 a tonne for fibre and seed varieties can reap between $1.80 and $4 a kilogram for seed. He growers can expect to yield 10/t fibre per hectare and 250 - 500 kilograms a hectare for seed.

 

The hemp research development and marketing company believe it will be the nation's first hemp processing plant. It will separate the fibre from the hurd (the woody interior of the stalk) ready for sale.

 

Managing director Phil Warner says they'll initially only process minimal amounts of sample product, but there's huge demand for the fibre from North American for the fibre for hard industrial plastics. It can also be used for animal bedding and to prevent soil erosion on the side of roads.

 

The seed can be crushed and used in soaps and cosmetics domestically, and is also believed to be one of the most complete foods one can have, with omegas 3, 6 and 9. While it's illegal to consume the oil here, there's strong demand overseas.

 

Once processed, fibre can be worth up to $850 a tonne and seed $30 a litre. Mr Warner says they still have a long way to go. He says they have to finish the plant, develop a solid grower base and seed store so they can confidently supply and promote their product to markets.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/content/2006/s1681121.htm

[Oz]

Industrial hemp gets green light

SHAN GOODWIN

23/05/2008 11:34:00 AM

NORTHERN primary producers are lining up to add industrial hemp – with its fast-growing and lucrative markets as fibre, food and building material – to summer cropping schedules, as new State Government legislation allows commercial cultivation.

 

Gross margins could be as much as $600 a hectare (dryland) or $1700/ha (irrigated), with minimal water, herbicide or pesticide needs.

 

A lack of seeds is all that’s stopping mass plantings this year, but plans are underway for several hundred hectares of seed crops in the North West.

 

Lisomre-based agricultural scientist and environmental engineer, Dr Keith Bolton, has grown trial industrial hemp crops for research on the North Coast since 2000 and said the plant could play a huge role in the future provision of sustainable food and fibre.

 

Dr Bolton, who works with Ecotechnology Australia, which constructs sewage treatment systems using wetland technology, first grew hemp as a “mop-crop” to take effluent irrigation.

 

Extract from The Land, Thursday, May 22.

Source: The Land Online

[Rose Gardener]

That is GREAT NEWS!

 

~Rose.

[gouger]

Yes there have been trials all over NSW and My town is one of the places.

One disturbing problem for me and any other grower is that there will be male pollen blowing around every time the wind gets up a bit. The farmers may want hemp seed but we don't.

[Oz]

NEW laws will allow New South Wales farmers to grow cannabis crops for industrial use, the state government says.

 

But the hemp plants will not be varieties containing any significant amount of the active substance in illicit cannabis.

 

The Hemp Industry Bill will allow farmers to grow hemp (cannabis sativa) for use in skin care products, paint, load-bearing masonry, insulation and as an additive to wool, Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald said.

 

Such production is already permitted in Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, the ACT, Victoria and Western Australia.

 

The NSW Department of Primary Industries would work with farmers to make sure crops were only grown under a licence by applicants of good repute, Mr Macdonald said.

 

The licensing system would stop industrial hemp being used as a camouflage for the marijuana variety of hemp, which contains a high concentration of the illicit cannabis drug THC, he said.

 

"Properties growing industrial hemp will be audited and inspected regularly to identify any illicit plants or any breaches of licence conditions," Mr McDonald said.

 

"We will continue to work closely with NSW Police to ensure law enforcement is not compromised."

 

The legislation would pave the way for a potentially lucrative industrial hemp industry, providing farmers with the additional option of another fast-growing summer crop, Mr Macdonald said.

 

"This is a direct result of the environmentally friendly nature of industrial hemp and a perceived interest in hemp products in the market."

Author: ?

Date: 26/06/08

Source: NEWS.com.au

Copyright: Copyright 2008 News Limited.

[spaceleaf]

Thats very good news,I beleive its a step in the right direction for medical marijuana....."well here's hoping".

...spaceleaf.....

[loylty gets u nothing]

are these hemp cu;ltivars gunna fuck our drug cultivars??

outdoor pollination is my fear

wont male hemp contaminate our great outdoor strains??

rendering it useless over a few generations??

thanks for sharing oz

take care

bil

[mull]

True bill, or... it might happen the other way round

 

The rope satis might get squatter..

[Radic]

NEW laws will allow New South Wales farmers to grow cannabis crops for industrial use, the state government says.

 

irey

forward ever

free cannabis

free the world

 

The licensing system would stop industrial hemp being used as a camouflage for the marijuana variety of hemp, which contains a high concentration of the illicit cannabis drug THC, he said.

 

huh????

wtf is he talkin bout

 

"Properties growing industrial hemp will be audited and inspected regularly to identify any illicit plants or any breaches of licence conditions," Mr McDonald said.

 

oh i get it

pitty mr mac dosent

hahaha

he thinks a farmer could grow both varieties together in the same field

hahaha

or even try and grow the whole crop medicinal varieties and say it is hemp

hahahah

how come these experts know so little????

how could these ppl be trusted to make such decisions?????

fool some ppl sometime

but you wont fool all the ppl all the time

now we see the light

haha

imo

this is a fase

they actually just wanna keep tings in slow go

not only are they ignorant, they are guttless too

 

my guess

they wont dare make any waves

till after the usa elections in nov

 

forward cannabis

heal de people

heal da land