Hemp harvest in the Ord

[Dragonfan]

ABC Rural

11/11/2008

 

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.

 

Chief executive of Hemp Resources, Kim Hough, believes current legislation, which stops hemp seed from being sold as a food product in Australia, will soon be changed and will make hemp a very viable crop in the Ord.

 

"We're confident that laws will be changed," he says.

 

"But no, it wouldn't turn us away (from growing in the Ord). However, we would have to rethink our strategy and perhaps export the seed."