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Conference report - Industrial hemp:
Economic opportunities for Canada
Gero Leson
nova - Institute for Political and Ecological Innovation, Santa Monica, USA
The conference "Industrial Hemp:
Economic Opportunities for Canada", held on March 25 at the Design Center in Toronto,
fueled the hope that Canada will continue on its route to gradually reestablishing hemp as
an industrial crop. Craig Crawford of the Ontario Realty Corporation, a branch of
the Ontario provincial government, initiated the event in order to improve the dialogue
between the groups involved in reviving the hemp industry and to identify needs for
regulatory reform and technology research and development.
The event was sponsored by Agriculture Canada, Environment Canada, and
the Bank of Montreal. Of the more than 250 attendees, approximately half were
members of the young, growing North American hemp industry. The balance were
farmers, designers, manufacturers, distributors, researchers and representatives of
industry, banks, governmental agencies, and unions. The presence of significant
numbers of Americans and Europeans underlined the international nature of the industry.
Presentations were aimed at giving the audience an overview of various
aspects of industrial hemp potentially relevant to the situation in Canada. Gero
Leson, nova Institute, presented estimates on global hemp cultivation and markets with a
focus on recent developments in Europe. He high-lighted the need for implementing
processing strategies other than the classical long fiber route for textiles if hemp is to
be used more widely for industrial purposes. Sue Riddlestone, Bioregional
Development Group, presented her experience with the recent establishment of a lab-scale
long fiber line in the UK. Dennis Crone of Mackie International, the world's largest
manufacturer of long fiber spinning equipment, introduced his company's equipment and
capabilities.
Three presentations covered developments in the US. Andy Graves,
president of the Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative, summarized the status of legal
initiatives in several states and the interest of US farmers in an alternative crop.
The recent recommendation by the American Farm Bureau, representing US farmers,
that hemp's viability as a crop should be investigated further is largely due to his
group's extensive educational and lobbying efforts. Don Wirtshafter, Ohio Hempery,
and Eric Steenstra, Ecolution, discussed the experiences of young US firms involved in the
manufacturing and trading of hemp oil and textiles which have to rely entirely on imported
goods, with limited means of controlling raw material quality in the countries of origin.
The situation in Canada was discussed by the last two speakers.
Gordon Reichert, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, summarized the results of the
1995 growing trials. Late issuance of growing permits and correspondingly late
sowing contributed in some cases to unfavorable growing conditions, such as competition
from weeds. Although such conditions will not be representative of large-scale
farming, they demonstrated that pests and weeds can cause losses under unfavorable
conditions and suggested careful planning for the crop. His main point, however, was
that the current legal situation in Canada, which does not permit farmers or processors to
sell hemp based materials for profit, is the primary obstacle to further cultivation.
To attract farmers and investors alike, changes to the law are of the highest
priority.
Finally, John Convey of ORTECH, a large national research institution
with experience in the textile sector, suggested that simply importing hemp processing
technology may not be wise. Instead he proposed the evaluation of various potential
processing strategies in light of product specifications by domestic end users. Such
an evaluation, initially on the pilot scale, would also have to include economic and
environmental features of each technology.
The formal presentations were followed by a lively panel discussion and
informal discussions. They demonstrated the wide range of backgrounds of the
participants and also their need for information on specific aspects of the industry.
The following day, 40 of the participants, including several
representatives from major banks, industrial firms, government agencies, and unions,
followed up with a visit to ORTECH's facilities and one day of in-depth discussions of the
need for action if hemp is to be revitalized in Canada. The need to overcome the
current legal restrictions on commercial farming, processing, and trading was confirmed as
the primary action item. Improved communication and coordination between the
ministries of agriculture and health, which currently administer hemp cultivation, were
emphasized as one potential means of accelerating the political process. The
establishment of workable THC standards and cost effective enforcement mechanisms was
identified as yet another priority. A working group was subsequently formed to
evaluate various regulatory approaches. The long-fiber spinning line offered by
Mackie as one of the processing options for the textile industry was discussed in more
detail. At a capital cost of $15-20 million, the line produces 80 kg/hr of long
fiber yarn and 150 kg/hr of short fiber products. A second working group was formed
to compare this and other available processing strategies which may provide flexibility
with respect to the use of the produced fiber and lend themselves to pilot testing.
In summary, the event was a success in several respects.
Particularly, it demonstrated that there is a strong consensus among major interest
groups in Canada to evaluate hemp's technical and economic viability and, in case of
favorable results, reestablish it as an industrial crop. The current legal obstacles
are seen as surmountable if coordination between the ministries of health and agriculture
and the development of a workable regulatory framework for the farming of low THC hemp can
be accomplished.
A second conference on hemp will, according to Craig Crawford, likely
be held in Toronto in the summer of 1997, as part of the "Human Village", a
world conference for designers. It may also be coupled with a trade show for hemp
products.
Cannabis seed types, greatly magnified (courtesy of VIR)