Hemp Farming in Oz

[Ace]

Hello Ladies and Gents,

Just got a bit of a question - if one were keen enough, would it be possible to start legally farming hemp for fibre, paper and textiles in Australia? We are talking a drug-free strain that would be harmless to passers by wanting to jump the fence for some free 'gear'. I think it'd be cool to have a few acres of land covered in densely packed cannabis plants and then converting them into valuable resources, of most interest, paper.

Is this likely to be an option in Australia? I'm talking completely legal - government permission etc, selling to paper companies, clothing/fabric companies and whatnot (or possibly creating ones that are all 100% hemp for sustainability and to keep some of the remaining forests standing).

Just a thought, but one that has been niggling for a while now...

Ace

[xShiva.spacetechnology]

Hey ace, i know in my old hometown there is a few trial hemp crops in secret locations, they replaced some reas used for cane farming(this was in FNNSW). im not sure what they are using fibres for but.

[shruman]

Yes there are people currently doing it.

Not to long ago the gov was advertising in our local paper for interested people to apply for licenes to do so.

I think there are a few problems with the current siuation at the moment like having to have ur crop constantly checked for THC levels by gov people.

[Ace]

Yes there are people currently doing it.

That is some fantastic news! I am actually suprised to hear any positive feedback - I was under the impression that it would still be pretty taboo in the farming world.

Not to long ago the gov was advertising in our local paper for interested people to apply for licenes to do so.

Hot dang! I aught to start reading that thing Hmm, any idea what states/territories this would be in? Probably only in NSW until it is shown to be a pretty legit business?

I think there are a few problems with the current siuation at the moment like having to have ur crop constantly checked for THC levels by gov people.

Not a problem IMO - this question is based entirely on fibre and paper making, not interested in THC manufacture I would imagine this as being a very regular and quite a thorough testing done crop-wide to avoid a huge pot-farming project. All part of the business I'd imagine (the testing).

[Ace]

A few interesting links:

PDF: Hemp in VIC

PDF: Hemp in NSW

Lots of interesting info on Hemp in Australia

Legislation

Victoria

Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances (Industrial Hemp) Regulations 1998

Specify the legal requirements for the production of hemp, these regulations form part of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981.

Hemp, with a THC content of <0.3 %, can be cultivated under permit for either research or commercial purposes. Permit costs are $300 application fee, plus $95 for fingerprinting of those wishing unsupervised access to the crop, this person needs to have no major criminal indictments especially for drug offences. Otherwise THC analysis can cost up to $365 per DNRE visit who wish to inspect the crop three times for a fibre crop and up to five times for a seed crop.

Hopefully these costs and legal restrictions will be reduced as the crop becomes more common.

[xShiva.spacetechnology]

thanks for the links, they have some really good interesting info

May, 2007. Newspaper advertisements seeking expressions of interest from members of the community wishing to participate in trials in 2007/08.

1 June 2007. Closing date for expressions of interest.

[BlackDragon]

Not sure if this link is in those other ones, but its an interesting look at the strain differences and thc variants in a crop of industrial hemp, it can actually get to useable levels in hemp, depending on conditions,

Tropical Industrial Hemp

Edited May 28, 2007 by BlackDragon

[apothecary]

I was doing some research on this issue recently too and came up with this heheh, a bit old, but I'm sure if they are still in business the offer is good.

http://wwoof.com.au/mainforum/index.php?ac...;f=5&t=6910

[inpsyght]

.

Edited February 7, 2012 by inpsyght

[Vertmorpheus]

yeah its bein grown here n there... legend has it though that bamboo is a more logical crop for most areas of aus for textile production etc, thai gov puts billion into boo research. You cant smoke it , but you can smoke thru it :D

anything is better than cotton.

GD

[SaBReT00tH]

ever had a pipe full of cotton?

Edited June 6, 2007 by SaBReT00tH

[paradox]

i know very little about the commercial hemp industry, but in the community where i grew up in the hunter valley there were a bunch who tried to get a farm off the ground. they did it for a few years and for some reason (i cannot recall )

they gave up on it.

next time i go out there i might have a chat to some people and find out more details of what the situation actually was, then report back.

that reminds me. i recently bought i pretty intersting book called: Crop Physiology of Fibre Hemp, by Heyo van der Werf.

havn't read more than a few paragraphs yet but looks very interesting & quite comprehensive.

[John Smith]

One aspect that could suck a little if this became widespread is potential contaminantion of breeding stock for those illegally growing pot the old fashioned way (y'know, with seeds & all).

[telemetric]

pure delight grow and process it in Northern QLD (ravenshoe) and happy planet grow and process it in South QLD (gympyish)