July 2024

Paws for Wellness
Perhaps our most important news for the month is our need to raise funds to support AHC Fodder Group’s application to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) to allow for the sale of hemp seed oil and by-products for animals. The APVMA has declared hemp seed oil a veterinary chemical, which means they have cancelled an $8M hemp market just like that!

Dr Bronwyn Blake, chair of the AHC Fodder group is leading an executive team with the most knowledge and skills in the Australian hemp industry to process the application. We are calling on all stakeholders who are affected by the APVMA action to take up our sponsorship offer and provide funds through our Paws for Wellness campaign. Below is a firsthand account of a hemp product retailer’s experience:

In April, an SA store owner was approached by 4-5 individuals who identified themselves as APVMA employees and expressed interest in seeing her hemp pet products. While some dispersed around the shop to search for the products, one person stood at the door. The owner offered to help gather the items herself. They then collected all the hemp pet products, put them on the counter and photographed them all. They told her she wasn’t in trouble.

However, in late July, she received a call inquiring about her lack of response to 2 emails from the APVMA from mid-July, which she had not received. Subsequently, she was instructed to remove the specified products from her physical store and online. The owner of the store has dealt with removal of the products for sale from her store until further notice. When the owner called the APVMA to ask some questions, The Store Owner found the APVMA unhelpful in addressing the letter and the policy.

To address the APVMA action, a marketing campaign will be launched in mid August and of course we welcome you support. Click here to view the letter we are sending out to hemp food retailers likely to be affected by the current ruling.

Click here for further information and to make a donation or here for business sponsorship. And please, if it is appropriate, share the links within your network.

Thank You!

Agrifutures
Click here to learn about free Agribusiness training sessions for Emerging Industry producers.

State Reports

Victorian Hemp Association – Sherri Smith-Hoyer
We have a new name, formerly known as Regenerative Hemp Victoria, we have rebranded to Victorian Hemp Association.
On the 24th of June, the Victorian Government released their response to the Industrial Hemp Inquiry. Click here to view the governments response.

iHemp NSW – Jaimie Milling
There has been some activity in the last month in NSW with hemp seed harvest coming to an end in Tamworth,Quirindi and parts of North Western NSW.

This coming spring there is much state interest in Hemp Fibre crop plantings as well as dual crop varieties for seed and fibre production.

iHemp NSW held its AGM on the 11th June, followed by a General Meeting on the 18th June. At this General Meeting it was proposed that a monthly General Meeting be held to align with the NSW Taskforce meetings – to enable iHemp NSW members to share opportunities and issues, so they can be taken to the table.
iHemp NSW published their first monthly newsletter receiving a great response from our members and subscribers.
In the upcoming months, our association proposes to hold a workshop for our members at the Agrifutures national variety trials at Narrabri on the 13 Sept 24. We are also in the planning stages of holding an Agronomy webinar hosted by nationally renowned hemp agronomist, Rob Eccles.

The Northern Rivers Hemp co-op (NRH) headed by Crystal White was invited to attend the Liberals and Nationals Shadow Cabinet community gathering in June at the Southern Cross University in Lismore.

It’s encouraging that hemp has potentially sparked interest by the Liberals and Nationals as it is an identified emerging industry with huge potential for economic growth.

The global hemp market is expected to quadruple by 2027 to $18.6b. Facilitating the expansion of the NSW industrial hemp sector is timely and critical.

Following are details of a business case for a local Industrial Hemp Processing Facility funded by the NSW Government. This project aims to revitalise Barham and surrounding communities.

Key Highlights:

• Economic Viability: $18M CAPEX, $9M OPEX annually, yielding a net benefit of $60M over 20 years, with a BCR of 1.6 and an IRR of 42%.
• Job Creation: 16 direct and 14 indirect jobs, contributing $19.8M to the local economy per annum.
• Sustainable Development: At full production, the facility will supply materials for 583 houses per year, with significant carbon offsets valued at $11.1M over the project’s lifetime.
  A business named Murray Industrial Hemp has been established to address the region’s economic challenges, a vertically integrated hempcrete block supply chain in Barham will offer a sustainable, energy-efficient, low-carbon alternative to traditional building materials.

iHemp WA – Iggy Van
iHempWA has a new committee member, Keiva Youens. We are drafting a letter for State politicians and stakeholders to start an engagement drive to establish better support for the hemp industry in the state next month.

Queensland Hemp Association – Lauchlan Grout
The QHA is on the lookout for a secretary/executive to help in building our organization, if you or someone you know has a passion for the industry and can build networks, this can be a very satisfying job.

A media release is being prepared to highlight the crazy situation in QLD where a reputable vegetable farm was prohibited from growing hemp as a manure crop because it’s not a permitted use. The farm invested $1,300 into their license application only to have it declined. The point here is firstly, it is a hemp crop being planted with registered seed, so low to no THC. Secondly, the crop is scheduled to be ploughed in prior to flowering, so no seed production.

We are confounded as to the logic of the QLD government’s banning the use of hemp for a highly sustainable farming use. We have a lot of educating to do! At the same time we acknowledge the efforts of the regulators who are doing the best job they can in supporting Queensland hemp producers; the problem lies with the state government lawmakers who are stifling the industry.

Tasmania
The state government is implementing a pilot trial in applying raw hemp mulch to horticultural applications. This will lead to opening up further revenue streams for hemp growers.

Most recently, the latest hemp legislation reforms flew through parliament for approval, showing broad support for the industry right across the political spectrum.

South Australia – Mick Andersen
On June 19, SA hemp grower Steve Moulton and myself gave a talk to 15 vignerons and wine industry people about hemp as an alternative crop in SA’s South East region after vines have been removed from land. The information day was held by the Australian Wine Research Institute.

South Fibre plan to be processing hemp biomass in their new facility near Penola SA by the end of 2024.

AHC Group Reports

Research – Stuart Gordon
The research group reviewed an Agrifutures document titled:
Improving the Impact from Current and Future Genetic and Genomic Investments.
I have joined the American ASTM (Society for Testing and Materials) Hemp Fiber Methods Project meetings. The meetings aim to devise standards for hemp fibre properties. A working standard WK87041 has been devised for fibre length and width, and discussions to date have centred on working out inter-laboratory trial requirements. The meetings bring together contributors from the ASTM D37 (Cannabis – formed in 2017), D13 (Textiles – formed in 1914) and D07 (Wood – formed in 1904) Technical Committees. The project is being led by Olaf Isele. Olaf is Director of Strategic Product Development at TRACE Femcare Incorporated. Contributors come from a range of backgrounds – industry, universities, the ASTM itself and government researchers. The aim is to nominate and standardize fibre test methods for industrial hemp, for the non-woven and spinning industries.

Building – Dick Clarke
The four working groups (Materials, Design Details, Installation, and Render) have begun preliminary deliberations and some first round workshop meetings are being held.
We are also initiating the development of a Handbook for Hemp Design & Construction as an industry guide for hemp builders.

Food – Mick Andersen
Our next meeting is August 7th, get in touch if you like to be part of the meeting.

Fibre – Bob Doyle
Some interest is being shown for growing biomass crops but there continues to be limited opportunity for markets and there have been limited seed orders for biomass crops for this coming growing season.

• Ashford Industries are processing in northern NSW.
• Lithgow Women’s shed – being built by James Isaacs.
• A significant quantity of hurd is still being imported.
• Gary Rogers has recently sent a container of bast to China.
• Hurd for a Northern Rivers Builder is currently coming from Vircura SA.
• The Hemp Processing Company – Crescent Head NSW expect to have completed upgrade and be processing by end of August, a good opportunity for northern NSW.
• See above for Stuart Gordon’s contribution to fibre standards and testing.

Extracts – Andrew Kavasilas
At the last national hemp conference down in Newcastle I chaired a session on extracts, and it was quite interesting to listen to so many experts who were PHD’s and Masters students and Academia at our industrial hemp conference specifically talking about the work they’re doing on extracts. I would say that for most people involved in seed and fiber, a lot of the talk might have been above their heads. There were presentations by researchers who are looking at the way the plant produces cannabinoids and their precursors. The future for cannabinoid production in general should see the Australian hemp industries play a role, perhaps front and centre.

This shouldn’t detract from a lot of work that still needs to be done around the reintroduction of hemp, we don’t want to let anything go by at an executive level.

The Australian Hemp Council goes forward looking at and helping the industrial hemp industries whether it’s for building, or for seed for human consumption, or fibre textiles or whether it’s extracts for nutritional, cosmetic or let’s just say medical purposes.

We’d like to note that Argentina has begun exporting hemp leaf material to Australia. An indication of our lack of competitiveness due to government restrictions.

Carbon – Lauchlan Grout
Our next meeting is to be held August 12th.

Agronomy – Rob Eccles
iHempNSW is organising a one-hour webinar where we will delve into the exciting opportunities and challenges of growing hemp in Australia.
Date: Monday 12 August
Time: 7-8pm
Place: Online via Zoom

Click here for further information and to register for this free event.

Winter Crop Trials

Trial winter crop near NarrabriJohn Muir and Tony Burfield (Integrated Farming Services in SA) have applied on behalf of the AHC for a grant of $64,500 with $116,000 of in-kind contributions from growers and agronomy support. The Title of the Project is “Evaluating and promoting adoption of a sustainable climate smart option for growing winter tolerant dry farmed industrial hemp varieties”

We can expect to hear by 10 September if we have been successful.

The AHC is continues to play an expanding role in its support for the hemp industry. This is possible due to the significant voluntary work by Council members and numerous industry experts who contribute through the various AHC  Working Groups

The more support we receive, the more we can do, so join up to your local association and let’s get things moving.

Be sure to stay up to date with all events supported by the Australian Hemp Council by subscribing to our mailing list.