The Australian Hemp Council has secured an Agrifutures grant to facilitate production of a Best Management Practices (BMP) Guide for the Australian hemp industry. The AHC will administer  the grant of $157,566.00 grant as per the following details:

Title: Best practice manual for growing, harvesting and storing Industrial Hemp (Cannabis sativa) in Australia

Objective: The Industrial Hemp Best Management Practice (BMP) Manual will target agronomists, general advisors on crop selection and larger scale farmers. The information provided in the BMP Manual shall be objective, i.e., informed by published field and/or experimental peer review research, but may include the best available knowledge at hand, and provide growers with information about the relative costs of selecting and growing IH grain, fibre and forage crops compared with other alternate crops and livestock enterprises. The information in the BMP Manual will be aimed at reducing the risks of low returns and increasing the reliability of a successful crop return.

Outcomes: Outcomes of the project will include the provision of a guide for current and future IH producers that addresses their questions on IH production, harvest and post-harvest challenges that affect the profitability of their crop and on farm efficiency. It will also identify the knowledge gaps that can be used for example, future RD&E plans for the IH industry. The BMP Manual will also support improved industry connections and engagement across the IH value chain.

The Team: The consortium team includes IH industry leaders, growers, researchers and postgraduate support. Their collective experiences and extensive networks cover all facets of current IH production, harvesting and post-harvest processing practices in Australia.

Further details of their experiences can be found on their LinkedIn profiles.

Tim Schmidt (AHC, TAS): Chair, https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-schmidt-b3b13674/
Stuart Gordon (CSIRO, VIC): Coordinator, https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-gordon-5753b447/
Mark Skewes (SARDI, SA): Coordinator, https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-skewesb4858433/
Induni Vijaya Kumar (DITT NT): Coordinator, Northern croplead, https://www.linkedin.com/in/induni-vijaya-kumar/
Rob Eccles (Consult., QLD): IH Grain croplead, https://www.linkedin.com/in/robeccles1/
Bob Doyle (Consult., NSW): IH Fibre crop lead, https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobdoyle-2085b2106/
Don Telfer (WA DPIRD): WA crop lead, https://www.linkedin.com/in/don-telfer-51784b3a/
Karen Kirkby (NSW DPI): IH plant pathology lead, https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenkirkby-a5b12949/
John Wightman (Consult., QLD): IH pests and agronomy lead, https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-wightman-a748b331/
John Muir (Consult., QLD): IH agronomy lead, https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-muir-018610112/

The AHC has pulled together from throughout Australia a great depth of knowledge and experience through the above individuals.  The project is set to be completed by the end of this year and will provide a comprehensive ‘go to’ document for hemp growers throughout Australia.