Nine tonnes of industrial hemp seed on way to WA to build local industry

The biggest shipment of industrial hemp seed ever to hit WA shores is set to arrive next month, with hopes it will help build the burgeoning industry. Nine tonnes of seed is making its way from France, in HempGro’s efforts to supply WA growers with a large amount of seeds suited for the State’s climate. The co-operative — which represents 27 growers across the State — has imported three varieties trialled and tested in WA, as well as another never before imported into the State. Executive officer Gail Stubber said it equated to about 250ha, which she hoped would be distributed to a number of growers, the majority of which are based in the South West and Great Southern. For the first time, the co-operative has also secured a number of offtake agreements with hemp seed food, cosmetic and oil producers in Denmark, Capel, Busselton and Vasse. The seeds being imported include Fedora 17, which has been grown successfully in Denmark and Albany previously and “drops a good biomass into the paddock” and Fibror 79, which boasts a “good seed head” on the top of the stem. USO31 — which was grown successfully in the South West for two seasons — is also among the mix, which has been dubbed a “good all-rounder” with a smaller seed size, but bigger mass of seeds in each flower. The fourth variety — Orion 33 — is new to WA and was selected off the back of predictions it would grow well in North Africa. All of the seed is certified industrial hemp, meaning the tetrahydrocannabinol levels sit below 0.02 per cent. Mrs Stubber said none of HempGro’s crops in these seeds had “run hot” and gone over the legal limit for industrial hemp in previous seasons. She said having a number of businesses — including Vasse Valley Hemp, Geo HempStock, South West Hemp and Soap, Suds and Oils — entering offtake agreements would drive demand for the seed in WA. Soon they hope to not only have a market for the seeds, but the stems too, with plans to secure funding for a $200,000 processing unit from the State Government’s next round of Regional Economic Development grants. The unit would be able to process hurd — a lighweight, durable fibre found in the core of the plants’ stem — which can be used to make a number of products, including animal bedding, weed matting and housing. Mrs Stubber said their business plan proposed a partnership with an Albany-based drilling company, which had the means to transport the unit between farms. “Hopefully the seed will be harvested and we’ll go back and bale it the same way we do hay and that can become another income,” she said. “My husband and I want to build a hemp house this summer, but it’s looking like we’ll have to get it from Europe. “People are getting sick of waiting.” She said they hoped to not only get funding for a mobile hurd processing unit in the Great Southern, but had their sights set on having one based in the South West as well, so both major hemp growing regions could be serviced.