Northern Victorian hemp farmers Dan Walker and Peter Bird standing in Peter's hemp crop which was on show at Regenerative Hemp Victoria's industrial hemp field day.
The potential of growing industrial hemp in a world far removed from the plant’s recreational use is fast becoming a reality as farmers look at their potential to diversify. ANDY WILSON reports.
Regenerative Hemp Victoria has highlighted the relaxing of regulations under the crop’s licensing laws in Victoria to allow farmers to trial their first crop.
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RHV hosted 44 guests to a field day outside Shepparton on February 14 to discuss licensing, growing and processing of hemp in Victoria.
Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) is a cultivar of the same species of recreational cannabis and has been bred for very low levels of the psychoactive chemical tetrahydrocannabinol.
Industrial hemp is grown for fibre, construction and grain used as a food source which is rich in omega oils.
RHV president Lyn Stephenson said she was pleased with the diversity of ages among the attendees.
“It was a great age range,” Lyn said.
“It’s good to see the younger generations wanting to get involved.
“I think we may have to re-educate the older farmers to see the benefits if they were not a part of the 1960s explosion.”
A resurging interest in industrial hemp has resulted from recent changes to state legislation.
In 2022 the Victorian Government amended legislation to raise the maximum level of THC in a crop from 0.35 per cent to one per cent to align with all other states.
“The main thing that has occurred in the last couple of years is a procedural change in the Act to allow for a less stringent limit on THC,” Lyn said.
“We were way behind the other (states) and that was one of the impediments for Victorian production.”
A parliamentary inquiry into Victoria’s industrial hemp industry reported to the government in November, 2023 and made nine recommendations which included the streamlining of licence applications.
The inquiry also recommended repurposing existing forestry infrastructure for industrial hemp processing and for Agriculture Victoria to prioritise hemp as a growth crop and increase research into its development.
The inner core of the plant’s stem — the hurd — is high in cellulose and is used in making particle board, animal bedding, plastic production and oil spill kits.
The outer layer of the stem — the bast — is used for making paper, clothes, insulation batts, erosion matting and composite fibre.
The bast can also be processed to make synthetic graphene which is used in making batteries lighter and less prone to combustion.
Changes in legislation to allow industrial hemp to have a THC level of one per cent mean Victoria's hemp production can be on a par with other states.
David Brian runs Southern Hemp which specialises in building hempcrete from water, lime and hemp fibres for housing construction.
David said four popular myths about growing hemp needed addressing, the key one being that hemp can turn into a local weed and take over farms.
“That’s just a bit of a hippy hangover thing, a bit of a play on the word ‘weed’, I think,” he said.
“That’s a little bit of where it came from.”
David said that one risk taken by growers whose crop THC levels rose above one per cent was ‘negligible’.
Water logging and water stressing can cause hemp’s THC levels to rise and all crops are tested by Agriculture Victoria two weeks before harvest.
Crops with excessive THC are destroyed.
David said the government raising the THC maximum to one per cent meant this was no longer a concern.
“There’s no issue with the new rules — no issues at all.”
Hemp home builder Rose Rule and farmer Adam Forsyth inspecting the potential of trialing their first hemp crop to be used for house construction.
Rose Rule and Adam Forsyth attended the field day to explore the possibility of venturing further into constructing houses from hemp.
Rose is the project manager at Spacebale Homes which specialises in constructing sustainable houses and Adam is a western Victorian farmer.
“We build with straw bales at the moment, but our hempcrete use is growing, so we are trying to find out more,” Rose said.
“And it seems the industry is more looking for places to process it.”
Rose combines expertise of house design with renewable products.
“I think it’s a great union of our passive solar design with an incredible product like hemp.
“It gives a house health incentives, it has a better psychological space and doesn’t emit VOCs (volatile organic compounds).
“And we have one house with an energy rating of 8.3 — that’s off the charts!”
Adam said the field day had inspired him to grow a hemp trial plot.
“It would be just like growing hay for me, I am not interested in its grain production,” he said.
“I can grow it, Rose can build with it. We just need the processor in between.
Industrial hemp is grown (left), harvested and bailed and then (right) added to lime and water to make hempcrete used in constructing homes.
