Hemp Notes

Ontario Farmers Considering Hemp

Nov 7, 2008 Farming, News
Tags: farmers, Northumberland, Ontario

Farmers in Ontario, Canada, are bracing to feel the economic crunch of world markets this spring. It is common for farmers in this area (and many others) to borrow money to plant crops, and lending markets may not be so favorable come springtime. Consequently, experts in the are are looking at alternative crops and, of course, hemp is near the top of the list. However, as it often is, one of the obstacles to adopting hemp as a crop is the lack of facilities to process it. As the Northumberland Today reports:

An alternative crop under study for this area is industrial hemp. Hemp would not be subject to the price fluctuations of current cash crops and so could provide some stability for farmers.

Industrial hemp was first seeded on the north shore of Lake Ontario by the British more than 200 years ago to make rope and sail cloth for the British navy.

Today hemp seed, oil and fibre are used in a variety of products, from beer and body-care items to construction materials, and it is a “green” product that actually revitalizes the soil by adding nitrogen during the growing process.

Currently, a major obstacle to growing hemp locally is the lack of a processing facility.

When it comes to mainstreaming industrial hemp, the industry seems to be stuck between a rock, a hard place, and another hard place. For farmers to adopt industrial hemp as a crop, there has to be processing facilities. For investors to allot resources into such infrastructure, there has to be a market demand. To stimulate demand in the market, the price of hemp products needs to come down. For the price of hemp products to come down, additional facilities are needed so that hemp production could be increased.

All in all, I’m optimistic that something will give in the coming decade. Whether that’s in 2 years or 10 years, however, is anyone’s guess.