Unusual Crop For Waterloo Farmer

[Jim Finnel]

Australia - A controversial new industry is budding in Bunbury.

Hemp grown to make anything from paper and clothes to biodegradable plastics and stronger concrete blocks could be a new major industry for the city and outer regions.

Waterloo hemp farmer Merv Robinson is set to harvest his first crop of the versatile plant in the next month.

Mr Robinson said the plot was a trial to see how the low THC crop would go and had surprising results.

“It’s a quick crop, a four to five month turn around for seed and to harvest the fibre is only 120 days,” Mr Robinson said.

Mr Robinson said if people open their minds to the concept, it could become a profitable industry for Bunbury.

He said if farmers grew 500 hectares of hemp between Perth and Bunbury it would be possible for a processing plant to be built here.

“If we can grow enough it could be a massive industry,” Mr Robinson said.

“You’ve got to start somewhere and we’ve got to get enough farmers in so we can get enough seed.”

The quick growing plant’s fibres and oil are widely used throughout the world.

Historically it has been used to make rope and cordage, sailcloth, carpet backing, canvas and apparel.

These days it is also used for reinforcing fibre for paper, fibre-reinforced plastics, fibreboards, geotextiles, textile fabrics, animal bedding, kitty litter, insulation, animal stockfeed, soap and cosmetics.

Mr Robinson said the crop was low maintenance, requiring less water than trees and little to no pest control.

But the lush green yield has caught the eye of a few outsiders as well.

Mr Robinson said he had received criticism for planting the hemp and had a few unwelcome visitors picking the crop hoping to get some free marijuana.

The constant intruders forced Mr Robinson to protect his crop with an electric fence.


News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Bunbury Mail
Author: KAITLYN OFFER
Copyright: 2009 Fairfax Media
Contact: Bunbury Mail - Bunbury news, classifieds and community
Website: Unusual crop for Waterloo farmer - Local News - News - General - Bunbury Mail

 

[michaelkaer]

120 days for a crop, that means if you have the right set up, you could get 3 crops a year. If you staggered your crop you could have a continous smaller amount coming due every month. The medicine growers indoors have some of the plants down to 8 weeks, which means a full crop 6 times a year. Again if the staggered things , they could get a smaller crop every month or week if they want to. Being indoors means they are not slaves to the seasons. What would that mean to us in terms of creating jobs and keeping the economy going? Of course that outdoor crop may be viable at 2 crops a year. We do not know since this is a test plot and the results will be different all over the world as to how many crops you can get in a year. I would settle for one a year as long as it was legal and had no red tape attached to it.