Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
You could be forgiven for thinking a field full of tall, leafy crops in Baileys Brook is an illicit operation — but it's perfectly legal, and not for smoking.
Bradley Jardine and Doug MacEachern are the owners of Northumberland Hemp, with 150 acres of industrial hemp growing in the province — mainly in Pictou County — that they process into hemp seed oil, flour and protein powder.
"As you can tell, it looks exactly the same as marijuana and that's because it's the same plant. It just has no THC, or very low levels," Jardine said in an interview beside a 40-acre field where the plant is growing.
The exact level of psychoactive ingredient delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for Health Canada's industrial hemp regulations is no more than 0.3 per cent. Those who are issued a license have their plants tested for the THC levels, go through a criminal record check and provide the GPS coordinates of their fields "because when they fly over in the planes looking for the illicit stuff, they have to know where your field is," Jardine said.
The process is time-consuming and is repeated each year, finishing at the end of December.
The partners hope to be able to expand their acreage in the future by getting other farms to grow for them, then they'll purchase and process the seeds.
"Doug (MacEachern) has a real big interest in land, and seeing the unused and underutilized land to come back into production," Jardine said.
He noted a year and a half ago, the pair were considering what they could do with their land, deciding on hemp because it's a hardy crop, a market appears to exist for the products and because they "felt (they) could probably do something with it.
"We wanted to see if we could start a small industry in northern Nova Scotia that would eventually employ some people."
They haven't gotten to the employing other people part yet, but they do have another partner in Cape Breton.
They've been bringing their products to farmers markets for the past three weeks, including the New Glasgow Farmers Market last weekend.
"They've (the farmers markets) been very good to us and it gives us an opportunity to go there and find out what people think about our product...," said Jardine, adding that their long-term goal is to look at other kinds of distribution through retail stores and wholesalers.
He noted hemp oil itself can be used topically for skin conditions, for baking, taken by itself for its nutritional value, and as a base for cosmetics — to name a few examples.
"I could probably go on for an hour about the uses of hemp, but it's extremely versatile. So we have a number of opportunities in various marketplaces."
The two admit they were naïve in regards to hemp before they started growing it, and have faced plenty of challenges and a steep learning curve.
"(There was) a lot of hurdles that nobody seemed to hand us a pamphlet on," MacEachern said.
Though lots of licenses exist in the country, they're mainly in the prairies — with 400 in Saskatchewan, 297 in Alberta and 278 in Manitoba in 2015.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island each had two that year.
FACTBOX:
Industrial hemp fast facts
- Growth period of 85-120 days
- Research conducted between 1994 and 1998 showed it could be successfully grown in Canada as a separate entity from cannabis (marijuana)
- First license to grow industrial hemp for commercial purposes issues in 1998
- Fibre from stalks can be used for making paper, textiles, rope and construction materials
- Grain from industrial hemp can be used in food products, cosmetics, plastics and fuel
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Growing Market
Author: Amanda Jess
Contact: 902-752-3000
Photo Credit: Alyson McClaran
Website: The News
Bradley Jardine and Doug MacEachern are the owners of Northumberland Hemp, with 150 acres of industrial hemp growing in the province — mainly in Pictou County — that they process into hemp seed oil, flour and protein powder.
"As you can tell, it looks exactly the same as marijuana and that's because it's the same plant. It just has no THC, or very low levels," Jardine said in an interview beside a 40-acre field where the plant is growing.
The exact level of psychoactive ingredient delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for Health Canada's industrial hemp regulations is no more than 0.3 per cent. Those who are issued a license have their plants tested for the THC levels, go through a criminal record check and provide the GPS coordinates of their fields "because when they fly over in the planes looking for the illicit stuff, they have to know where your field is," Jardine said.
The process is time-consuming and is repeated each year, finishing at the end of December.
The partners hope to be able to expand their acreage in the future by getting other farms to grow for them, then they'll purchase and process the seeds.
"Doug (MacEachern) has a real big interest in land, and seeing the unused and underutilized land to come back into production," Jardine said.
He noted a year and a half ago, the pair were considering what they could do with their land, deciding on hemp because it's a hardy crop, a market appears to exist for the products and because they "felt (they) could probably do something with it.
"We wanted to see if we could start a small industry in northern Nova Scotia that would eventually employ some people."
They haven't gotten to the employing other people part yet, but they do have another partner in Cape Breton.
They've been bringing their products to farmers markets for the past three weeks, including the New Glasgow Farmers Market last weekend.
"They've (the farmers markets) been very good to us and it gives us an opportunity to go there and find out what people think about our product...," said Jardine, adding that their long-term goal is to look at other kinds of distribution through retail stores and wholesalers.
He noted hemp oil itself can be used topically for skin conditions, for baking, taken by itself for its nutritional value, and as a base for cosmetics — to name a few examples.
"I could probably go on for an hour about the uses of hemp, but it's extremely versatile. So we have a number of opportunities in various marketplaces."
The two admit they were naïve in regards to hemp before they started growing it, and have faced plenty of challenges and a steep learning curve.
"(There was) a lot of hurdles that nobody seemed to hand us a pamphlet on," MacEachern said.
Though lots of licenses exist in the country, they're mainly in the prairies — with 400 in Saskatchewan, 297 in Alberta and 278 in Manitoba in 2015.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island each had two that year.
FACTBOX:
Industrial hemp fast facts
- Growth period of 85-120 days
- Research conducted between 1994 and 1998 showed it could be successfully grown in Canada as a separate entity from cannabis (marijuana)
- First license to grow industrial hemp for commercial purposes issues in 1998
- Fibre from stalks can be used for making paper, textiles, rope and construction materials
- Grain from industrial hemp can be used in food products, cosmetics, plastics and fuel
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Growing Market
Author: Amanda Jess
Contact: 902-752-3000
Photo Credit: Alyson McClaran
Website: The News
