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Dear Reader,
Over the past decade, the U.S. has labored
under an
industrial hemp policy that was set by the White
House Office of National Drug Control
Policy (ONDCP) under the Clinton
Administration and continued into the Bush
administration, which culminated in the DEA
trying unsuccessfully to ban hemp foods.
Instead of being a leader in the re-emerging
worldwide agricultural hemp industry, we have been
the target of empty (but emotional) talking points
delivered
by people who don't really believe what they
are saying. That's how policy works —
someone sets the policy and everyone else
just plays along to keep their jobs.
Well, there is going to be a new
czar in town, and we are going to have an
opportunity to have questions asked about
industrial hemp in Seattle Police Chief Gil
Kerlikowske's ONDCP Director hearing
in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Right now, the most important thing you
can do is write
your Congressional representatives and
ask them to co-sponsor the Industrial Hemp
Farming Act of 2009! Over 1,200 Vote Hemp
supporters like you have written so far. If you
have not done so already, please click
here and take action today.
Then, please make a contribution
to Vote Hemp to help us continue fixing the
situation here in the U.S.
We need and truly appreciate your support!
Best Regards,
Tom Murphy
Hemp News Update Editor
| Hemp's Future in Chinese Fabrics |
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China's President, Hu Jintao, visits
the country's first commercial hemp fiber
processing mill. Photo credit: Hemp Research
Centre.
International Year of Natural Fibres
2009
UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO)
March, 2009
Zhang Jianchun, Director General of China's
Hemp Research Centre in Beijing has a dream:
to see lush green plantations of Cannabis
sativa growing across 1.3 million hectares of
the country's farmland. That would be
sufficient, Zhang calculates, to produce up
to 10 million tonnes of hemp plants a year
and, with it, around two million tonnes of
hemp fibre.
Expanded production of hemp, he says, offers
enormous benefits for China. First, it would
provide a major new source of fibre for the
textile industry, reduce dependency on cotton
and, in the process, free large areas of
cotton-growing land for food production. In
addition, hemp cultivation would generate
extra income for millions of small-scale
farmers in some of the country's poorest
rural areas.
China currently produces less than 5,000
tonnes of hemp fibre annually from a
cultivated area of around 20,000 ha. That is
just a fraction of the 5.6 million ha
dedicated to cotton (China is the world's
biggest cotton grower, with a harvest of some
6.6 million tonnes in 2006). Among natural
fibres processed for use in Chinese textiles,
hemp output ranks far behind that of wool and
silk and of other bast sources such as flax,
jute, kenaf and ramie.
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| Hemp - A Break Crop Alternative |
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Hemp field at harvest. Photo credit: Farmers
Guardian.
By Dominic Kilburn
Farmers
Guardian
March 3, 2009
Growers still to make a final decision on
cropping choice this spring, and those with a
larger acreage to drill than originally
planned for, could look to grow hemp under
contract as an alternative to regular break
crops.
That's according to East Anglian-based
processing and marketing company Hemcore,
which says that hemp can offer a competitive
gross margin — characterised by high yields
and low input — while providing
additional benefits such as good weed control
opportunities, fewer field operations and
improved soils.
Richard Smart, who joined the company as
fieldsman for the crop earlier this year,
says that Hemcore is actively searching for
farmers to grow the crop this spring,
following last year's opening of a
state-of-the-art factory in Halesworth,
Suffolk — capable of 50,000 tonnes
per year throughput.
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| HIA Featured Member - The Good Dog Company |
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Based in Golden, Colorado, The
Good Dog Company designs and manufactures
durable, earth-friendly pet products that are
priced for the mainstream consumer. Founded
in 2003, they strive to be the most
recognized name in hemp pet gear. Kim Oliver,
the founder of The Good Dog Company and an
inspired dog owner, wanted to understand more
about the hemp plant and the stigma attached
to it when her interest was sparked by a
series of timely circumstances. After
researching more about this misunderstood
plant and learning about its many benefits
and uses, Kim quickly found herself in the
hemp pet product business.
As people have become more aware of the
company's mission of sustainability and
manufacturing all-natural pet products in the
U.S., combined with the general growth of the
natural products industry, the company
continues to successfully expand into markets
outside of the traditional pet distribution
channels. The Good Dog Company products are
sold in pet stores, natural grocers and
outdoor retailers across the United States
and Canada, as well as in several countries
overseas. Pets are treated like family, and
people want to outfit not only themselves,
but their best friends in earth-friendly and
unique products. They offer products for dogs
and cats of all shapes and sizes — hemp
collars, leashes, harnesses and toys.
The Good Dog Company's products have been
featured in several industry trade magazines
including Pet Business and Animal
Wellness and their products have also
appeared on Good Morning America as ethical
and useful, natural pet products.
As liaisons to customers that are often
uniformed or misinformed about hemp, The Good
Dog Company strives to not only educate
consumers of why hemp makes a great pet
product, but also to teach retailers on the
advantages and sustainability of the hemp
plant in all of its uses.
[If you are a member of the HIA and would
like to have your company featured here,
please submit a small selection of graphics
and a profile of no more than a few
paragraphs to tom@thehia.org,
or call 207-542-4998 for more information.
Space is limited and is first-come,
first-serve. Your member profile will be seen
in The HIA Member Newsletter, as
well as here in
The
Hemp News Update which is read by
thousands of subscribers.]
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Stonehedge Bio-Resources to Build Hemp Processing Facility |
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Hemp insulation. Photo credit:
Stonehedge Bio-Resources Inc.
By Bryan Sims
Biomass
Magazine
April 2009
Stonehedge Bio-Resources Inc. is looking to
convert hemp into a viable biomass energy
crop. In January, the Ontario-based company
received $2 million from U.K. investors to
construct an industrial hemp processing
facility in Northumberland County, Ontario.
According to John Baker, founder and chairman
of Stonehedge Bio-Resources, the company has
been involved in the plant genetics and
breeding of various hemp species for more
than a decade, and has been commercializing
the crop for myriad industrial uses for the
past three years. "We have found that hemp
has multiple uses as a biomass crop," he
said. "It can also sequester carbon and
mitigate greenhouse gas emissions."
Baker anticipates breaking ground for the
facility in April or May. Commissioning and
start-up could begin within 12 to 15 months
after that. The plant may employ up to 27
people within the next two years, he added.
[More...]
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