Volume 3, Issue 16, Spring 2001 ISSN 1488-3988
Table of Contents
(for editorial and masthead, scroll down)
To the editor: does ownership matter?
2001 Seed List: two up, two down and two red flags
Where to get seed?
GPS
Grain prices update-- April 2001
Anka: the competitor
Commercial Yields 2000
Hemp and Soil Fertility
Manitoba: Organic Farm Mentorships are in place
Research: THC in Processing
Laboratory Analysis of THC Content in Industrial Hempseed
Final Report, Development of Hemp Food Products & Processes: An ARDI supported project - No. 98-209
Webworthy: Hemp Earth Ship
US Update: Spring 2001
Industrial Hemp: Reality and Rhetoric, By Louie B. Nunn
Hempcar TransAmerica: Coming To Your Town This Summer
Strom-Martin to be Keynote Speaker at Upcoming Santa Cruz Expo
New Study: Assessing the Impact from THC Uptake from Hemp Oil Cosmetics
Hemp Oil Gaining: 150 tonnes a year consumption
BioHemp Technologies sells Food Division, Brand
Storm Breweries moves towards Zero Emissions
World's First Clinical Trials on Hempseed Oil to begin in Finland
Brawn Builders Blender Breakfast Beverage
Review: H.E.M.P.- Healthy Eating Made Possible review by Dr. Sumach
New products (Part II) Addendum and Corrections
Conference Report: 2001 Organic Conference at the University of Guelph (Jan 26-Jan 28)
Hemp Report Special: Eastern Fibre Tour
Non Wood Fibre Meeting
Fibrex Québec
Textile Technology Centre
Meridian Autosystems
Domtar
Kenex
Gordon Scheifele visits European Processors & Breeders By Terry Tornblom
Romania has production potential for European Industry By Anton Holler
Report and Summary of Developments at the 3rd Annual Ag Fiber Technology Showcase By Pete Nelson
Supporting Advertisers This Issue:
Applied Organic Solutions, organic_solutions@hotmail.com
BioHemp Technologies, jfreeman@biohemp.com , www.biohemp.com
Canadian Hemp Corp., info@hempcorp.com , www.hempcorp.com
CHII, sales@chii.ca , www.hempoil.ca
Cool Hemp Company Inc., hemp@coolhemp.com , www.coolhemp.com
Fiber Ethics Magazine, dredwood@fiberethics.com , www.fiberethics.com
Gen-X Research, sasha@gen-xresearch.com , www.gen-xresearch.com
Gilchrist Farms, bomagrain@hotmail.com
Greenman Nonwood Papermill, greenman@lynx.bc.ca , www.nonwoodpaper.com
HMG Sales and Marketing Inc, mumsoriginal@sk.sympatico.ca
Hemp Oil Canada, hempoilcan@escape.ca , www.hempoilcan.com
Hempola, info@hempola.com , www.hempola.com
Hemptown Clothing, info@hemptownclothing.com , www.hemptownclothing.com
The Merry Hempsters, info@merryhempsters.com , www.merryhempsters.com
Nutiva info@nutiva.com , www.nutiva.com
Santa Cruz Industrial Hemp Expo, info@cruzexpo.com , www.cruzexpo.com
Special Thanks to:
AgroTech Communications, Inc., pnelson@agrotechfiber.com www.agfibertechnology.com
Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, allone@drbronner.com , www.drbronner.com
The Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) , http://www.nrc.ca/irap/home.html
IndustrialHemp.net, industrialhemp@mac.com , www.industrialhemp.net
Ontario Hemp Alliance, info@ontariohempalliance.org, www.ontariohempalliance.org
Saskatchewan Hemp Association, saskhemp@sk.sympatico.ca
Editorial
Hemp in Canada is now entering its 4th year of cultivation, but this time around the sun, I don't think there will be much of a party. Between the numbers of farmers who have contacted me over the past year, looking to sell their surplus tonnage, and the challenging market picture, the prospects for fast farm growth of this industry are not good.
In case you're looking for this year's million dollar crop, there is probably more money in chickpeas. As our federal ag minister recently told PEI's distressed potato farmers: "Plant something else."
We are still a specialty crop, and a few thousand acres of hemp should satisfy the current North American demand for hempseed.
Off the field, and in the marketplace, we need more products and more distribution. We need more entrepreneurs and more new people and new ideas coming in. We need venture capital. We need progressive research. We need processing. We need to get the fibre side of the equation in gear. We need open markets at home and abroad.
This is a big need list. We need a lot of things. Hemp is certainly no miracle crop and it needs a lot of work.
And yes, I am discouraged by the divisiveness that festers in this little industry and the lack of leadership from some quarters. I am discouraged by the obduracy of unelected politicians. It's easy to get discouraged. In my mind the industry seems so much smaller now than it was say, 4 years ago, when I went to my first hemp conference.
Perhaps I'm just a wiser man now. I know I have learned a lot professionally and personally. But I think, I have to conclude, that hemp is dead.
Say it to yourself: Hemp is dead.
By that I mean to say, the hemp fad is over. The big boom that seemed waiting for us at legalisation in 1998 didn't happen and today hemp backpacks are now discounted across the land. Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if just about any hemp business decided to pack it up and go for greener pastures. Not at all. See ya.
But what about the hemp trend? Now that's something worth thinking about. There is some good business being done, some good markets and niches being developed, and a number of companies with potential to grow and manifest what is truly special about this very absorbing and engaging plant. Public awareness is rising and is getting quite knowledgeable. More good signs: Canada's largest circulation newspaper doing a full page colour spread on hemp food this winter and the continued progress made by many Americans against intimidating odds. Yes, the "hemp is marijuana" jokes are still made in Canada too, but few take them seriously, even the wag. It's just a conversational touchstone we will never escape.
To grow as an industry we need to build alliances: in industry, in agriculture, with consumers, with NGO's and cooperative government agencies. In my experience, many times an open door will open -- moments after another is shut -- just down the hall. So keep knocking. Hemp will not survive if it collapses into a bitter little club, distrustful of the motivations of others.
This is our first issue in almost 4 months: in the interim, Hemp Report took some time off to assess and make some decisions about the future. Yes, I thought about pulling the plug and becoming another dot.con bookmark. Yes, winters in Saskatchewan are long, cold and dark, in case you're wondering. (Things are fine, here, thanks for asking.)
But today, we are here. Because hemp is not a pet rock. Because this work is very, very important. We all want healthy futures, and we all want sustainable businesses. We want healthy farms and we want to leave a good legacy for our descendants. I am convinced that hemp has a big role to play in the future-- and its up to us to figure out the how.
Enjoy this issue. We have much to offer, with information you will be pressed to find elsewhere. And we'll be back this summer with our annual cross Canada crop report and more.
Best,
Arthur Hanks
April 2001
Regina, Saskatchewan
MASTHEAD, CREDITS AND MORE INFO:
Publisher: HCFR Publishing, #1-2115 Montague St.,
Saskatchewan, Canada, S4T 3K1
Editor: Arthur Hanks arthurhanks@hotmail.com
Sales & Sponsorship: Jason Freeman jfreeman@ssm.net
Distribution &Webmaster: Tom Murphy hempreport@mac.com
Associate Editor: Dr. Alexander Sumach rheading@becon.org
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Peter Dragla, pdragle@kent.net , Robert Guildford organic@mts.net , Hempcar crew crew@hempcar.org , Anton Holler Anton@Holler-Deggendorf.de , Louise Hollingsworth hemp@execulink.com, Pete Nelson fibre@netten.net, Louie B. Nunn, Terry Tornblom gmantle@tbaytel.net; thanks also to Gero Leson, Hemp Oil Canada, Gordon Scheifele, and the office of Hawaii Representative Cynthia Thielen.
SUBMISSIONS: Submissions are most welcome. Please contact Hemp Report editor, Arthur Hanks, at arthurhanks@hotmail.com , with your story, research, or information for inclusion. Please note we are always looking for good quality pictures and photos, submitted preferably in GIF or JPEG format.
DISTRIBUTION: The HCFR is available for free to interested parties only on the Internet. Direct subscription for this issue is 1,900+. We encourage associations working in the industry to circulate the Hemp Report to their members.
Other non-profit use is encouraged.
To subscribe to The Hemp Report enter your email address in the Topica box below and press the "Subscribe" button. Once you are a subscriber you may read the archived posts at our Topica address at: the Hemp Report Topica page. We will send you posts when a new issue of the Hemp Report comes out and occasional newsletters. We will not fill you mailbox with spam or sell or give away your email address. We respect your privacy.
READERS CAN HELP: If you would like to help increase the readership of The Hemp Report, and promote hemp as well, you can download, print, and post our new Hemp Report Flyer. All that you need is a color printer and a pair of scissors. We suggest that you post the Hemp Report Flyer on bulletin boards at co-ops, health food stores, feed & farm stores, and other like places, with permission of course!
To go to Part 1, Farming, click here.
To go to Part 2, America, click here.
To go to Part 3, Food & Commerce,click here.
To go to Part 4, Fibre Front, click here.
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