HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1998-03-18, Page 53Farm Progress '98 - Page 37
Many waiting to jump at the chance
• from page 36
veyed our urgency to
Health Minister Allan
Rock."
Health Canada released
long-awaited new regula-
tions for the commercial
hemp industry on Dec. 27,
1997.
"I'm pleased the federal
Liberal government is
helping to capitalize on
this export opportunity,
working with rural Canada
to provide increased sta-
bility," said Ur in a recent
press release, adding
"Millions of local dollars
are waiting to be spent, in
Pain Court, Exeter and
Delaware, for capital pro-
jects and marketing. It's
great to see local people
leading the charge for an
early start in a unique mar-
ket. Many farmers are just
waiting to jump at the
chance."
The Lakeshore
Advance spoke to Kime
recently at an Exeter area
business that wishes .to
remain anonymous for
fear of being swamped
with phone calls. 0 is at
this location that cultiva-
tion and processing equip-
ment for hemp is being
developed.
About five years ago,
Kime formed Hempline
and became active in
researching hemp. "I rec-
ognized the controversial
nature of it. Research was
needed." In the summer of
1993 he attended a display
at the Lambton Heritage
Museum on Howard
Fraleigh, a local farmer
who grew flax and hemp
and developed modern
processing equipment in
the late teens to the early
1930s. Then in 1938
Canada prohibited hemp
production under the
Opium and Narcotics
Control Act. During World
War II, the Canadian and
U.S. governments lifted
the restrictions on hemp
production to provide
materials for the war
effort, including clothing.
"1 am amazed at the
history of hemp and what
other countries are doing."
says Kime.
Kime is a pioneer in
modern hemp production
in Canada. In 1994, his
still young company
obtained the first licence
of modern times to legally
grow hemp - 10 acres on
Joe Strobel's farm near
Ti llsonburg.
"We found out all the
problems (of growing
hemp). We have been
doing research trials since
- growing, harvesting, pro-
cessing. This past year we
grew 100 acres of hemp in
Middlesex," said the
Hempline president. The
exact location of their
crops were not publicized
because of curiosity. "It
would have been a full -
Primary Bas
Fibre
Bark
Cor: Fibre
Pectin
Cross Section of Hemp Stalk
O Hempline Inc. - 1995
Cross section of hemp stalk shows valuable
bast fibre used In textile production.
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time job doing field
tours."
Kime says it's taken
awhile to learn how to
grow hemp properly.
The company has
designed its own state of
the art equipment for pro-
cessing. They have built a
prototype and the compa-
ny is looking at setting up
full turn -key hemp pro-
cessing centres in the
future.
"There's a lot of differ-
ent business structures you
could put into place," says
Kime. It's well established
that hemp is easy to grow
but there's no point in
growing it if there's no
market, he says. He cau-
tions farmers from jump-
ing into it unless they have
contracts to sell the bailed
fibre.
Individual farmers will
have to own a licence
before they can grow
hemp. There will be strict
regulations on the destruc-
tion of the leaves and
flowers, police checks into
criminal backgrounds,
rules on locked storage of
harvested hemp stalks, etc.
Hempline is planning to
contract farmers in
Middlesex and possibly
Haldimand-Norfolk and
Huron to grow 1,000 acres
of hemp in this first 'legal'
year. "We'll stake sure
they have the seed and
market for the crop." The
company is going to be
contracting equipment
huilding and setting up a
processing plant south of
London for this year's
crop.
Another Ontario com-
pany that's involved in
hemp production is Kenex
Ltd. of pain Court. And
Kime says there are com-
• see 'Canada's', page 38
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