Hemp farming could benefit SW
Nannup hemp grower Glenn Orley believes widespread farming of the plant could encourage employment and profitability in the South West.
Mr Orley is only one out of a handful of people in Western Australia licensed to grow hemp.
He believes farmers could make anywhere between $10,000 to $100,000 growing hemp, depending on the size of the plantation.
Mr Orley only just finished his first harvest but is already planning his second crop later this year.
"There are around 50,000 uses for hemp which are all biodegradable and good for the environment," he said.
"It can be used for plastic, fuel, oil, textiles, paper and even in the construction industry to build houses.
"As the timber industry slows down, hemp will be the perfect material to produce construction materials and the Nannup Timber Mill would be the perfect place to make it.
"A boutique farmer on small land could make up to $100,000 each harvest because they can use the whole plant and a large-scale farmer could make $10,000 a hectare just by using the fibre or the seeds."
Mr Orley said a lot of his product had to be exported overseas because of restrictions and laws involving the growing and supplying of hemp.
He said the plants he grew had low levels of THC and could not be used illicitly.
"Australia needs to catch up with the rest of the world and realise the financial opportunities and health benefits that go along with hemp," he said.
"Hemp was used a long time ago to make ropes and for medicine before politics came into it."
WAFarmers president Dale Park said hemp farming was well recognised in farming and saw the benefits of growing it in WA.
"We should be looking at all primary products and hemp has plenty of uses and something that could offer financial opportunities for farmers," he said.
"There is a lot of hysteria surrounding hemp but if there's another avenue to go down we should be looking at it."
Director of plant biosecurity for the Department of Agriculture and Food John Van Schagen said anyone interested in growing hemp had to apply for a licence through the department.
"A number of licences to cultivate industrial hemp have been issued, but there is not currently large-scale production of industrial hemp in WA," he said.
"The legislation enables licensees to cultivate, harvest and process industrial hemp on a commercial scale… fibre can be extracted from the stem or oil from the seeds."
