Manitoba’s hemp industry has grown another bud, thanks to $4.8 million in funding from the federal government.
Plains Industrial Hemp Processing plans to build a hemp fibre processing plant in Gilbert Plains, Man. The facility, the first of its kind in Canada, will handle 18,000 tonnes of hemp annually.
Funding comes from Western Economic Diversification and Agriculture Canada, which together will contribute $4.775 million toward the plant.
The Manitoba government will provide $500,000.
The investment and the hemp plant will have a significant impact on Manitoba’s parkland region, said Larry Malowski, reeve of the Rural Municipality of Gilbert Plains.
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“There’s going to be approximately 20 to 30 jobs,” said Malowski, who expects the plant to operate year round.
He said construction is expected to begin this year and should be completed by next spring.
Robert Jin, who did not return calls for this story, is an entrepreneur from China who will own and operate the facility.
Chris Dzisiak, a hemp grower near Dauphin, Man., and president of the Parkland Industrial Hemp Growers, said Jin has the confidence of hemp producers in the Dauphin region.
“He’s an excellent fellow,” said Dzisiak, who has known Jin for several years.
“If anyone is going to succeed, it’s Robert Jin.”
Hemp fibre from the plant in Gilbert Plains will be shipped to China, where Jin owns a textile factory.
“What he’s after is the long fibre for the fabric industry, the clothing industry,” Dzisiak said.
However, he isn’t sure the plant will encourage more producers to grow hemp because it will be only a secondary market for existing hemp producers.
“What he (Jin) is currently desiring is dual purpose fibre,” Dzisiak said.
Most growers in the area produce hemp for seed.
“The fibre that remains, he’s willing to use it in his process,” Dzisiak said.
It’s beneficial to have another market for the hemp plant, but Dzisiak said baling fibre isn’t as simple as it sounds because there’s a limited amount of time in late fall to harvest seed and fibre.
A better option is to grow a hemp crop specifically for its fibre.
“You’re cutting it the second week of August. It’s a much easier scenario,” he said.
“You’ll get double or triple or quadruple the production from (hemp) purposely grown for fibre than from post-harvest fibre.”
However, Dzisiak said the Parkland Hemp Growers supports the new plant and he’s proud that Manitoba is becoming the centre of the hemp industry in Canada.
Earlier this year, Farm Genesis Group, a farmer’s co-operative, announced plans to build a hemp seed processing plant in Waskada.
“You’ve got all the processing in Canada going on here,” said Dzisiak, who expects growers in the Dauphin area to plant 4,000 to 5,000 acres of hemp in 2010.
