Hemp acres may be down this year, but those in the industry remain optimistic about its chances for continued growth.
Arthur Hanks, executive director of the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance, said even with the stronger Canadian dollar, the volume of hemp seed exports is up 300 percent and hemp oil is on track to grow by more than 80 percent.
“Due to higher prices of other commodities, the lack of major commercial fibre processing facility and some surplus left over from 2006, hemp acreage has decreased for 2007,” he said in a news release.
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“On the plus side, we estimate that the farmgate value of Canada’s hemp industry is about $7 million per year, and with value-added processing, that number can well exceed $10 million per year.”
Total area seeded to hemp in Canada this spring was 11,569 acres, down from more than 50,000 acres the year before, according to Keith Watson, a diversification specialist with Manitoba Agriculture.
Manitoba accounted for 4,268 acres this year and 29,000 in 2006.
The combination of a bumper crop and the number of farmers who jumped on the hemp bandwagon without first securing a contract led to an oversupply that carried over into 2007 and took some shine off the crop.
“In 2006, it was the only crop that penciled out,” Watson said.
This year’s lower acreage is expected to reduce the hemp glut and prices are holding at 50 cents per pound for conventional grain and 90 cents for organic.
Typical yields are 400 to 500 lb. per acre, but last year saw some fields yielding more than 1,000 lb. per acre.
The crop, which has only been legal in Canada for a decade, is becoming an established part of the province’s agricultural mix. Hemp fields can be seen next to busy highways across Manitoba.
“In Manitoba it’s no longer a novelty thing. It doesn’t seem to matter where you grow it, people know what it is and respect it as a crop,” he said. “People with funny ideas don’t bother it.”
In Ontario, where only 170 acres are grown, hemp is best kept out of the public eye. One plant breeder suffered losses after vandals picked all of the heads off the plants in one plot.
The majority of this year’s crop consists of grain producing varieties, but some businesses are almost ready to start processing hemp fibre.
“We should be hearing from them in about six months to a year from now,” Watson said.
