Hemp hucksters have plenty of hype for the new crop on the heels of its first harvest.
But some growers are urging people in the industry to curb their high hopes for hemp, a crop touted for its myriad uses.
“It’s not a magic crop, it’s not a picnic,” said Rene Saquet, a seed grower near Ste. Rose du Lac, Man.
He was worried by some of the casual conversation he overheard at a hemp conference here last week. Farmers have to be careful who they listen to, he said.
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Saquet is one of seven farmer-shareholders in Prairie Hemp Ltd., a company that contracted with other growers for 510 acres this summer to supply an Ontario-based crushing company called Hempola.
Prairie Hemp hasn’t priced all its contracts yet, said Saquet. But some other companies that contracted hemp this year offered 60 cents per pound, he said.
Yields ranged between 500 to 1,200 pounds per acre in the province, with tales of even higher yields.
Maybe 1998 was a phenomenal year for yields, maybe growers just lucked out, or maybe prices will quickly drop next year.
“Nobody knows. It’s an unknown,” said Saquet.
If wheat was worth $6 per bushel, Saquet doesn’t think many farmers would consider hemp.
But poor prices for other commodities have pushed hemp into the spotlight as a high-grossing alternative.
Jim Pavlin said hemp was the best paying crop he grew on his farm near Dauphin, Man., this year, with “extremely good profits.
“Hemp, if it goes over, it’s definitely a good crop,” he said.
Combining a breeze
Pavlin grew 15 acres this year, and said it was exciting to watch it grow more than three metres tall. He was apprehensive about what it would do in his combine, but said harvest went smoothly.
Next year, Pavlin is considering planting 40 to 50 acres.
But he came to the meeting to find out more about markets for the crop. This year, he contracted with Consolidated Growers and Processors.
The seed will be crushed for oil and stalks will be baled and stored for fibre processing. But so far, there are no signs of a plant to handle the material.
Jack Moes, a special crops consultant based in Manitoba, told the meeting Canadians don’t yet know the best rates for fertilizer, optimal seeding or harvesting dates, or how these factors relate to quality.
He said farmers had luck with
a variety of types of harvesting equipment.
And then there was “the black combine,” a flock of blackbirds that feasted daily on one field until there was little left.
The crop lived up to its promise of being a learning experience, said Moes. Growers need to exercise caution and swap production stories, he added.
Almost 6,200 acres of hemp were grown in Canada this year, most of it in Manitoba and Ontario.
