Australian Industrial Hemp Conference 2018 Conference Proceedings
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Australian Industrial Hemp Conference 2018 Conference Proceedings By Stuart Gordon June 2018 Australian Industrial Hemp Conference 27 February – 2 March 2018 Conference Proceedings June 2018 AgriFutures Australia No 18/017 AgriFutures Australia Project No. PRJ-010776 © 2018 AgriFutures Australia. All rights reserved. ISBN 978-1-74254-994-1 ISSN 1440-6845 Australian Industrial Hemp Conference 2018: Conference Proceedings Publication No. 18/017 Project No. PRJ-010776 The information contained in this publication is intended for general use to assist public knowledge and discussion and to help improve the development of sustainable regions. You must not rely on any information contained in this publication without taking specialist advice relevant to your particular circumstances. While reasonable care has been taken in preparing this publication to ensure that information is true and correct, the Commonwealth of Australia gives no assurance as to the accuracy of any information in this publication. The Commonwealth of Australia, AgriFutures Australia, the authors or contributors expressly disclaim, to the maximum extent permitted by law, all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any act or omission, or for any consequences of any such act or omission, made in reliance on the contents of this publication, whether or not caused by any negligence on the part of the Commonwealth of Australia, AgriFutures Australia, the authors or contributors. The Commonwealth of Australia does not necessarily endorse the views in this publication. This publication is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. However, wide dissemination is encouraged. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to AgriFutures Australia Communications Team on 02 6923 6900. Researcher Contact Details Name: Stuart Gordon Address: CSIRO Manufacturing, Deakin University 75 Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, VIC 3216, Australia Phone: +61 3 5246 4809 Email: [email protected] In submitting this report, the researcher has agreed to AgriFutures Australia publishing this material in its edited form. AgriFutures Australia Contact Details Building 007, Tooma Way Charles Sturt University Locked Bag 588 Wagga Wagga NSW 2650 02 6923 6900 [email protected] www.agrifutures.com.au Electronically published by AgriFutures Australia in June 2018 Print-on-demand by Union Offset Printing, Canberra at www.agrifutures.com.au or phone 1300 634 313 AgriFutures Australia is the trading name for Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation (RIRDC), a statutory authority of the Federal Government established by the Primary Industries Research and Development Act 1989. ii Foreword With the recent changes in the regulatory environment AgriFutures Australia has identified hemp as important emerging industry. Therefore the Australian Industrial Hemp Conference comes at a particularly important time for the Australian industry to coordinate and to develop business models that will unlock the potential of this crop. From Hempcrete, to beer, hemp fibre products, medicinal uses and seed, the dynamics of hemp business models vary widely. The Australian Industrial Hemp Conference provided an opportunity for interaction and for presentation of up to date information. These proceedings will be useful for those interested in hemp as a crop or more widely in businesses along hemp value chains. AgriFutures Australia values the collaboration with CSIRO and Stuart Gordon in working with presenters to prepare these proceedings. We commend them to those interested. This report is an addition to AgriFutures Australia’s diverse range of over 2000 research publications. It forms part of our Emerging Industries arena, which aims to establish commercially viable and sustainable industries. Most of AgriFutures Australia’s publications are available for viewing, free downloading or purchasing online at www.agrifutures.com.au. Purchases can also be made by phoning 1300 634 313. John Harvey Managing Director AgriFutures Australia iii Contents Page Executive Summary 1 Session 1: Industrial hemp: Perspectives on an emerging industry 2 New and emerging plant industries; the Australian industrial hemp industry 3 - David McNeil Industrial hemp in North America: Production, politics and potential; 10 perspectives for Australia - Jerry Cherney Session 2: Learning from other industries: The last 50 years in… 16 Grapes, wine and hospitality - Lyndsay Sharp 17 The Australian Cotton Industry - Adam Kay 18 The Australian Olive Industry - Leandro Ravetti 31 Session 3: Growing industrial hemp 34 Industrial hemp on the Canadian Prairies - Jan Slaski 35 The Valley Bio-Experience – what has the last 10 years of growing 46 industrial hemp told us? - Reuben Stone Industrial hemp in the USA (Kentucky) - David Williams 53 Breaking down Australian hemp farming - James Hood 63 Session 4: Hemp varieties for Australia 69 Quality control: A key driver for consumer confidence and 70 international reputation - Abdul Rehman Mohammed Industrial hemp cultivar evaluation; trials vs. commercial 77 experience Down Under - Jo Townshend Commercial breeding and selection of low THC Cannabis sativa 83 for sub-tropical environments - Omid Ansari Industrial hemp production trials in South Australia - Mark Skewes 91 iv The Australian dual purpose low thc variety Frog One - Performance 98 in temperate and subtropical zones and research in tropical environments - Klara Marosszeky Session 5: Lessons in crop production and on-farm processing 99 Results from a study conducted in 1995/96 on hemp for fibre in 100 SE South Australia - Trent Potter Lessons learnt from several years as a hemp agronomist on the 103 East Coast of Australia – from Tasmania to Emerald, QLD - John Muir Challenges cultivating selected hemp varieties of Cannabis sativa 104 on exhausted phosphate mine sites in a tropical environment: The case study of Christmas Island - Luca DePrato Hemp production in Malawi with focus on harvesting date, 111 retting process and fibre content - Stephanie Schloegel On-farm decortication - Charles Kovess 117 Worker health and wellbeing during cultivation and 126 processing of hemp - Maggie Davidson Session 6: Looking after seed value 134 Chemical diversity in a global industrial hemp genetic 135 resource collection - Mat Welling Dedicated international-quality Cannabis seed-bank facilities 142 for ex situ genetic resource conservation at Southern Cross Plant Science (SCPS, Lismore) - Jos Mieog Industrial hemp: Innovation and commercialisation 149 in Australia - Sally Davis Analysis and spatial distribution of hemp seed constituents 154 compared to other edible seeds - Rachel Burton Advances in leaf oils: Game-changing technology for 160 oil production in biomass crops - Thomas Vanhercke Session 7: Fibre and hurd products 166 The world fibre market - Stuart Gordon 167 v Fibre products from industrial hemp - Menghe Miao 173 Investigation of wash behaviour of hemp-based denim substrate 181 - Saniyat Islam Building an integrated energy storage from hemp plant materials 190 - Carl Martel Hemp building products - Klara Marosszeky 194 Session 8: Final plenary – the market value for hemp products 195 Report on the Australian Industrial Hemp Regulators meeting 196 Preserving seed quality on farm for consumers - Jeff Kostuik 198 Hemp seed for human consumption - consumer insights - Anthony Saliba 205 Hemp global markets - Paul Benhaim 211 The value in hemp fibre - Mark Reinders 216 The value of hemp shiv for building - Kirstie Wulf 220 Hemp products into the future - Phil Warner 227 NOTES 234 vi Executive summary The idea for an Australian industrial hemp conference came from Robert Bell following a small forum organized by the Industrial Hemp Association of Victoria (IHAV), CSIRO and Regional Development Victoria (RDV) in Waurn Ponds in February 2017. Victoria was the first state in Australia to legislate and allow industrial hemp production under regulation (in 1998). Since then other states have followed with similar legislation. However, production volumes in Australia are still small and so it was the view of the forum that more needed to be done to promote its expansion. The key strengths of hemp as a viable crop identified at the February forum were its versatility in production and value as a food source. The crop can be grown productively across a wide range of latitudes and produces a range of valuable food and material products, although the full value of its products remains to be exploited. Hemp was seen as an excellent rotation or break crop, although lack of information around seed and variety availability for different regions and production systems were seen as barriers, along with regulation of the crop’s tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels. The approval by the Council of Australian Governments of the proposal to permit the sale of low- THC hemp seed (foods) on 12 November 2017 removed a very large barrier to this industry. The removal has already propelled production of hemp grain and, will hopefully, promote production of other hemp farm products, such as fibre and shiv. A committee of participants from the February forum was convened to help organize the Conference. The committee of Robert Bell (Robert Bell Projects), Charles Kovess (Australian Industrial Hemp Alliance (AIHA)), Lyn Stephenson (IHAV), Erwan Castenet (Deakin University), Mac Fergusson (RMIT), Menghe Miao (CSIRO) and Stuart Gordon (CSIRO)