Hemp Co-op update
by Gerald Taylor
As the growing season begins there is much to report from the world of HEMP. Most importantly, as far as the hemp co-op is concerned, the entity has become official: We are now known and registered as:- Bast Hurd Seed Inc. (Thanks to Andrew Putnam for generous donation of the title; Bast Hurd Seed:- get a bit of mongrel into your paddock).
On a more practical plane the co-op is now ready to co-operate; Martin is setting up his mill for production of hemp fibre fusion; the masters magic Molding Matrix. Klara is gearing up to begin producing wall panels while Dan, Chris and Phil have the planting of the new seed crop well in hand.
On a production level the co-op has begun creating a range of hemp based cosmetics through the co-op's marketing arm: Nimbin Hemp Barn. So far the Hemp barn has created one product; Cannacocovera. As the name suggests the moisturiser is made from Aloe Vera and hemp infused coconut oil. Apart from the coconut oil component all input to the cosmetic are produced by the co-operative. Cannacocavera is the co-op's first product to be perfected however several other cosmetics are under development; hemp soap and hemp wrinkle cream being the two front runners at the moment although several other decoctions are being researched and developed.
Bast Hurd Seed Inc having encouraged new growers to propagate hemp for various purposes, has also found markets for the new farmers crops; to date a paper maker from Queensland and a fertiliser manufacturer from Sydney will take whatever the co-op growers have to spare. The Hemp industry centred around Nimbin, is alive and well.
Up until 80 years ago hemp was the sinew of civilisation. The plant provided everything needed for an advanced society; fuel, food, shelter, clothing and medicine. Hemp sailed ships, built bridges, drained roads and aided in the maintenance of good health. Little wonder then that hemp was hated by synthetic fabric manufacturers, pharmaceutical makers and capitalists wanting a market to corner. Little wonder also that hemp finds a ready welcome in all these areas of commerce. Hemps most outstanding feature is that it gives freely to any enterprise no matter how small and that it refuses to be monopolised. Whether from 1 or 100 hectares the plant produces in such profusion and on so many levels that making an income from farming is simple and rewarding. The North Coast of NSW grows three crops a year making the intensive farming of 1 hectare economically viable, just as it did last century, just as it did last millennium.
The demand for hemp is rapidly outstripping production; farmers are allowed to grow hemp for a narrow band of uses, those uses stipulated by the growers licence. Consequently much of the crops being grown at present are destined to be ploughed back into the ground. Its almost as if the legislators want the industry to fail. Unfortunately for them even using 10 percent of the crop leads to reasonable profits and as the legislators relax their steely grip more uses are being found for the crops waste. For the time being though, seed is the prime mover and shaker of the industry. Seed prices remain firm at $30 per kilo although supply is a problem so seed is now being scalped at up to 20c per seed. (at 10000 seed to the kilo this scalpers price is distorting the market outrageously but this will settle back as production increases)
For starter seed kits bring your DPI licence into The Hemp Club in the Nimbin Community Centre to get the ball rolling. We can supply you with good industrial seed and an end use for your crop once you have grown it. Bast Hurd Seed Inc is up and running, come join us - it's looking to be a fascinating ride.
Magic Afoot
While everyone has been distracted by the prancing ponies of medicinal and recreational cannabis, deeper rumblings from the entity we call Hemp have gone almost unnoticed.
It's become common to see politicians, big pharma and struggling aluminium companies circling around, looking to monetise cannabis; regulate and tax it. Good luck with that. Meanwhile the industrial aspects of cannabis have truly come of age; and they have come of age in Nimbin.
Industrially cannabis is made up of three parts; seed, long fiber (bast) and pith (hurd) and in Nimbin a quiet revolution has taken place ; the hippies have found a way to simply utilise all parts of the plant in a planet saving manner that also makes a generous income for a cottage farmer.
The Seed
First the seed. Hemp seed is expensive, industrial seed costing $30 per kilo. This price will eventually drop but for the foreseeable future demand will outstrip supply and the price will remain firm. A hectare of land will produce one ton of seed. You do the maths but I'll give you a hint, it's a lot more than you get from cotton or wheat, a lot more. In fact, enough to make a fine living from one hectare and its easy and legal to grow.
The Hurd
Now the hurd; the white core of the plant. Unknown to most people Klara Marosszeky, a local girl, is Australia's leading expert on making the hurd of the cannabis plant into a usable building product Hemp Masonry Using nothing but water and a handful of minerals Klara mixes and presses a quite remarkable material; ant-proof, fireproof, light and incredibly strong. The building blocks she makes have one other important quality, the blocks are a carbon sink. Making the blocks binds carbon up in a permanent storage unit but it doesn't stop there. In a process similar to fossilisation the blocks continue to sequester carbon from the environment for several hundred years, becoming stronger and denser with time. Blocks of this superior building material cost the earth nothing and can be marketed for little more than a standard besser block.
The Bast
Now the bast, the long fibre. Until recently the bast was a problem; we no longer have the ability to process raw materials, we have lost our production chains that take a raw fibre to clothing. We could grow the bast but we couldn't process it. Enter Martin Ernegg. Recently of Mullumbimby, Martin is now a resident of Nimbin and, in a way, Martin is the last piece of the puzzle. You may have seen some of Martins remarkable work already; hemp didgeridoos are distributed through Sound of Hemp. Martin's both a scientist, inventor and artist and he has created a material from bast that he can use in his artworks and musical instruments. In a very simple process using only bast and water and a little molecular jiggling Martin turns the problem bast into a carbon fibre of unsurpassed quality. Molding Matrix, as Martin calls his creation, and although devised to make musical instruments turns out to be a replacement for, well, just about everything. It is a viable and sustainable replacement for steel, timber and plastic in all their forms.
So, here in this strange little town of Nimbin, once again the hippies have come up with local answers to global problems and simultaneously created a sustainable yet profitable cottage industry from the hemp plant. The time to plant industrial hemp on a small scale is now. If you have an enquiry or interest in farming hemp or using any of its remarkable products contact Gerald at The Hemp Club in the Nimbin community centre or email; [email protected]
Gerald Taylor