Maleny has the hemp building blocks to grow

By Sonia Isaacs

MALENY locals are at the forefront of the emerging industrial hemp industry with advocates claiming this sustainable and multiuse crop is undoubtedly the way of the future. Heavyweight corporation AgriFutures Australia has thrown its backing behind the burgeoning sector, earmarking industrial hemp as a key emerging, high potential agricultural rural industry. Reports produced as part of AgriFutures Australia’s emerging industries program focused on high growth potential industries suggest with supported development; the gross value of Australian Industrial Hemp production could far exceed $10million per annum by 2026.

With a rapidly developing global market tapping into the myriad of applications and value-added products stemming from this versatile ‘wonder plant’ that include textiles, rope, fuel, oil, building materials, superfood and more, this traditionally utilised product is seeing a massive resurgence of interest across the globe, Maleny agronomist, John Muir, said almost every university around the world was looking into the potential of the product, and while Australia still lagged behind other countries in terms of production and scale – industry and government support was steadily growing around this rediscovered resource.

John confirmed hemp was a great crop for both Queensland and Australian conditions, with almost all of the plant usable from the superfood ‘hemp seeds’ to the inner and outer fibre that can create a huge diversity of products from clothing, ropes and paper to bio-fuels and building materials. He predicts hemp could soon replace our current global reliance on plastic and wood as it produced numerous environmentally sustainable alternatives to many existing products.

“Industrial hemp produces one of the strongest natural carbon capturing fibres in the world.

People have been using hemp for centuries but now we are seeing a huge resurgence of interest in this traditional crop. Big manufacturers like BMW and Mercedes Benz are already using hemp for their car parts, and more industries around the world are looking to source more sustainable building materials and bio-plastics using hemp derived material,” he said.

Currently working closely with Agrifutures Australia, John is managing nine hemp trial sites across the country and has recently returned home to Maleny following hemp