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OHA In The News

The Ontario Hemp Alliance field trip in mid August was reported on in the Stratford Beacon Herald.
Gordon Scheifele (OHA Treasurer) has also made the paper with an international quest to increase hemp production.

Industrial Hemp Production in Canada - Article

Found on the Alberta Government's web site - http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca

G&G S Agricultural Services Field Trip - August 16th

G&G S Agricultural Services Field Trip
August 16 from 11am to 4pm
G&G S Agricultural Services is sponsoring a public "Industrial Hemp Field Day"

6th Annual ELORIN Conference: Biofibres and Building

Where: This year the conference will be held at the Holiday Inn in Trenton (99 Glen Miller Road, Trenton Ontario)
When: 13-14 August 2008

Follow this link: http://elorin.ca/site/index.php?method=public.eventDetail&event_id=90 for more info.

OHA Field Day - August 15th

ONTARIO HEMP ALLIANCE SUMMER FIELD DAY
AUGUST 15 AT 9AM
MEET AT FARM OF DAN SCHEELE
RR4, 353948 JORDAN LINE RD, INGERSOLL

Get the lowdown on different seed varieties at several porduction plots.

Stemergy receives a $3.3 million funding commitment from the Ontario Government

Stemergy Announces $3.3 Million in Ontario Government Funding for the Company's Proprietary BioFibeRefineryTM Project

Delaware, Ontario, Canada (May 23, 2008 - 10am) - Stemergy Renewable Fibre Technologies, a leader in the production of renewable fibres and biobased products, is pleased to announce that it has received the support of the Ontario Government for the scale up of the Company's BioFibeRefineryTM technology.

Visit www.stemergy.com for further information.

Flaxbast 2008: 2008 International Conference on Flax and Other Bast Plants

Flaxbast 2008: 2008 International Conference on Flax and Other Bast Plants
July 21-21, 2008 :: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

The 2008 International Conference on Flax and Other Bast Plants is aimed at bringing together scientists, producers, and industry experts from the fibre, textiles, agriculture, composite and niche product areas to discuss the latest innovations and with others in our field from around the world. It will be the first time this conference has ever been held in North America. From inspiring keynote addresses to information-filled sessions, this Conference will deliver presentations on the latest innovations, developments and future trends.

Visit www.flaxbast2008.com for further information.

2008 Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance National Hemp Conference and Annual General Meeting

2008 Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance National Hemp Conference and Annual General Meeting
November 11 & 12, 2008 :: Winnipeg, Manitoba

Greenwood Inn & Suites
Conference Centre
1715 Wellington Ave.
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3H 0G1
Phone: 204-775-9889   Fax: 204-775-4576


In 2008 the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance will be returning to Winnipeg for its 6th annual national industry conference, Nov 12, 2008.
The Annual Conference, the best of its kind in North America, will cover agronomics, breeding, marketing, nutrition research, international trends and emerging opportunities.
The CHTA executive is already lining up speakers from across Canada and internationally to ensure this conference will deliver great value. This will be an all day event.
CHTA Annual General Meeting, including elections for Board of Directors, will be held on the evening of November 11th.

Announcing a hemp building project at Kiza Park starting May 11th

Kiza Park is located 3 miles north of Manderson SD, on BIA 33, near Wounded Knee, on the Pine Ridge Reservation. A hempcrete building project/workshop will be conducted at this site from May 11th through June 15th, supervised by American Limetec. We're calling this project Maka Akan Wicoti (Community Upon The Earth), or Eco-Wicoti.

Members Links
Spirit Stream and NuHemp are offering 15% discount to all internet customers.

2007 ONTARIO HEMP ALLIANCE ACTIVITY REPORT
Please have a look at this report. It indicates what your association has been doing and the important projects that your membership fees and involvement are supporting.

Ontario Hemp Alliance Annual Meeting
2008
Was held March 7, 2008 10:00am - 3:00pm
Woodstock, Ontario

The latest of note is a phone conversation I had today with Ross Fair, professor of History at Ryerson College (university?) in Toronto. He is a friend of John Baker of Stonehedge (who was a main focusing person for Elorin and the BioFibres Symposium in August). John's work with old "feral" hemp seeds led him to learn some of the history of hemp in his home area-----' .

Next, a link to a biography of one John Covert who,
'----- In an effort to break free of what he considered Upper Canada's single-minded dependence on wheat production, took up the cultivation and processing of hemp.-----'
http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=37455&query=%93John%20AND%20Covert%94

And in a similar vein, a link to a referance to Charles Frederick Grece who,
'-----immigrated to Montreal in the autumn of 1805 as part of a costly but fruitless endeavour by the imperial and colonial governments to launch the cultivation of hemp in Lower Canada at the turn of the 19th century. Various factors underlay this interest: a growing scarcity of supplies from Europe because of war and the continental blockade, the British navy's urgent need of hemp for rope, and the necessity to diversify agricultural production in Lower Canada so that it would fit the Atlantic market economy better-----'
http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=37536&query=Charles%20AND%20Frederick%20AND%20Grece

Farmers and prospective farmers, you've been looking for a place to start....

Next.....Cost of Production from an OHA member (with some editorial modifications) providing an example of costs and potential returns. A rough guideline only - modify to fit your situation. For example, cost of land varies greatly; licensing and testing fees don't increase as field size increases; fertilizer costs may be higher; etc., etc.

The International BioFibres Symposium in Kingston, Ontario on Wednesday/Thursday (15/16 August, '07) was a great success.

Attendees were given an up-to-date overview and details of the present state of industrial hemp in Canada and Europe.

Sponsored by the Ontario Hemp Alliance. Stonehedge BioResources, ELORIN (Eastern Lake Ontario Regional Innovations Network) and several others, it drew over 100 people from the worlds of hemp, agrology, processing and industry. 25% were from out of province, while 10% were from out of country.

Member Grant Moorcroft and The Premier's Awared 2007
Grant Moorecroft has been recognized and awarded the PREMIER'S AWARD FOR AGRI-FOOD INNOVATION EXCELLENCE. The five-year, $2.5-million Premier's Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence, announced as part of the 2006 provincial budget, recognizes that farmers have always been innovative in the running of their businesses and will foster even greater innovation across the province's agri-food sector. Fifty-five regional awards, valued at $5,000 each, will be presented. Congratulations Grant for your Innovation and Excellence.

Moorcroft Hemp Farms Hastings County Working with a crop that's easy to grow but challenging to harvest turned farmer Grant Moorcroft into farmer-fabricator. After growing hemp for seven years, the owner of Moorcroft Hemp Farms decided to modify his existing equipment to improve his hemp harvest. Now he is running trials on a new fibre extractor and chopper that, he hopes, will prove to be better and faster. This new equipment would allow Moorcroft to process part of the hemp's fibre and hurd, and provide commercial factories with a better product.

First U.S. Industrial Hemp License Expected in North Dakota.
North Dakota's Agricultural Commissioner has accepted the first application from a farmer for a state industrial hemp license. The license, which is expected to be granted, will go to farmer and North Dakota Assistant House Majority Leader David Monson (R-Osnabrock). Representative Monson operates his farm in Osnabrock, ND and is only 110 miles from the nearest hemp seed processing facility, Hemp Oil Canada, in Ste. Agathe, Manitoba.
Health Canada statistics show that 48,060 acres of industrial hemp were produced in Canada in 2006, while VoteHemp estimates that the total value of hemp products sold in the U.S. is now $270 million annually, a market in which US farmers hope to be allowed to compete.
(VoteHemp, January 15, 2007, http://www.votehemp.com/PR/01-15-07_nd_farmer.html)

Better Farming
The Business Magazine for Ontario Agriculture
Interesting article for those contemplating hemp farming.
Go to www.betterfarming.com and click the link   Hemp - Ontario's new 'wonder crop'

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