The third industrial hemp harvest is underway in SA and while the crops are looking like some of the highest yielding to-date, there are fears the industry's growth is not hitting its expected highs.
Agriculture Minister David Basham anticipates the industry could have a $3m farmgate value within five years, but for this to be realised those in the hemp food industry are calling on the government to take an active role in helping promote the many health benefits of hemp foods.
They would also like assistance in developing markets.
The government's contribution so far has been funding three years of trials at Loxton, Maaoupe and Kybybolite, where 14 different hemp varieties have been tested under SA conditions.
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Since it became legal to grow industrial hemp in SA in 2018, PIRSA has issued 19 cultivation licences, which are valid for five years. Two processing licences have also been approved.
In the first season, the crop was grown in the South East, Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula with mixed results, with issues with trespassers in some of the crops closer to urban areas and weed management plaguing some paddocks.
This year just four SE growers have a crop in the ground - all contracted to Good Country Hemp at Bordertown.
Good Country Hemp managing director Mick Andersen says there has not been a lack of willingness by farmers to grow hemp, but the acreage is limited to what they can sell each year.
The market is slowly growing, with 185 hectares in the ground this year - more area than the previous two years combined.
Mr Andersen says government assistance is needed to help raise awareness of the high nutritional value of hemp foods.
"It would require money and good industry development but it would return dividends to the government, especially if it includes the fibre aspect where there is a lot of potential too," he said.
"Only 2 per cent of the population eat hemp on a regular basis so if we could get that to 5pc or even 10pc, it would escalate sales enormously," he said.
Good Country Hemp has developed a range of labelled retail food and pet products.
Mr Andersen sees further growth in cold pressed hemp oil and hulled hemp seeds as ingredients in innovative products.
"There are some really good novel food products being talked about from protein bars and mueslis to hemp-infused water and hemp milk," he said.
"We only need a few of these products to gain legs to see a big lift in demand.
"Hemp is high in omega three, six and nine with the perfect ratio of omega three and six, it has GLAs (gamma linolenic acids) - natural anti-inflammatories which are great for arthritis, muscle and joint pain - and it has the full amino acid profile, but unfortunately it is not widely known."
Mr Andersen said with the agronomic experience of the past couple of years and improved varieties, the expected base yields had risen from 0.8 tonnes a hectare to 1t/ha.
This would be important going forward, with Good Country Hemp likely to drop its price from the present $3.50 a kilogram clean for the 2021-22 year to remain competitive.
"It is only natural as yields increase we would adjust our prices to remain competitive in our processing and on the international market, but with higher yields hopefully growers returns will be greater," he said.
A new Australian variety PR13, which is being grown commercially for the first time in SA this year, could be even higher yielding than the imported French and Canadian varieties.
The lower stature crop has been developed by NSW-based Ananda Hemp for its high seed production.
Ananda Hemp field operations manager Andrew Linnertson says more awareness is needed to take hemp food from a niche to a "household pantry staple".
"We want people to understand how good it is for you and consume it every day, it is incredible stuff," he said. "There are people taking fish oil every day when hemp is even better for you."
Mr Linnertson said another issue the industry needed to overcome was the falsehood that hemp crops were drug crops.
"It is only a matter of time, there are hundreds and even thousands of acres of hemp and poppies in Tas growing by the roadside," he said.
Steve and Mick Moulton, Maaoupe, have been growing hemp for three years and say the gross margins stack up well and the water use of 3-4 megalitres/ha is comparable to other irrigated crops.
But, they are worried the industry is stagnating.
"At the start there were a couple of other competitors but now it is just Mick (Andersen) at the forefront of the SA industry, he needs some help driving it forward," Steve said.
Steve says government funding for marketing would help take the industry to the next level.
"For the industry to grow consumers really need to ramp up their consumption of hemp protein powder, hulled hemp seeds and the like," he said.
"If we go the other way around and growers jump on board and grow big areas without a market, we will see a big slump."
Simon Gartner, Maaoupe Station, is looking forward to harvesting his first crops, growing nearly 40ha under two pivots.
"It is another option for us, it seems to be well-suited to here and we are only 130 kilometres from the processing plant," he said.
Mr Basham said the government was investing in a fourth season of industrial hemp trials in 2020-21 because it believed it was an industry with "real economic potential for SA".
The preliminary 2020-21 results of the Maaoupe trials involving six varieties sown in early November and late December will be available in the second half of the year.
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