Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackCrayon
they used to grow a lot of it around where i used to live for a few years but no one seems to grow it anymore. it just wasn't profitable because the US has such a fear of it and not enough canadian companies were using it to support the growth.
|
The industrial hemp production received a lot of attention in the early years. Advocates of hemp production painted a rather rosy picture for growth potential. However, the sudden demise of Consolidated Growers and Processors (CGP) Inc. of California left a large number of hemp growers in Manitoba sitting with a huge crop and nowhere to market it. This company was largely responsible for the rapid increase in acres in 1999 and the fallout in 2000. The company created a lot of interest and hype for hemp among producers, particularly in Manitoba. The CGP contracted an estimated 40 per cent of the total industrial hemp area licensed in Canada in 1999. However, the company went into receivership after failing to meet contractual obligations. This left the hemp producers with a huge surplus of hemp seed and fiber hanging over the market. This surplus was stored in warehouses and farmers? bins, awaiting bankruptcy settlement. A considerable portion of the hemp crop did not get sold and producers had to absorb the losses. Thus, the negative events of 1999 have brought a lot of skepticism and fear for the future growth potential of hemp industry in Canada. However, the downturn in hemp cultivation during the last three ?four years is buoyed by a steady increase in the processing of hemp, and the development of many small businesses engaged in developing new products and marketing of these products. In Alberta, work is well underway at Alberta Research Council (ARC) and Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (AARD) to evaluate hemp as a potential source of producing pulp and fiber.
