HOPE ON A ROPE

Why hasn't Premier Roy Romanow thought of this?

According to the Reverend Brother Walter Tucker, stalwart of the
Church/University of the Universe, we're standing on the brink of an
agricultural revolution.

All the farmers have to do is grow hemp and prepare for the good
times.

The Rev. Tucker is so convinced of this that he's written to both
Premier Roy Romanow and federal Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief to
push the idea. In a master stroke of conciseness, Tucker writes:

"Dear Honourable Ministers," Hemp, The Tree of Life can save the
farmers of the West."

That's it. That's the whole thing. It's probably the briefest brief to
government ever written.

But Tucker has plenty more to say on the topic.

In case you've forgotten he is the long-time advocate for the
legalization of marijuana and sidekick to the Rev. Michael Baldasaro,
who tried to run for the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives
last year. Their antics also included lobbying the local government of
Hamilton, Ont. to create a nudist beach in the area.

Having failed to shake up the economy from the top down, Tucker and
Baldasaro are bent on doing it from the grassroots, so to speak.

In this case, that means planting a seed with our political leaders in
the hopes they will recognize opportunity when it's thrust in their
faces.

Born and raised in Rosthern before moving east, Tucker believes
Saskatchewan needs hemp now more than ever.

"All of the people that have ambition usually move out of Saskatchewan
because there is no opportunity for them there in terms of industry.
So they come east and they go west but they don't stay in
Saskatchewan, because there's no opportunity. If we started to grow
hemp in Saskatchewan, we could start a paper processing plant, we
could start a fabric plant, and a whole range of other things."

Can it be this simple?

Alas, probably not.

As it happens, nearly 200 farmers in Saskatchewan have licences to
grow hemp, that is, the harmless cousin to the marijuana plant that
has no narcotic properties.

While the crop has possibilities, it's no panacea, says provincial
special crops specialist Ray McVicar.

"It's a market that's still young. We could easily overproduce the
market right now until it gets established. There are guys who have
made good money at it over the last two years. I think they've put a
lot of effort into it too. I don't think it's been an easy thing to
grow."

Mervin Ermel can attest to that. The Bethune area organic farmer is
trying to get his second consecutive hemp crop off this fall, at least
what little is left after a hail storm wiped out the entire 65 acres.

Last year, he got a crop that grew to eight feet tall, too big to put
through the swather.

But aside from the usual adjustments to a new crop there is potential,
says Ermel. At $35 a bushel, a 15 bushel per acre crop would produce
$525 per acre. That's not chickenfeed.

"I think it's an option for diversification and for organic farmers,
it has good prospects because it works well into rotation. It also has
a good canopy which retards weed growth," says Ermel.

The question is markets. Ermel likes the idea of further processing in
paper and textiles, "but the big boys are in that, so it's going to be
tough."

Who knows, maybe the provincial government will take an interest and
look for ways to promote the industry. After all Romanow says
diversification is the heart of the NDP economic policy.

Maybe it calls for targeted tax cuts for construction of hemp
processing facilities. Maybe the new coalition government would like
to form a new Crown corporation to nurture the industry. Call it
SaskHemp maybe, or Son of Spudco. It calls for something because the
pressure is on. If the NDP fails, the Rev. Tucker threatens to return
to Saskatchewan and run for office himself to get this industry underway.

"I would love to come back and say it the way it should be said. Bless
you."