VEGREVILLE CENTRE SHEDS LIGHT ON THE INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS OF
HEMP

Alberta is going green, but not in the way some might think. Just
outside the town of Vegreville, the Alberta Research Council is
working to add hemp farming to Alberta's list of lucrative industries.

The Vegreville nursery is home to the largest research and production
facility of hemp in North America. Industrial hemp grown in Alberta
can be used in a number of products ranging anywhere from textiles to
fibreglass. Products made from hemp have less environmental impact
than those made from glass or plastics, and in many cases are more
energy efficient.

Jan Slaski, breeder and plant physiologist at the Vegreville facility,
explained why this is the case.

"Bio composites produced from hemp are more environmentally friendly.
Replacing glass fibre with bio-fibre produces a much lighter product.
A lighter product means that your car, boat, or airplane is lighter
and uses less fuel. High-end European car manufacturers, particularly
German manufacturers, use bio-composites in their panels," he said.

Historically, hemp has been grown in Canada for hundreds of years, but
was banned in 1938 due to the associations hemp has with marijuana.
This ban was later lifted in 1998. Industrial hemp, unlike marijuana,
does not contain high levels of THC, the compound in marijuana that
causes intoxication.

According to Slaski, Canada has very strict guidelines for hemp
farmers.

"Cultivating hemp in Canada is regulated by Health Canada," he stated.
"The hemp that can be grown in Canada is strictly industrial hemp, and
can only contain less than 0.3 per cent THC."

This amount of THC is not enough to associate industrial hemp with
narcotics. Such a low amount of chemical in industrial hemp should
take the negative drug associations out of the industry.

The varieties of hemp currently grown in Alberta have mostly European
origins. Researchers at the ARC have adapted European varieties to
thrive in Alberta's climate. Researchers have tested about 80
different cultivars (or plant varieties) from different regions to
distinguish which varieties grow best in Alberta soil. The ARC has
identified a Polish cultivar, also known as the Silesia variety, which
has a 20-40 per cent higher crop yield than the cultivars presently
allowed for cultivation in Canada. The group owns the sole rights to
this variety of hemp in North America, and covers all aspects of hemp
from development to processing to production, which is a benefit to
the Alberta economy.

"ARC is offering solutions from seeds to the final product. This means
we work with hemp to develop new cultivars and new agricultural
practices. The new cultivars have a high yield and are adapted to our
Alberta climate conditions," Slaski said "We then take the hemp stock
to our facilities in Millwoods, and soon we will have a processing
facility in Vegreville, and process it.

The ARC oversees the hemp from seed to the final product. This means
that all research, farming, and processing of the fibres is done
locally keeping jobs and revenue within Alberta.

Slaski argued that this is a huge benefit to Alberta farmers and the
overall economy. It's also a benefit to individual farmers because
hemp is a very lucrative crop.

"Farmers here in the province look for cash crops. They want something
they can finally start making money on and hemp provides that
opportunity," Slaski said. Because industrial hemp is relatively new
to Alberta, bio-composites are a bit more expensive, but the ARC is
setting industry standards.

"At this point, it is a niche market," Slaski said. "Working with
mainstream industry, working with auto industries, buildings,
textiles, it means we can get a much larger volume of materials
produced and we can re-establish hemp as a valuable crop to Alberta."