HEMP BREEDING COMING OF AGE

Hemp production in Ontario is finally stepping into its teenage stage,
six years after the federal government approved its use as a crop. Of
course, the teens aren't exactly a smooth ride. The carefree optimism
of toddler years and childhood can sometimes give way to the cold
reality of blemishes and mood swings on its way to solid adulthood.

The industry is dealing "with all the ups and downs of that age," says
Peter Elkerton of Owen Sound, executive director of the Ontario Hemp
Alliance.

Some growers got in too fast and too deep; some had high hopes for a
U.S. market for their products but their efforts and businesses were
dashed by restrictive import rules.

"Some of us jumped into the whole hemp thing, thinking, 'This product
is so good, all you have to do is put it in the ground and off you
go,' " Elkerton says.

But, slowly it's growing as producers find new markets for hemp fibre
- - which goes into rope and clothing and can be a component of paper,
"plastic" lumber, insulation and animal bedding - and food-grade oils
and grains for healthy-food recipes.

But little more proof is needed that Canada hemp production is coming
into its own than Peter Dragla's recent work in Australia.

Dragla, a Ridgetown College plant breeder and probably Canada's
leading hemp specialist, just returned from a trip down under to work
with the Aussies to develop hemp seeds that would grow well in a
subtropical climate.

"I remember how I was seven years ago" when starting from scratch,
Dragla says, so he jumped at the chance to help out.

"There are not too many centres doing hemp breeding in the world," he
says.

But seeds that grow into two-metre hemp plants in Southwestern Ontario
would be considerably smaller if transplanted near an Australian
rainforest because of fewer daylight growing hours there. (And with
hemp production largely measured by tons-per-acre, size is important.)

Dragla is helping to breed seeds that can manage the vastly different
climate. He shows a photo of the 2003 harvest near Ridgetown.
Queensland's crop will look like this "in three years," he predicts.

Hemp is a cousin of marijuana but with trace amounts or no amounts of
the chemical that produces a "high" if smoked.

It's not pot and it's not weed, producers still have to emphasize, but
"the giggle factor about hemp versus marijuana has diminished quite a
bit," Elkerton says.

What Dragla and Elkerton and all producers hope is that some day hemp
will grow out of its novelty stage and be viewed as every bit as
mainstream as corn and soybeans.

Is it likely? Well, realistically, its expansion from a niche market
would require a huge technological and practical leap in yield,
acreage and application.

Even so, if it's a dream, some people are making a decent living from
it.

In Manitoba, a group is planning to build a $15-million hemp fibre
processing plant at Dauphin.

A Toronto-based company sells hemp-based salad oils and hemp chips at
specialty health stores across the country.

And elsewhere, deals are afoot to grow more products and
markets.

In Delaware, west of London, Hempline Inc. president Geoff Kime says
the versatility of the product lends itself well to having a breakout
season soon.

He says it's growing into a commercial-sized industry from its initial
stages of being large-scale pilot operations.

"Things are definitely on an upsurge. It's now a matter of expanding
capacity," Kime says.

As with any living thing, hemp production will experience its
successes and failures, surges and setbacks.

Those in the industry have heard all the half-jests about living in a
pipe-dream world.

But Elkerton is obviously far from alone in preparing for the next big
growth spurt that may signal a breakthrough. He hopes producers and
processors will be ready when it does.

"We don't have the infrastructure yet to do that. But it'll come."