Results from the hemp variety trials are meant to help expand the hemp fibre industry across Canada.
Hemp has been grown in Alberta since the 1990s when the crop was first legalized for production. In that time, the acreage has increased but the crop has been held back due to lack of research into fibre processing.
Growing hemp for fibre has had limited opportunities in Canada for many years. Despite Alberta emerging as one of the largest producers of hemp in Canada for the last decade, the primary focus has been on grain production. Farmers growing hemp for grain combine the hemp seed and leave hemp bales in their fields due to a lack of buyers. The limiting factor in the fibre market has been lack of processing (decortication) facilities for processing the straw, which is the key to completing the hemp fibre supply chain.
In 2022, Canadian Rockies Hemp Corp. (CRHC) and Alberta hemp producers decided to focus on identifying hemp fibre varieties suitable for growing in Alberta. This was necessary to grow the industry and increase revenues for Alberta farmers. Prior to CRHC’s Bruderheim Decortication Facility in Bruderheim, Alta., there were no decortication capacity in Canada and, as a result, there were limited fibre varieties available for farmers.
Not only were fibre varieties of hemp not commercially available to producers, but they were also being phased out because farmers growing hemp for grain had issues with fibre wrapping around combine headers The industry recognized that in order to expand hemp fiber as a broad acre rotational crop in the province, there was a need for both experienced agronomy knowledge and specialized fiber varieties.
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