7 August 2025

Building, News, Newsletter

Rethinking the Future of Australian Homes with Prefabricated Hemp SIPs

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Written by Amanda Marsh | Co-Founder, Otetto® August 2025 As someone deeply invested in creating sustainable, high-performing homes, I’ve become increasingly aware of a hard truth: the built environment accounts for nearly 40% of global carbon emissions. It’s clear that if we want to create a climate-resilient future, the way we design and construct our homes must change—and fast. That’s where Otetto comes in. At Otetto®, we’re proud to be pioneering the use of hemp in residential construction across Australia. Our mission is to reimagine how homes are designed, built, and lived in—by making healthy, climate-resilient housing more accessible and achievable for all Australians. We’ve developed Living Canvas®, a prefabricated hempcrete wall system designed to integrate regenerative materials into everyday building projects. As builders and designers ourselves, we knew the barriers—hemp has often been seen as niche, labour-intensive, or experimental. Our goal was to remove those barriers and prove that hemp not only belongs in the mainstream but can outperform traditional materials in comfort, health, and sustainability. Fast-growing, fire-resistant, and naturally insulative, hemp requires no synthetic inputs and supports the creation of healthier, more energy-efficient homes. But for us, it’s not just about the material—it’s about the system. We’ve developed a modular approach that allows for faster delivery, greater precision, and significantly less waste. This system empowers architects, builders, and homeowners to confidently incorporate hemp into their projects without compromising on design or performance. Our Living Canvas Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) are made from locally grown Australian hemp and include wall, floor, and roof cassettes—offering a full building envelope that regulates heat and moisture, while also meeting high bushfire performance ratings and achieving a 7-star NatHERS energy rating. Looking beyond materials, we’re also passionate about changing how Australians think about homebuilding. We’ve launched two architecturally designed off-the-plan homes—Corymbia and Mulloway—to showcase what’s possible when you pair regenerative materials with thoughtful design. Created in collaboration with award-winning architects, these homes reflect our belief that beautiful, high-performance homes can also be accessible, sustainable, and built for the future. Mulloway House Renders: Choi Render Mulloway House Renders: Choi Render (Living Canvas SIPs): Photo by: Gary Parker (Living Canvas SIPs- Crane): Photo by: Otetto

5 people standing in a crop of hemp.
News, Newsletter

A hemp industry update from the Tassie Hemp Co

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By Tim Schmidt | August 2025 Tasmania is now re-emerging as the powerhouse of hemp seed for food production in Australia.  The massive stockpile from 5 years ago has disappeared and there is now a national shortage.  The 2024 harvest was from a mere 34ha of hemp seed food crops, being the lowest area since 2017, the 2025 harvest jumped to 300ha and still that was not enough.  The new season coming up, is forecast to be greater than 300ha. An urgent issue for the hemp seed food industry is the expiring of the spray permit for bromoxynil, an essential broadleaf herbicide which is required to help maintain profitable yields.  Without this tool for production, the industry will quickly fold.  This permit will expire early next year, so next year’s planting is at risk, we can only hope that the AHC will be successful in requesting an extension for the permit until work undertaken by Agrifutures produces the data required for the longer term permitted use of bromoxynil. The Tassie Hemp Co is looking to work with local wine producers and the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture in running hemp mulch trials to show the beneficial impact on production and quality of wines using hemp mulch.  There had been work conducted here 20 years ago on hemp mulch for pink lady apples which showed a distinct improvement in fruit quality, we hope to show the same for Tasmanian wines. We are very fortunate to have Hemp Harvest processing our hemp seed here near Deloraine, they have been perfecting their processes and are producing above average yield results, which is an important improvement on our industry viability in Tasmania. Checking out the crop. L- R: Tim Schmidt, Phil & Kiley Warner, Arthur Wajs and Tim Crow. Stephanie Cameron, Tim Schmidt and Senator Richard Colebeck in Tim’s last season crop.

News, Newsletter, Rural Supplies

Winter Dryland Hemp Trials Steal the Show

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By John Muir, Agronomist | August 2025 The  iHemp NSW Field Trip on September 11, 2024, visited the University of Sydney’s Narrabri Research Station and a cotton farm in Moree as part of the annual winter crop field day. Among the many crops on display, hemp emerged as a standout feature for the 300 guests in both field observations and presentations. Included in one of Narrabri’s many alternate winter species dryland cover crop projects, hemp had been sown in addition to the AgriFutures summer sown irrigated crop variety trials. Traditionally a summer crop, hemp often struggles to establish in high air/soil summer temperatures. Recognising this, Professor Guy Roth, Director of Northern Agriculture from the Sydney Institute of Agriculture, extended sowing dates into winter – and the results were surprising.As part of the broader winter green manure /cover cropping program preceding dryland summer cotton, the trial featured a mix of cereals, brassicas, legumes, and hemp. All crops were sown no-till, into 5 tonnes per hectare of wheat stubble on June 22. Around three months later, on September 11 – following a frosty winter – the field day showcased an unexpected standout leader: hemp. By 60 days after sowing, the HFA Ruby variety had reached mid-flowering, stood approximately 0.75 meters tall, and had achieved an estimated biomass of 3 tonnes per hectare. Hemp’s frost tolerance in its vegetative stage proved advantageous. As long as flowering occurs after the winter frost, hemp can fill and finish, just like a winter crops, into spring and completing grain fill before the hot, dry summer sets in. The trial yielded over 500 kg/ha of grain, despite a significant portion of seed shattering prior to harvest. Like canola, hemp is indeterminate and tends to have uneven maturity, making timely harvest critical. Even with some losses, at a market price of $3,000 per tonne, the return equated to approximately $1,500/ha. This result is just the beginning. With further improvements in genetics, agronomy, and environmental understanding, the potential for winter-sown hemp in southern Australia is immense. And new trials are already in this year including dryland winter commercial crops in NSW to South Australia. Further Information: For additional insights, refer to the April 2024 extract of a presentation at Australian Industrial Hemp Conference, written by John Muir, Polish breeder of Henola and Don Telfer DPIRD WA, and AgriFutures Knowledge Hub.

News, Newsletter

Hemp & the power of perseverance

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Written by Connie Minos | August 2025 EO, iHemp NSW | Director, Ashford Hemp Industries     The picture (left) may resonate with many of our readers who have experienced drought and hardship on the land.  In 2020, Lonnie and I went to the aid of a farmer friend who needed cattle put down due to ongoing drought.  It was a traumatic time.  On one of our heart wrenching visits two of the cows unable to stand showed signs of being close to calving.  After euthanising the cows Lonnie quickly proceeded to remove the unborn calves.  One of the two calves born on the side of a dry dam next to her deceased mother, survived.  With low expectations after such a difficult welcome to life we took the calf home.  It wasn’t smooth sailing but after 8 months we ended up relocating the calf (Marmalade) to my brothers’ cattle farm near Yetman as her size and zest for life were becoming a bit much for me to manage as her surrogate mother.  My daughter Olivia and I just visited my brother and we checked on Marmalade and her third calf, both in pristine condition. Olivia is 19 now.  She was 15 when Marmalade was born.  She was two when Lonnie and I first entered the hemp industry in 2008.  Seventeen years ago. Marmalade is a reminder to me that even in the toughest of situations good things do happen, and it is worth persevering.  This has certainly been our experience in the Australian hemp industry.  Disappointingly Lonnie and I were unable to attend the Hemp Connect Forum in June.  It’s always a wonderful opportunity to engage with others passionate about hemp, whether we’ve known them for years or we become newly acquainted.  Thankfully we were able to watch the presentations online and I encourage others who were unable to attend the conference to review them.  For those who aren’t familiar with our business, our hemp processor is located in northwest NSW, close to the QLD border. The ingenious, beautiful, award-winning design of the University of Tasmanian Forestry and Timberyards redevelopment is inspirational to all, and we feel a strong sense of pride in knowing the hurd produced for that build came from a hemp processing machine we built and supplied to X-Hemp. The beautiful images and positive comments received from builders and homeowners after supplying over fifty homes and buildings throughout NSW and beyond encourage our continued perseverance in supplying the hemp building industry.  The regular and diverse range of alternative product options for bast, fines and hurd, who we send samples, give us hope for the future of the wider hemp industry. A small number of business owners within NSW and Australia continue to promote products from overseas while declaring their interest in promoting the Australian hemp industry.  Frustration from this fact is counteracted by the increasing engagement and action taken by the private sector and the government in the Australian Hemp Industry. As a member of iHemp NSW and the Australian Hemp Fibre Processing group, and as a small business in NSW, we have every intention of being in this industry for years to come.      

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