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My Amazing Visit to China 4 -16 October 2024 By Colin Steddy – Hemp Inside Access to seed I flew to Xiamen and was driven to Zhangpu, to catchup with Mr Xu and his father Rong Long from ZHANGPU ZHONGLONG KENAF SEEDS CO, LTD. I first imported seed from Xu in 2017 after my visit in 2016 and have kept close contact since. We have formed a strong relationship. Working together with ideas on how to do more than just seed. China can now get permits to grow in most parts of China. The THC must be below 0.35 unless you have a breeding licence. Mr Xu has a breeding program with a government centre in China, paid for by Xu, looking at hybrid hemp seed production. For me, it was an interesting site visit because: we are talking new varieties of hemp the breeding program is looking at 4 tonnes per ha, so hemp can compete with soy. Currently there is a world shortage of hemp seed for food and planting seed. I am hearing reports of low yields and low germination across the world. ZHANGPU ZHONGLONG KENAF SEEDS CO, LTD has potential to produce eight hundred tonnes of planting seed for export around the world. Hunter Valley Hemp Seed & Grain, a new enterprise with Bob and Susan Doyle and myself. We will be growing the Chinese varieties in early 2025 for planting in the 2025 September season. We will also export. Please contact me for information. Details below. Research needed New research needs to be done on the flowering and pollen drop with dioicous varieties. With the findings that seed from around the world is having issues with low seed germination and bad vigour. We thought this was to do with heat and temperature; there is more to learn about the flowering times especially in diecious varieties. Mr Xu and I have been working on a seed testing protocol. When male pollen falls, are the females ready and what are the weather conditions? Is it cold and wet are the day length short? This looks like the results at Hamilton in Victoria for the long season varieties. Because of cold short days there was little seed produced exactly as I have been suggesting. Long season seed crops should be grown in the north then moved south for fibre and biomass production. Could this also be a result of germination rates falling quickly and low plant vigour? We are looking for the collection of flowering and weather conditions in relation to germination rate drop and low seed vigour. I would like our researchers to look at this. Exploring seed testing protocols We are looking at building new seed testing protocols on how to monitor what might happen with seed longevity. The hemp industry in Australia needs to keep all data from planting and fertiliser inputs and timing. What triggers THC spikes? Why do seeds loose germination? Fibre quality, planting density (plants per m2) and fertilise can have an enormous impact. Let alone how the machinery and retting occur. Know the spec from the end user? In the north of Australia long season varieties continually get higher grain yields. South European, and some Australian varieties do better than in the hot north. How you move the varieties in latitude will give you a different outcome, seed size, yield, or biomass. This also happens in China just south to north. See AgriFutures hemp trial results from all sites in Australia. The one thing that has not been calculated in the result is grain yield/price and biomass price. As a grower we need to know the total income from a crop. You can work this out yourself. Find the yields of biomass and seed and give them a value on current market. I work on $2.65 for grain and $3.50 for biomass as the stalk is less value than just a biomass crop. Currently in China there is a large demand for hemp fibre and China is sourcing fibre from every corner of the world. Is your fibre going into textiles, insulation, weed matting or paper? Each end product requires different specs and price. How much hurd can be in the fibre? Or is it a whole stalk product? My visit to a textile mill I visited a textile mill in Shanghai (CPL) that want to purchase textile fibre from Australia; the mill makes clothing, with hemp blended with other fibres. Lisa was my interpreter and looked after me. Their demand is growing, and they could be looking for up to 10,000 tonnes! Once again, I was treated like a king and taken to dinner and sightseeing to Xitang, an old Chinese town. Usually it is very crowed, but it was raining and was thankfully incredibly quiet. The market was a maze of thin walkways with shops selling food and a vast array of items big and small. It was very beautiful. This mill has a contact living in South Australia. His name is Yao Yang, and he kindly organised my visit. I wanted to see the fibre quality they need so I can help Australian growers and processors meet the specifications. Today there is a massive shortage of textile hemp fibre – how long it will last, we do not know. I introduced them to Mr Xu, my friend in Zhangpu. Unlike Australia, the industry in China is large and they were not familiar with each other. Along with Lisa, my interpreter, Mr Chunlei Hou and Professor Fan, a polymer academic took me to lunch. They were very warm and friendly. Before we drove to the mill, we discussed growing the right fibre, retting and what spec they need. They have some samples from Australia that need to have less hurd – below 10% is ok. The only mill I know that is close to their spec is Gary Rogers in WA and Bob and Susan Doyles’ that needs a few modifications to clean the fibre and the dust extraction.

Northern Rivers Hemp Cooperative  By Crystal White Spring has sprung in the Northern Rivers region although there has certainly been some cooler days lingering and even a few nights beside the fire! This month we have launched our Trial Trio gift set, finalised our market setup and started spreading the word at markets about how great hemp is! We’ve also made an exciting discovery of CBL Cannabicyclol and we are supporting and have donated to the AHC Paws For Wellness Campaign. This is vital for our whole Australian Hemp industry to get behind! Launch of our Trial Trio box. This beautifully curated set includes an indulgent collection of three of our top selling rejuvenating products. Each of the 10mL samples is perfect for friends and family who are perhaps new to Full Spectrum Hemp Oils and seeking the benefits of 100% natural skincare and wellness products. If you are thinking of gifting, this is the perfect introduction to Full Spectrum Hemp! Our 2024 Trial Trio includes: FACE, a luxurious natural face cream that targets aging and damaged skin with its potent, rejuvenating formula Deep Hemp, a full-spectrum whole plant hemp infusion that delivers soothing relief from life’s aches, pains and stiffness. Your muscles and bones can thank us later!  Full-Spectrum Hemp Oil in Olive Oil, perfect for enhancing overall skin hydration and reducing signs of aging as well as soothes skin irritations, blemishes and bites. Markets We are ready to roll into the market scene with our marquee and advertising looking schmick! Although we don’t have a set market schedule, you’ll see us popping up from time to time at markets in Northern Rivers and into Southern Queensland. Farmers Chris and Tommy set up and had a great time at the Sample food festival at Bangalow last month, which attracted huge crowds and was a great launch for our first market right in the heart of the Northern Rivers region.  We have also just done a weekend collab with Hinterland Hemp. Exciting new test results -CBL Cannabicyclol We now have access to a new testing machine in Northern Rivers area that is able to test for many more Cannabinoids and terpenes.  This means we can really narrow down what we are getting from our grows and cultivars by analysing the results. Surprisingly our results from last season’s grow on all 7 farms growing our King Gee Cultivar has shown a very interesting lesser known and scarce cannabinoid called CBL- CANNABICYCLOL.   It is not new – it was first discovered by Raphael Mechoulam’s Israeli team of researchers in 1966. It is exciting to see this in our results although CBL is one of the lesser studied minor cannabinoids scientists are studying it and believe it may have pain-relieving, anti-inflammatory properties. Paws for wellness Did you know hemp seed and hemp seed oil is legal for human consumption, but not for animals?!?! Crazy right! The Australian Hemp Council has launched the “Paws for Wellness” campaign to raise funds for the legalisation of hemp seed for pets and companion animals in Australia. Northern Rivers Hemp is in support of this campaign and we have donated to paws for wellness so that we as a industry can make steps towards getting hemp back on the table for our pets- after all they certainly do deserve the best! If you think your pet deserves the best and that you should have choice over what you pet can consume we strongly recommend making a donation to the Paws for Wellness Campaign. Happy hemping!