In November 2025, the Future of Orbost & District (FoOD) project brought together farmers, industry experts, and government representatives for a two-day forum exploring whether industrial hemp could breathe new economic life into the East Gippsland region, an area still adjusting to the end of native timber harvesting. The conclusion was optimistic: Orbost presents a genuinely compelling case for becoming Australia’s first dedicated industrial hemp processing hub.
The forum identified a unique combination of factors working in Orbost’s favour. The region has suitable land and climate for growing hemp, a strong agricultural community, existing seed expertise through Gippsland Seed Services, and, critically, a collection of mothballed timber mill sites that could be repurposed as processing facilities at a fraction of the cost of purpose-built infrastructure. Parkside Mill emerged as the standout candidate for a decorticator processing line, with Nowa Nowa well suited to bale storage and complementary processing. Reaching a viable scale of around 1,000 hectares over time was flagged as the key long-term target.
On the market side, the forum explored several product streams: building materials made from hemp hurd (currently commanding prices above $2,000/tonne), bast fibre for export textiles, hemp-based pallets (with demand potentially supporting 800–1,200 hectares of crop alone), board products, and food grain. Each opportunity carries its own challenges, from immature building codes and a shortage of trained hemp builders, to the need for clear offtake agreements before major capital can be committed.
The path forward is collaborative and staged. Priority next steps include engaging with mill site owners, developing a business model canvas and cash flow projections, running further crop trials, and building connections with state and national industry bodies. The forum also sparked some creative longer-term ideas, including whether synthetic biology could assist hemp retting, and whether local sea urchin shells could supply lime as a natural building binder.
Food & Fibre Gippsland is also emerging as the key regional umbrella organisation supporting innovation ecosystem development, whole-of-value-chain activation, and and contributing to a stronger unified national voice for the industry.
The energy and expertise for the project suggest that if any regional community can make an industrial hemp hub work, Orbost is well placed to be first.
Watch the video here –Industrial Hemp and the future of Orbost & District
Full report below from the 2025 forum below:
Photo courtesy of Nicola Watts
