Hemp reform could generate millions
A legal change could create an industry worth more than $4 million a year to New Zealand, and give a big boost to the regions.
Food Standards Australia and New Zealand has prepared a proposal to permit the sale of low-THC hemp seed as food.
If it gives it the green light, the decision will go to the ministers responsible for food regulation on each side of the Tasman, to review or agree that the standard should become law.
New Zealand’s minister Jo Goodhew has previously said she would support the sale of low-THC hemp seed food.
At the moment, companies can use hemp oil, and hemp fibres for clothing or building materials, but selling hemp food – such as hemp protein – is illegal. It can only be sold as pet food.
Although hemp is a form of cannabis, it has very low levels of THC, so it is not used as a recreational drug.
Huub Kerckhoffs, a senior lecturer in Massey University’s institute of agriculture and environment, said hemp offered New Zealand great opportunities.
Hemp crops had remediation properties for soil, he said, and could help break down the waste of the oil and gas industry.
There were also thousands of downstream applications. Kerckhoffs estimated a hectare of hemp could generate $5000 or $6000 a year in gross profit for a farmer.
No one should be worried about the potential connection to an illegal drug, he said.
‘‘I always say you would have to smoke a joint the size of a lightbulb to get anywhere near being high.’’
Andrew Davidson, managing director of Oil Seed Extractions, said establishing end markets could take up to five years but the input costs were relatively low. The real value creation and job creation would come from processing the seed crop into food products including oil, hemp flour and hemp protein.
Richard Barge, of the NZ Hemp Industries Association, said the potential for hemp was huge.
Expansion of production would benefit regional New Zealand, because the processing required for hemp fibre had to be done near the fields, requiring workers in rural parts of the country.
He said hemp could be used as a complement to dairy because it would only need to be grown for a quarter or third of the year. ‘‘Farmers can still graze their animals and it can help with nitrate run-off.’’
The medicinal market offered ‘‘scarily massive’’ opportunities.