Efforts to support growing hemp industry in NSW

The state’s peaking farming body, NSW Farmers, has welcomed the state government’s efforts to support the growing hemp industry, which presents opportunities to improve supply chains and reduce red tape.

On Thursday, Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty announced the establishment of a Hemp Industry Taskforce to support the growth of the NSW industrial hemp industry.

The timing of the announcement coincided with a successful hemp field day staged at the University of Sydney’s I.A. Watson Grains Research Centre in Narrabri last week.

NSW Farmers Agricultural Science Committee chair Alan Brown said developing new and emerging markets such as industrial hemp would provide more opportunity for farmers to diversify, driving economic activity in turn.

“Industrial hemp is an emerging industry in Australia, and we’re trailing Canada, China and the European Union in terms of scale and value of production,” Mr Brown said.

“We see the industrial hemp industry experiencing strong growth, with innovative technologies improving production and a range of value-added products being developed.

“What we need is a way for our farmers to tap into these new technologies and new markets, which will drive economic activity both at a local and state level.”

Mr Brown said pursuing value-adding opportunities in agriculture – creating finished products rather than raw ingredients – had the potential to create hundreds of thousands of jobs and add billions of dollars to the state’s coffers.

“By investing in agriculture the state government can help farmers literally grow a stronger future for NSW,” Mr Brown said.

“We know investing in value-adding could contribute an additional $50 billion to the economy by 2030, creating over 223,000 jobs in NSW, according to work from the Food and Agribusiness Growth Centre (FIAL).

“I hope we can take the hemp industry as an example of the way we could apply this approach right across the agricultural sector and unlock all of the opportunities that come with it.”

Ms Moriarty said her attendance last year at the Hemp Industry Roundtable provided an important opportunity to hear from the hemp industry stakeholders and understand there are important gains for the state if we can foster the sector’s expansion.

“Currently, the Hemp Industry Act 2008 facilitates the cultivation and supply of low THC hemp fibre and seed production in NSW under controlled conditions, without compromising the effectiveness of existing drug enforcement strategies of the NSW Police,” Ms Moriarty said.

“The Act authorises and regulates the cultivation and supply of low-THC hemp for commercial production and other legitimate uses.

“Guided by the taskforce outcomes, the government can consider what work is required to reduce red tape and provide the regulatory environment to support the industrial hemp industry grow and deliver jobs to regional NSW.”

The taskforce will include twelve representatives from growers and industry associations and will consider options to support the continual growth of the NSW industrial hemp industry, supporting jobs in rural and regional NSW.

With the global hemp market expected to quadruple by 2027 to $18.6 billion, facilitating the expansion of the NSW industrial hemp sector is timely and critical, the state government says.

Globally, it is estimated that hemp is used in more than 25,000 products spanning nine sub-markets, including agriculture, building materials and textiles.