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Event to address the growing interest in farming hemp in the Great Southern

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Shannon SmithAlbany Advertiser
A forum will be held in Kalgan to discuss hemp growing opportunities.
Camera IconA forum will be held in Kalgan to discuss hemp growing opportunities. Credit: Mogens Johansen/The West Australian, Mogens Johansen INSET: Gail Stubber Picture: Taelor Pelusey

A rising interest in growing hemp crops in the Great Southern has prompted a HempGro Farming and Business Opportunities event in Kalgan next week.

The event will clear the air on how farmers can become involved in growing the crop.

WA Hemp Growers’ Gail Stubber said the group wanted to talk to local farmers and businesses about the opportunities hemp could bring to the region, which had great growing conditions for the plant. “There has been a great deal of interest lately in hemp from Great Southern farmers,” she said.

“There are presently six farmers I can think of and there are more asking about it. It is a good region to grow it and also it is a good break crop. “It improves soil, builds up carbon and is a great sustainable plant that makes a huge amount of products, from houses to paper to cosmetics.”

The event aims to draw more farmers into growing hemp, and businesses can also learn about the value in adding hemp to their production chains. “It is a green market, it is sustainable and new crop is grown every four months over summer,” Ms Stubber said.

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“It is a lot quicker than a tree, and the same for animal bedding or paper products so we could potentially slow down the need to log forests.”

It starts at 2pm on Tuesday at Castle Drilling on Churchlane Road. Visit hempgro.com.au.

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