There is excitement on the X-Hemp farm in the Australian state of Tasmania, with the emergence of a trial crop of hemp.
X-Hemp works with licensed Tasmanian hemp growers, taking their leftover grains and transforming their salable products like Building materials, mulch for landscaping and bark for paper production. Bark is the fiber around the woody pulp (sap) of the cannabis plant.
X-Hemp is also growing its own fiber crop in two small trials happening this season with the support of Ecofibre Limited/Ananda Food and the Tasmanian Hemp Association.
“The first young hemp fibers came out of the ground a day or so ago,” She said X-Hemp founder Andy Lucas when posting the above photo to Facebook. “Whatever happens, I’m so excited for these little kids to show up…grow, hemp, grow!”
What makes this especially exciting for Tasmania is that this is the first hemp fiber Diverse experience has been happening in the state for decades. There is a lot of cannabis that is grown, but it is all mainly intended for pills or CBD (cannabidiol) – the latter is considered a medicinal cannabis.
The crop being grown appears to be the “MS77” variety, presumably ECO-MS77. It is one of the top 5 varieties of Ananda Hemp for the United States and Described as:
“ECO-MS77 is a potent dual-purpose variety of synthetic hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) that has been cultured for longer than “ECO-CHG”, high plant strength, great adaptability, larger TSW (30 – 32 g) and lower hemp content very (THC and other cannabinoids). This variety was bred in Australia using a repeat selection method and is suitable for a wide range of latitudes (5 – 53) for fiber production.”
Based on this picture, “strong” is a good description:
It’s not just workstations on the X-Hemp farm, other farmers in the state are busy after the planting season begins in mid-November.
“Now the pastures are completely dry and no rain is expected for the next week,” She said Tasmanian Cannabis Association President Tim Schmidt last week. “This is where Tasmanian producers come in on their own, being able to nurture the germination of a healthy cannabis crop with irrigation and expertise.”
