Industrial Hemp Demonstration Crop at Lardner Park
Friday 15th March marked an agricultural innovation milestone in Gippsland with the first demonstration field day of a crop with the potential to unlock exciting opportunities for our region.
Committee for Gippsland CEO Tony Cantwell highlighted the significance of the industrial hemp demonstration crop for the region.
“Over the next three years, our demonstration plantings at Lardner Park will be a pivotal point for assessing the potential for growing hemp fibre in Gippsland and the opportunities for local processing in the region.
“The demonstration crop will help build awareness and understanding of industrial hemp, what it looks like, how it grows, what the local opportunities might be, and what better place to do that than here at Lardner Park with Farm World on next week.
“Thank you to our supporters, industry partners and regional leaders who continue to support us to continue to progress investment and diversification across Gippsland”, Tony said.
Representatives of industry, government and education gathered at Lardner Park in West Gippsland to inspect and hear about the collaboration between Committee for Gippsland and iHemp Victoria to establish a 5-acre industrial hemp crop.
More than 40,000 visitors, including many of the farmers in our region, are expected to view the crop during Farm World 2024 - Gippsland's largest annual field day, agricultural and lifestyle event - which starts next week.
The C4G-iHemp Victoria industrial hemp demonstration crop, planted on 10 January 2024, is already flourishing, and due for harvest in May.
Industrial hemp holds the potential to revolutionise products for construction, agriculture and manufacturing, offering sustainable alternatives for building materials, biodegradable weed matting for landscaping and farming, and new packaging solutions to supplement traditional timber pulp.
We thank our partners in this project: iHemp Victoria, Happy Soils, Landpower, CLAAS Harvest Centre, Australian Hemp Manufacturing Company and McNeil Contracting.
