National agency to provide a new voice for hemp

National agency to provide a new voice for hemp

New hemp promotion and research agency will collect checkoff from hemp producers for research, promotion and market development

New hemp promotion and research agency will collect checkoff from hemp producers for research, promotion and market development.

Mapping the genetic progress of hemp

Mapping the genetic progress of hemp

Hemp has potential for many markets, from grain to construction materials like hempcrete, but the varieties need fine tuning

Hemp production in Western Canada has many potential markets, from grain to construction materials like hempcrete, but the varieties need fine tuning.



Editorial: Carbon hype is not market reality

Editorial: Carbon hype is not market reality

It’s easy to understand why farmers want carbon credits to work. They want to be paid for the ecological goods and services they provide. On a more emotional level, it’s nice to be treated like heroes in times when farmers are sometimes painted as environmental villains. The public is increasingly focused on climate change and

Hemp expert Anndrea Hermann on her farm near Kleefeld, Man., with the fruit of her translation efforts, a hemp-based children’s book.

‘Trallala’ takes hemp expert on magical journey 

Anndrea Hermann’s fascination with hemp led her from Missouri to Manitoba, where she jumped into a fledgling industry

[UPDATE: July 12, 2023] A little hempseed named Trallala is sitting on her plant when an elderly cat named Max passes beneath and tells her about a mysterious field of singing flowers. She pleads with the black and white feline to take her there. Adventure follows as Trallala travels across “Hempworld” farm, meeting friends and learning everything


Jeff Kostuik of Verve Seed Solutions shows how to separate the hurd from the hemp plant while James Frey holds onto the microphone.  
photo: GORD LEATHERS

New uses drive hemp fibre market

U.S. builders are using hempcrete more frequently due to its insulating properties and moisture tolerance

The market for hemp fibre may be on its way up again and Jeff Kostuik of Verve Seed Solutions says it’s based on a part of the plant that used to be considered waste. At a crop demonstration for the Parklands Crop Diversity Foundation in Roblin, he pulled apart a hemp stem and showed the

A hemp plant in Alberta. (Jennifer Blair photo)

Regulations, versatility pull hemp in different directions in West

Crop 'still struggling with reaching its full potential'

MarketsFarm — Accounting for 60 per cent of Canada’s 1,100 cultivation licenses as of 2020, according to Health Canada, Western Canada is the country’s most important region when it comes to hemp production. But while there are more products on store shelves, more cultivars than ever before and high prices for the crop, demand for

Western corn rootworm larvae undermine the roots of corn plants, but rotation disrupts their life cycle.

Two new pest insects found in province

ENTOMOLOGY | Manitoba reported the first-ever cases of western corn rootworm and cannabis aphid this year

There are two new pest insects in Manitoba, according to provincial entomologist John Gavloski. A seasonal summary of the year’s crop pests, released in mid-November, noted Manitoba’s first cases of western corn rootworm and cannabis aphid in 2021. Why it matters: Manitoba can add two new insects onto the pest radar after this year. While


So far, hemp has been marketed as a health food, not a healthy food. This favours organically grown grain, and the niche market.

Comment: A farmer perspective on hemp

Evidence is mounting that StatCan may not be reflecting reality

The recent article about hemp, and its failure to increase acres and become the next canola, was very thorough on the processor side, but I thought, short on the producer perspective. We have grown industrial hemp on our farm since it was first declared legal. At that time, because of its connection to marijuana, it

“We’re 20 years plus, here in Canada with hemp, but it almost seems like we’re brand new again.” – Jeff Kostiuk, Hemp International.

Hemp development hits stride as new markets open up

New uses mean a new spectrum of genetic traits for hemp breeders to tailor for. What does that mean in an industry where variety development has been grain focused?

Canada has taken on a leading role in industrial hemp production since the crop was legalized in 1998. Initially it was grain production that took off, with food products like hemp hearts. Other possible uses include fibre production — particularly for novel products that don’t require highly refined fibres — and nutraceuticals like cannabidiol, which