CANADA forges ahead of US in processing of HEMP. (01/02) 

Parkland BioFibre: $15 million processor for Dauphin, MB

Parkland Industrial Hemp Growers have unveiled their plans for a new $15 million agfibre processing facility to be located in Dauphin, Manitoba.

The proposed facility --Parkland BioFibre -- will process locally-grown hemp straw into fibre products using a zero-waste system developed by BioFibre Ltd. of Bangor Wales, in cooperation with the BioComposite Centre at the University of Wales.

Keho Products Ltd. of Alberta will build the plant, calculated to be a turnkey-type operation. The long-term objective will be to franchise the plant's technology across North America. The proposed franchiser -North American BioFibre-- will also involve Transfeed Inc., an Olds, Alberta-based exporter of compressed Timothy Hay. .

The plant will process fines, core and long fibre. Fines will be diverted to make briquetting. Shives will be separated, cleaned and baled. Long fibre will be separated and be used in horticultural mat processing.

Large stocks of Hemp Fibre in Western Canada await processing

To fill plant capacity, up to 48,000 tonnes of raw material will be needed, requiring between 16,000 and 24,000 acres of hemp to be grown annually. Parkland says that close to 18,000 tonnes of hemp straw is currently in inventory on area farms.

Parkland BioFibre is counting on member-supplied fibre and $50,000 CDN worth of land from the local government, coupled with $2 million CDN in cash investment. Loans and provincial "Incentive Assistance" will provide the majority of financing for start up.

Once the plant is in full production, gross sales are projected to be $13 million CDN a year. Parkland is armed with a letter of intent for 12,000 t of shives (core fibre/hurds) per year for three years. Markets tests are underway for matting; Parkland is also involved with testing for paper fibre in the US.

Currently, existing fibre industries in Manitoba such as Winkler-based Schweitzer-Maudit and Elie's Isobord rely on purchasing flax and wheat straw crop residue at minimal prices. This gives farmers additional income, but is not a reason in itself to grow the crop.

Maine Passes Medical Marijuana Referendum item by a whopping margin. Authorities scramble to implement and control spillover problem.

MAINE HEMP Establishes Internet Presence

See the press release 1  for more details.

Maine stores now carrying hemp-based products

See the hemp product pages for more details.

This Policy Center features world-wide developments & news:

Calendar of Events:

Press Releases

These are the press releases we've issued over the last year. You may want to search for topics by keyword.

Recent Media Coverage of GLOBAL VILLAGE LEARNING