The Farm Products Council of Canada (FPCC) announced that it is beginning the public hearing process to evaluate the merits of a hemp Promotion and Research Agency (PRA).
“This is great news for Canadian hemp growers,” stated Don Dewar of Dauphin, MB who chaired the producer committee that developed the application to establish the hemp PRA. “We started developing the application in the spring of 2017 and submitted the application to the Farm Products Council last October, so were glad to see FPCC moving forward with the review. Our view has always been that a hemp PRA will allow Canadian hemp growers to become a better partner with industry, researchers, provincial and national governments in the identification and delivery of strategic research and promotional programs that will strengthen and grow the Canadian hemp industry."
It’s the Farm Products Council's role to evaluate the merits of an application and make recommendations to the Minister of Agriculture on whether an application should be supported by the Federal Government.
“We see significant opportunities for growth;” commented Larry Marshall, an organic hemp grower from Shellbrook, Saskatchewan. “Our traditional seed market is continuing to grow and there is a lot more interest in hemp fibre."
The group says Health Canada’s decision to allow whole plant harvest of industrial hemp for the 2018 crop creates significant new opportunities.
“This permission from Health Canada will allow hemp producers to use the 2018 crop to learn more about harvesting, drying and storing whole plant material,” explained Jason Green, head of agriculture for Canopy Growth.
The hemp producer committee is encouraging interested producers to review the hemp PRA application on the Farm Products Council of Canada web site. The deadline to make a submission is November 24, 2018.
Source : Steinbachonline