Worlds’ biggest meeting on industrial hemp kicks off

EIHA’s 12^th Conferention kicks off

Worlds’ biggest meeting on industrial hemp

While Christian Europe make themselves ready to celebrate the effusion of the holy spirit, hemp professionals from Europe and beyond gather for the biggest meeting in industrial hemp. On the 2015 edition of the International Conference of the European Industrial Hemp Association 24 speakers will give insights in all relevant developments from the world of hemp. This 12^th edition takes place on the 20^th and 21^st of May. Topics that are discussed range from the automotive sector, which uses hemp panels in luxury cars, to different use of CBD.

The conference kicks of with a Country Overview Session in which speakers from Italy, Czech Republic and Austria discuss hemp in their countries. From South Africa comes Tony Budden from Hemporium. He will give detailed information on the future developments of South African hemp farming. After that Jos Popkens from Dutch company GroeNoord Ag&Turf will discuss the dual cropping technique he developed in close corporation with Hemp Flax. In the following program Fibres, Bio-Composites & Automotive are discussed. In this rather techy session details and new insights in the processing of hempfibres and shives are discussed. Special attention is given to the use of hemp in cars.

Day two starts of with a program on building with hemp. The program shows this industry has moved from hempcrete alone. The third speaker Dutchman Paul Rayar from Arcilla Research for instance will speak on the protection of fibers from outside influences. The second subject of day two is Hemp Food. Three speakers tell about market conditions and regulations in both Europe and Northern America. CBD closes the conference. No less than 8 speakers deal with topics like market condition, the therapeutically use of CBD and regulation within the EU.

Besides the conference the conference is also host to an exhibition which shows products from BAFA Neu (DE), Endoca (USA), Canna Power B.V (NL), CannaVest Europe (DE),  Dupetit Natural Produts (DE), Hempro Int. (DE), MH Medical Hemp (DE),  Next Gen / GreenRush Financial Conferences (CA), Österreichischer Hanf Verband (AT),  Propaganda Production (SK), Sachsen-Leinen (DE), Surface Measurement Systems (UK).

HempFlax plants 700 Ha. of industrial Hemp in Romania

This spring a new adventure will start for one of Holland’s finest new agricultural businesses. HempFlax will plant over 700 Ha. of industrial hemp on newly acquired fields in Romania. It is also here that the company that has been growing and processing hemp since 1994 in Oude Pekela (Groningen) has build a new hemp processing facility which will be Europe’s biggest once all the plans are realized. The total production of industrial hemp grown by HempFlax or ordered by the company is now little over 4000 Ha.

Moving to Romania doesn’t just mean finding new territory in the literal sense. It also means exploring the possibilities on a new part of the plant. Due to the climate in The Netherlands it hasn't been possible for the company to grow hemp for seeds and fibers alike. The dry autumn of Romania however ensures that dual cropping in the most literal way is possible. For this purpose HempFlax transformed a John Deere cropping machine in such a fashion that it is now possible to harvest both top and bottom of the plant. From the top come the seeds, from the stem the fibers.

Hemp seed is durable food in itself, it is rich with proteins and contains lots of other good nutrients. It is the only vegetable source for all good fatty acids known to nature. Once pressed into oil there are a lot of other purposes. Ranging from flavoring up a salad to cooking. It is even possible to run a diesel engine on it, but given its excellent healthy properties, this would be a complete waste.

Hemplax
HempFlax is Hollands biggest hemp company. It has been growing industrial hemp since 1994 and is known in the automobile industry for the car door panels it produces. If you drive a Mercedes of BMW there is big chance that your door is filled with one of their products. Besides these panels it also uses hemp tot make excellent insulation. A recent experiment of the company resulted in the realization of the first hempcrete house to be build in the Netherlands.    

Corporate video by HempFlax

Building with hemp in Germany

It might sound crazy, but when you look for a house made from hemp in Germany, you won’t find one. Although Germany is Europe’s leading country concerning sustainability nobody managed to build a house from hemp. The question that arises is: why? The answer is difficult to find.

A hemp build house in Oude Pekala (The Netherlands) Photo: Dagblad van het Noorden

It is not the law neither culture. Since 1997 it has been legal to grow industrial hemp in Germany. Farmers and businessman alike used this opportunity. Till 2006 the numbers of hemp fields grew steadily. In 2006 about 1.356 Ha. was grown by 214 companies. In 2014 that number shrunk to 100 companies and 715 Ha. It is striking that the withdrawal of a EU subsidy in 2012 hardly influences the growing of industrial hemp. The number of companies involved in the hemp game remained steady at about a hundred since 2011. In 2014 there combined crop grew with about 300 Ha. So it seems that 17 years of legalized hemp growing in Germany has lead to a 100 farmers growing it with success. 

In spite of the ending of European subsidies it is fair to state that the political will to turn hemp into a success is present. In 2013 Hock GmbH & Co’s president Carmen Hock-Heyl received the ‘Deutscher Umwelt Preis’ for her product insulation mats. These are hemp based insulation panels. And all tough the video made for the award ceremony contains the inevitable joke about smoking the product the cultural barrier to grow and sell hemp seems absent. The packaging of the insulation material show the five fingered leave with pride.  

The lacking of a hemp based house can’t be explained from a lack of production either. Besides of the insulation mats from Hock there are numerous other company’s  that produce building material made of hemp. One of them is Hanffaser Übermarck. A processing plant where farmers bring there crop. Here the plant is turned into raw materials for a number of products. Ranging from building block to insulation and from door panel used in the automotive industry tot humidity controlling mortar.     

Looking for German’s first hemp house is researching pointes that are few and wide across. Connecting them gives to little information to give birth to a pattern which in the end will lead to building a house from hemp. German cellars are moist free due to hemp. The plant keeps German attics warm in winter and cold in summer. German kids are playing on hemp floors. So the answers to why there is no hemp house in Germany is easy. Nobody ever build one or the sustainable explorer that build it never took the effort to share his work with the world.