Founder John W. Roulac – 2

1996 NAIHC Annual Conference

The North American Industrial Hemp Council held their annual conference in Visalia, California, in the heart of California’s San Joaquin Valley. With cotton growing as far as the eye could see and manure piles in need of some farm management, about 80 people spent three days discussing industrial hemp’s opportunities and obstacles. Dr. David Morris of the Institute for Local Self Reliance and NAIHC Vice Chair provided an overview of progress in the last year, including two research bills passed in the states of Vermont and Hawaii. Various updates from countries around the world gave a somewhat sobering view of the significant challenges that lay ahead for the hemp industry. Geof Kime of Hempline indicated that the Canadian government is proceeding slowly in developing regulations for commercial production, with 1998 being a realistic time frame. Gero Leson of the nova-Institute discussed Germany’s first-year attempts to develop a domestic hemp fiber processing infrastructure. Ian Low of Hemcore, whose contract farmers grew 4,000 acres in the 1996 season, explained the importance of building strong markets and partnerships with industry and entrepreneurs. On the research front, Curt Koster of International Paper provided a practical overview of the nuts and bolts of large-scale fiber processing. International Paper is pursuing research on kenaf and plans to apply the knowledge of processing other annual crops to hemp. Dr. Robert Steele of the University of Wisconsin, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Research, outlined the upcoming role of land grant universities across America in doing basic research on hemp agriculture. Dr. David West of GameTec laid out the importance of developing hemp seed cultivars specifically for North American hemp agriculture.

The section on Annual Fibers for Sustainability brought home the important reasons why people all over the world are passionate about industrial hemp. Andy Kerr of The Larch Company and NAIHC Board Member provided an interesting analogy of mining and the current practice of clear cutting our forests. John Roulac of HEMPTECH, NAIHC Secretary, discussed how various companies such as Masonite and Interface Research Corporation are developing, respectively, building products and carpets as sustainable fiber resources utilizing industrial hemp. Emily Miggins of Rethink Paper helped coin a provocative phrase, “tree flesh”, in her presentation on the vital importance of moving away from trees and towards annual fiber crops for paper.

Medwick Byrd of North Carolina State University gave a passionate presentation on the various technical options for processing agricultural fibers as well as providing an over-view of the current state-of-the-art of zero emission pulping facilities. Conference participants broke into round-table discussions focusing on agriculture, textiles, building products and seeds and oil. Ken Friedman, NAIHC Board Member, from American Hemp Mercantile, Jason Finnis from British Columbia Hemp Company and Dennis Crone of Mackie International all spoke on building markets for hemp products around the world.

Jeffrey Gain, Chairman of the U.S.D.A. Alternative Agriculture Research Corporation, presented the NAIHC legislative and strategic plan recommendation – a two-page over-view including definitions and research (available at www.naihc.org). This included a definition of industrial hemp: “Industrial hemp means all parts and varieties of the plant Cannabis sativa whether growing or not that contain a tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of 1% or less and are possessed by a grower and handler in compliance with the provisions of this article. Industrial hemp is separate and distinct from “marihuana or marijuana”. Mr. Gain indicated that legislation is expected to be introduced in at least a half dozen or more states for the 1997 legislative season. Cynthia Thielen, a Hawaii State Legislator, discussed her state’s efforts at introducing industrial hemp. The state of Hawaii will be producing a report due in January on the potential of industrial hemp in Hawaii.

In the evening, Dr. Ralph Hardy gave a banquet presentation on bio-based industrial products and the role of bio-technology in the 21st century. Overall, attendees seemed positive on the information exchange and net-working at the conference, which received extensive media coverage including The Wall Street Journal and live from the local ABC and FOX broadcasts networks, as well as representation from several local papers.

To receive more information on NAIHC, please visit our web site at: www.naihc.org.

John W. Roulac

NAIHC Board Secretary (in 1996)