Industrial hemp processing facility to provide alternative building material for homes in SA first
Vircura's Adam Djekic and Martyn England at a hemp farm in the state's South East. (Supplied: Vircura)
An industrial hemp processing facility is set to start operating later this year, which could lead to more South Australians living in homes made from carbon neutral fibre.
Key points:
- Vicura says the facility will create hundreds of jobs in the Murraylands
- Hemp fibre will be turned into construction panels to be used in future housing projects
- More farmers will be needed to grow hemp fibre to feed the demand for the product
Australian plant processing company Vircura is developing the facility as part of a new innovation precinct in Monarto, at the site of a former retail warehouse.
Vircura general manager Adam Djekic said industrial hemp was a versatile material.
"It can be put into a range of products from building products, like hempcrete, to textiles," he said.
While hempcrete is a mixture of the woody component of the plant's stem and a lime-binding agent, Vircura plans to use hemp fibre to develop new products like precast panels for internal walls.
University of Adelaide's Professor Rachel Burton says building with hemp has many benefits.
Adam Djekic and Martyn England inspect the industrial hemp crop with growers. (Supplied: Vircura)
"It's carbon neutral and it's got quite unusual properties, because it's quite breathable, so it [creates] a nice atmosphere in the house," she said.
"It's also a fire retardant and it's got really good insulation properties."
Fibre varieties of hemp grow up to four metres tall, have a thicker stem and produce very little seed. (Supplied: Vircura)
Mr Djekic said worker recruitment for the facility had begun and the first hemp processing machines were expected to arrive next month.
"We'll be looking at approximately six to eight tonnes of processing capacity, to start out," he said.
"The plan is to scale that up sizeably over the next year or two.
"It has a huge potential not only for farmers, but also for the people surrounding Monarto — it can create hundreds of jobs along that entire value chain."
One crop, two incomes
Until now Bordertown-based Mick Anderson has been focused on growing and processing hemp for food products.
However, the Good Country Hemp owner says the new facility will allow him to diversify his efforts.
"It is not all that different, growing hemp for fibre is probably a bit more forgiving than growing hemp for seed," he said.
Hemp grower and processor Mick Anderson in his hemp crop in Bordertown in SA's South East. (Supplied: Mick Anderson)
Mr Anderson hopes that having another endpoint for hemp will encourage more farmers in the state's South East to consider growing the crop.
"At the last count there were six hemp fibre processing plants in either planning or construction phase [across the country]," he said.
"We need some more acres to grow the hemp to feed those processing plants."
While this season's crop will just be for industrial hemp, Mr Anderson hopes that next year he will be able to harvest both seed and industrial hemp from the same crop.
"The real challenge is the machinery that's needed to do that," he said.
"Those machines don't come cheap and there's only two that I know of in Australia at the moment."