Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
equipment needs (blending and other
machines) and increased efficiency of
production, thus allowing further cost savings
to the manufacturer.
It must be noted that the price paid to
farmers is relative to the price they get for
other crops grown in the same season for a
similar production cost. Hemp has different
input needs and competes with different crops
in Europe to those in Australia. In so far as
Europe is concerned, both agricultural produc-
tion and processing attract substantial subsi-
dies. This is in the order of
•
300 ha of crop at 9.3 t/ha 2750 t of
straw resulting in 1650 t of hurd.
1650 t of hurds is approximately 15,000
•
M
3
or a storage shed 50 m long × 30 m
wide × 10 m high.
A 40 ft container of hurds can hold
•
approximately 75 M
3
or 8.25. A 40 ft
container filled with fibre will weigh
approx 19 t, just under the weight limit
for a container of this size, which is
approximately 20 t.
If it costs $2000 to deliver a 40 ft con-
•
€
110/ha of crop
tainer to a location, the transport cost to
product weight for fibre is $0.10/kg and
for hurds is $0.24/kg. The percentage
cost of transport to product value for fibre
is 10% and for hurds is 53%.
production and
€
90/t of resulting fibre for
processing.
In Canada, the present fibre production is,
in effect, subsidized by the Hemp Food Industry.
Growers in Canada receive a competitive crop
income by growing hemp seed for the North
American health food market. The remaining
hemp hurds or stubble from the seed harvest
(approximately 2.5 t/ha) can be bought by
fibre and hurd processing companies at a rela-
tively low price, as the main source of income
is from the seed.
The present form of EU subsidies poten-
tially will reduce over the next 2 years; how-
ever, other forms of subsidies probably will
replace them. In Canada, the hemp food
market is expected to expand at approxi-
mately 50% per annum, as it has done for
the past 4-5 years. This will mean that an
ongoing supply of seed crop stalk will be
available, but only at a rate relative to the
food market.
Clearly, the cost of transport and storage of
hurds is a major limiting factor and must be
made more efficient and cost-effective. This
aspect is addressed only partially here; future
papers will be written about the handling and
transport of hurds, as well as specifically
about the market development of hurd-based
products.
6.3.4
Solutions and efficiencies
Potential efficiencies across the entire value
chain are:
1. 12% lower cost of raw material by achiev-
ing a 20% higher crop yield.
2. 15% higher proportion of fibre to hurds
ratio in plant genetics.
3. 30% lower cost of production in harvesting
and handling to mill.
4. 25% lower cost of Stage 1 processing
'classification' of raw materials.
6.3.3 Understanding hurds
While the intention over time is to lower the
cost of fibre to enable a greater market vol-
ume, the intention with hurds is to increase
them by a similar percentage. This can be
achieved by finding captivated high-volume
markets with specific needs that require the
technical attributes of hurds. Before going into
this in detail, some volume figures one needs to
appreciate about hurds are given below:
Higher crop yield (plant breeding
and agronomic technologies)
As stated, farmers in the EU receive a
110
(AU$180) subsidy for every hectare of crop
production. The price paid for bales of hemp
delivered to the mill in the EU is approximately
€
€
•
Hurds make up 70-80% of the weight of
150/t. Yields in the EU are approximately
6t/ha. However, comparing grower returns
between different countries is somewhat
stalk grown, harvested, transported, pro-
cessed and sent to market.
