Firstly, just to clarify the difference between Hemp and Marijuana, as there is sometimes much confusion. Both are from the same Cannabis Species and Hemp is legally defined as a cannabis plant having less than 1 % of THC/THCa whist Marijuana has more than 1%.
Hemp has a long history in Australia, dating back to the First Fleet. The first seeds were brought by Sir Joseph Banks, an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. He saw a bright future with hemp and envisioned the crop as a sustainable and lucrative resource for commercial production. This hemp was used for sails and cordage to maintain their fleet of ships and provide seeds for protein and other medicinal uses.
Hemp was first grown in Australia in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales in 1840 with the Australian government supporting farmers with gifts of land and grants. The consumption of cannabis in Australia in the 19th century was believed to be widespread.
In the 1920s, most of the world including Australia agreed to ban cannabis as part of the 1925 Geneva convention. It’s important to note that cannabis was a last-minute amendment that was added due to the lack of research at the time and pressure from other countries to include it. Australia was still researching cannabis for medical and scientific reasons and small-scale cultivation was allowed in some areas until its full outlawing in 1960. It was not long until other countries began to shift their attitudes toward medical cannabis and industrial hemp, so did Australia.
After almost 80 years hemp was finally legalised in Australia in 2017. Today hemp is being grown across Australia’s temperate, subtropical and tropical climates.
Across the globe, It is estimated that industrial hemp can be used in more than 25,000 different products from textiles, clothing, rope, home furnishings, building materials, plastic , industrial oils, cosmetics as well as food and pharmaceuticals. Hemp has also had a positive effect on our environment being able to capture and store carbon and is considered zero waste as all parts of the plant can be utilised.
Today hemp is experiencing a global resurgence and Wandarra is committed to growing, harvesting and processing hemp fibre and seeds to meet local and global food and fibre demands.
