Hemp CyberFarm Answer 3 Finland

Answer 3 Finnish Hemp-seed

3. Finnish strains:
Dr. Jace Callaway Ph.D. comments on the early-blooming variety FIN-314:

My partner and I have spent a few years developing this strain. it is particularly well suited for high latitudes (50-70o N) where most varieties hardly bloom, much less set seed. It is also frost tolerant and does well in short growing seasons (100-110 days). Its short stature, 2 m max at 65o N, make it easy to harvest with a standard combine, without modification. In addition, the THC level is extremely low (0.08% max), almost 4 times below the limit allowed for registered cannabis varieties in the European Union (0.3%). the total oil content of FIN-314 seed averaged 37% by weight in three independent analyses. The level of saturated oils was 10%. as with other plants from the north, the unsaturated oil profile measured better than other varieties of cannabis, showing up to 5% GLA and 2% SDA, in addition to 54% LA and 22% LNA by gas chromatography of the methyl esters. The profile is better than oil pressed from evening primrose seed, which also has high (7-10%) levels of GLA that are commonly extracted by solvents (hexanes) and is widely sold as a dietary supplement. evening primrose oil, however, is not a source for essential LNA.

Next comes the advent of FIN-314; an early blooming variety of hemp that produces tons (literally) of seed per Ha in a good year. it is short (less than 2 m at 60 N), which allows for mechanical harvesting. it has a THC content almost 10 time below the EU cut off of 0.3%. it is morphologically so different from all of the EU varieties, that anyone with sight can see the difference. unfortunately, however, FIN-314 does not appear on the EU list of approved cultivars and does not receive a subsidy. I am told that this variety can not compete with the others as a fiber producer, which is probably true, although it would satisfy the quirky EU hemp regulations.

FIN-314 has been actively ignored by Finnish agricultural authorities over the past years, although some signs of interest have recently emerged, certainly due to its economic and nutritional potential as human food.

The main problem with FIN-314 in Finland is finding a dry harvest window in October or November. the plant needs a good hard frost to kill it up here (which is certainly no problem at all!), and then at least a few days are needed for the plant to dry out. otherwise, it is like harvesting wet rags. while we continue on a small scale to maintain this line in Finland, due to the high latitude, we are also growing in Canada. the continental climate of the Canadian prairie seems ideal for this variety, even when planted as late as July. also, in Finland the typical farm is only about 20 Ha, while in Canada the farms can be several thousand Ha.

Another great thing about FIN-314 is that it can follow nitrogen fixing crops in an organic rotation, making it cheap and ecological to grow. the bast fiber is fine, but only at about 15% (fiber varieties are typically over 25%). however, this is fine organic material to return to the soil after harvest, and it decomposes sufficiently before the spring, providing and excellent substrate for microbial action to begin the production of humus.

These seeds have not been made available to others, not even in Finland, and until cannabis laws are changed in other countries we are content to expand our holdings in a country where authorities still trust the citizens to do the right thing. in short, I can only export information until the end of the '99 season. After this we can deliver.

Should additional information be needed, please be consider the fact that many people are trying to get in on this. my ability to prepare more personal responses are limited.

From: J.C. Callaway, Ph.D.
To: Matthew@HempWorld.com
Subject: gen-x, Fin-314
Date: Monday, December 14, 1998

any concerns for FIN-314 in north America should be directed to gen-x.

sasha przytyk
genx@net1fx.com

he will be able to give you all the details. keep in mind, we are only interested in growing with organic techniques, others need not apply. also, i suspect this will be grown by gen-x members in 1999, but (if all goes well) we should have lots of seed for the masses beyond that time.

From: J.C. Callaway, Ph.D.
To: Matthew@HempWorld.com
Subject: other stuff
Date: Friday, December 4, 1998

i think you are doing a great service.

>Jace, please let us know if there are any new developments. We are non-profit and we are trying to collect all the material useful for hemp farmers and agronomists alike since 1995.

i just put up a web page for 'finola oil'. you will see that it is only info, because i really don't have enough oil to export at this time. we had a miserable year up here with one of the coldest and wettest summers in recorded history. the summer before was one of the hottest and driest. we got up to 2 MT/Ha in some plots in '97, but hardly got more than 0.5 MT/HA on the few plots that we managed to harvest this year. the season in '98 in Finland went from cold and wet to freezing and snowy without a significant harvest window.

>Unfortunately very few people take the time or effort to share information.Hence, everybody is re-inventing the wheel for themselves. We find this rather cumbersome and inefficient.

it really is. i keep publishing our results in the JIHA, telling as much as i can and there was an update in the last issue (maybe you saw this?).

there is little seed available, and FIN-314 in north America is now administered by Gen-X.

jcc

Jace Callaway, Ph.D.
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
University of Kuopio
POB 1627
FIN-70211 KUOPIO, Finland, http://www.finola.com

Do you know more about this? E-mail us at Matthew@HempWorld.com

*Industrial-Hemp has no psychoactive properties following definition of the European Economic Community (EEC); THC content is less than 0.3%. In general, low THC-seed varieties without psychoactive properties are those that have a THC content of less than 1%. (See also No-THC Hemp-seed.) THC= Delta-9 TetraHydroCannabinol.