Harvest Techniques Discussion

Hempflax BV harvest machine in action!

Or

Harvest machines to use:

Harvesting. Highest quality fiber obtained by cutting at early flowering. Mower/conditioner and round-baler may be suitable for low to medium quality end uses. Best approach for harvesting appears to be direct combining when shelling becomes evident. This is from Manitoba Canada 1995 experience.

How to harvest hemp today?

From: sak saks@direct.ca
To: Matthew@HempWorld.com
Subject: Hemp Project
Date: Tuesday, March 23, 1999 1:02 PM

Hello - We are from Saskatchewan, CANADA and am looking to plant 200 acres of FIN 314. We have been growing lentils for 9 years and have the nutrient levels in our soil the best in the country. We add calcium (2 times per year), zinc, copper and sea kelp. The land is not organic, but most the lentils we produce are sold for seed the next crop year because of its high quality.

We have spoken with Gen-Ex and they state they would provide seed, but want to buy it back from us at the end of the year. We have experimented with different varieties of canola and have new state of the art harvesting equipment - we have a special 25 foot header which would work great for harvesting FIN 314 from Case International. This combine has a rotary type cylinder which limits the amount of loss due to thrashing. Also, we have a 15 foot hydro mower which you can use to cut up the remainder of the crop after harvesting and re-incorporate the by-product into the soil for nitrogen enforcement. There is a 500 acre piece of heavy soil that would be perfect for hemp.

Thanks James Sak

Date: Tuesday, December 29, 1998 10:22 AM
From: Marion Speers speersm@brandonsd.mb.ca
Subject: Re: Harvesting/Processing Equipment

Dear Marion,

Thank you for your e-mail we received via David Zradicka from WestHemp or
WUTA.

>I am looking for info on harvesting and scutching (the process by which the
>long strand fibers are separated from the hurds) equipment.

We are too! Do you know about the HempCyberFarm?

>Also I would like to hear from other growers (I am applying for a hemp
>license for 1999 season) that have feedback on problems encountered in
>harvesting.

This what we try to accomplish at our site; a feedback and discussion system
so that we can help get this off the ground.

>herbicides. I've watched the black fields turn to gray in my lifetime due
>to the greedy encouragement of the chemical corporations.

We are sorry to hear this.

>I have decided after leaving the farm to return and to incorporate organic and
>bio-dynamic techniques.
>I would like to start a Hemp Co-op in Manitoba that could potentially grow,
>process and wholesale distribute hemp to an exploding world market.

Want to work together...? HempWorld!

>Given the absence of transportation subsidies and abundance of bureaucratic red
>tape concerning the export of hemp, why not have a Co-op where everyone
>from farmer to retailer and all in between could collectively benefit from
>the production of what I believe to be the major cash crop in the next century.

Our thoughts exactly!

>I have been interested in growing hemp for years but have always
>questioned the viability of doing so without somewhere to process the raw
>material.

Yes, we think the same!

>After hearing about tons of hemp lying rotting in fields last
>year, I wondered if anyone has considered the possibility of having a
>complete field to store operation all under one collectively owned and
>operated company.

That's what we envision!

>This is an idea in the most infant stage.

Not really at our place.

>I'm not interested in getting rich. I'm interested in enriching the earth, and
>pulling the farming industry out of the hands of the chemical companies and
>back into the hands of the people who want to give something to their
>children and their land.

Our thoughts exactly!

>So if any one has any info on harvesting/processing equipment or is a
>Licenced Industrial Hemp grower in S.W. M.B., please drop me a line.

Please check out our harvesting section at the HempCyberFarm we can also
advise you to check with HempFlax BV in Holland. They have their own
proprietary equipment and are very advanced!

We are looking for a serious hemp growing operation to get into hemp for
1999! We are lining up US investors to invest in this and grow in Canada. We
are looking for people who have got land and experience as a farmer and who
are knowledgeable in growing hemp but not necessarily experienced!

Take care,

Matthew

HempWorld, Inc.
Make this a HempWorld ! (TM)
http://www.hempworld.com/Hemp-CyberFarm_com

Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 17:41:36 -0700
From: "M.J. Weaver" <maureen.weaver@sympatico.ca>
Subject: Harvesting Hemp

Hello my name is Kevin Weaver and I am from South-Western Ontario.  A neighbour of ours grew a field of Industrial Hemp this summer and had a hard time harvesting it.   He said that the MoCo or swather would not cut it so he used a sicle bar. When he cut it with this the plant would fall of to the side that had already been cut.  When he went to rake it he had an even harder time

My question would be how do most farmers harvest their hemp and/or where I could find out (website, address, phone number etc.) how they harvest?

Thanks

Kevin Weaver

Reply HempCyberFarm:

Dear Kevin,

Quite a few harvest techniques are discussed in the various trials here at the HempCyberFarm and it is not hard to find them. But harvesting hemp especially, is subject to much further development for years to come.

Therefore we want to ask fellow farmers to help with suggestions and/or their experiences. Please e-mail to Matthew@HempWorld.com

Thanks, Matthew

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.

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