Published by Farmers Guide, March 2008.

Hemcore Managing Director Mike Duckett.

Halesworth plant will process industrial hemp

THE UK's first plant dedicated to processing hemp is nearing completion at Halesworth, in Suffolk. Due to begin operation in May this year, following a commissioning and bedding-in period, the plant will eventually take hemp from across the UK and deal with the cropping from more than 10,000 acres.
The plant, which is being built by Hemcore Ltd, is the result of more than 10 years research and development work.
"The roots of this project go back to 1993, but in 1998 we built a first-generation processing plant at Maldon, Essex," Hemcore's Managing Director, Mike Duckett, told Farmers Guide. "Although it had limited capacity, it allowed us to experiment with the crop on a small scale, simultaneously perfecting the agronomy for growing hemp and developing markets for its end products."
The plant at Maldon proved a success, and with demand for the company's hemp-based products starting to outstrip supply, the decision was taken to build an industrial-scale processing plant.
"The Maldon site was on the coast and we felt we needed to move somewhere closer to growers," Mr Duckett said. "We started to look for sites in East Anglia and were fortunate to find this site at Halesworth.
"We have taken on a building of 50,000 square feet under a single-span roof and with plenty of height. It will be able to house all of the processing equipment as well as providing storage for the end products."
Installation work started in November 2007 and when Farmers Guide visited the site during January the plant was starting to take shape.
"We have gone for a different process than we used at Maldon, but it's based on proven technology," Mr Duckett said. "The components have all been imported from the Continent and are being installed on a turn-key contract by the supplier."
Once operational the processing facility will take in bales of hemp at one end of the plant and leave the finished products of shiv - small, wood-like chunks of material from the core of the hemp plant - and hemp fibre at the other.
"The plant has been designed to process 7t of hemp every hour," Mr Duckett said. "It's a completely dry mechanical process that breaks down the hemp and separates, cleans and refines it until we're left with shiv and fibre.
"There's very little waste from the crop as 99% of what goes in is converted into saleable product."
Each tonne of hemp leaves almost 350kg of fibre, 550kg of shiv and about 100kg of dust-like material. The fibre leaves the plant as 200kg bales - similar in size to conventional hay bales - and the shiv is packed in 200-litre bags and palletised for transport, while the dust is also collected at made into briquets that can be used as fuel.

Diverse applications
Hemcore has been extremely successful in developing markets for the fibre and shiv and is extremely excited by the prospects for hemp and its end products.
"The fibre has proved an economical and environmentally friendly way to produce internal panels in the automotive industry," Mr Duckett said. "The new BMW 5-Series uses panels produced by mixing the fibre with polypropylene before placing it in a mould under pressure and heat. The end result is a panel that is not only lighter than using traditional materials, it can be recycled, which helps the car manufacturers meet end-of-life legislation for the vehicles they build."
The fibre can also be used as an insulation material in the construction industry, which is where the shiv has its most exciting applications.
"The shiv can be used as a superior bedding material and is popular in the equine sector, but more importantly it can be used as a carbon-negative building material," Mr Duckett said. "Working with the world's largest lime producers, Lhoist, we have developed Hemcrete, a shiv and lime mix that can be used for creating external walls in domestic and commercial buildings.
"Hemcrete is suitable for use with both steel and timber framed buildings and can be used in two ways - either by filling the void between two shutters, or sprayed onto the surface of one shutter and built up in layers - once complete, the surface is rendered to make it weatherproof and the job's done."
Each cubic metre of Hemcrete locks up 108kg of CO2 making it extremely environmentally friendly. The fact that it is also fire-retardant, an excellent thermal insulator and rodent proof makes it an attractive product for architects looking for alternative building materials.
"Hemcrete has already been used in the construction of Adnams' new distribution warehouse at Southwold and on a housing estate at Elmswell, among other projects," Mr Duckett said. "The Hemcrete-built houses have proved to be extremely energy efficient when compared with others built using traditional techniques."

Growers wanted
Of course these new products can only reach their full potential if Hemcore can ramp up production to meet demand. The company wants to plant 2,000ha of the crop this year and is aiming for 4,000ha in 2009.
"We already have a considerable area under contract, but we're always looking for more growers," Mr Duckett said. "For 2008 growers can expect a gross margin of about £670/ha before haulage based on a yield of 7.5t/ha. Yields of up to 10t/ha - which would yield enough shiv to build one house - are possible in the UK."
Hemcore claims that spring-grown hemp is an ideal break crop in any rotation and offers growers a complete change from beans, peas or rape.
"It's ideal to follow late sugar beet or vegetables and could have an important role to play this year where oilseed rape has failed to establish and growers are looking for an alternative spring crop," Mr Duckett said. "It also helps clean up blackgrass and brome, and because it's deep rooting, it's good for soil structure too."
The crop is sown in April/May, when there's no further risk of frost, into a good seed bed because good establishment is vital. The seed is planted 2-3cm deep into moist soil at 37kg/ha and the aim is to establish 150 plants/square metre.
The fertiliser recommendation for hemp is 112kg/ha N, 60kg/ha P and 120kg/ha K on heavy land and 112kg/ha N, 60kg/ha P and 150kg/ha K on light land. Sewage sludge can also be used on land for growing the crop.
The hemp plants emerge in 5-7 days and have to be protected from pigeons in the early stages, but once firmly established it looks after itself and needs no herbicides or pesticides.
Hemp grows extremely quickly and by the time it is harvested in mid-to-late August, it will be up to 12ft tall. The crop used to be cut using a forage harvester, but Hemcore has now switched to a new triple-cutterbar system that cuts the crop into more manageable lengths.
The crop is cut green at 80-90% moisture and must dry in the field for about two weeks so that it is no more than 14% moisture when baled. Hesston-sized bales are preferred, and they have to be stored under cover to keep them dry.
"Once the hemp fields have been cleared, you can get straight in with a direct drill because the fields are so clean," Mr Duckett said. "And volunteers won't be a problem because the first frost will kill any plants that do emerge."
For more adventurous growers, hemp can also be grown for seed and straw with a potential gross margin of £874/ha before haulage.
"This is a higher-risk/higher-reward crop because you have to wait until mid September to harvest it," Mr Duckett said. "We use different varieties that don't grow as tall as the crop is initially cut by a combine with its table up so that we leave a 5ft stubble. Then the multi-blade mowers finish the job before the crop is baled and stored.
"Growers have to aware that the hemp seed, which is crushed to produce oil for use in cosmetics, has to be dried from 20% to 8-9% moisture within six hours of harvesting."
Hemcore is keen to get production underway at Halesworth and to building relationships with more farmers across East Anglia and up the East of England. It will supply seed under its contract, as well as agronomy advice to growers. And although the varieties have only a very small amount of psychoactive chemicals, Hemcore also takes care of the Home Office registration process that growing hemp requires.

For more information on the opportunities of working with Hemcore contact Ian Low on 01279 504466.