A new farmer led company are hoping their first experience growing medicinal hemp will eventually lead to them producing lower cost CBD products rather than consumers having to rely on imported stock.
Custom harvesters and even a processing plant could one day be on the cards for the north of the state if licensing around hemp production allows it.
Earlier this month the World Health Organisation voted to remove cannabis derived CBD from an international narcotic drug register where it sat alongside heroin.
The move was hailed a major boost in medical cannabis legislation efforts globally.
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Ross Munro of manufacturing business SatiVite currently has a six hectare (15 acre) drip irrigated crop planted in Moree since early September and will be harvested for seed from February or March.
"Our basic aim is to produce broad acre Australian made CBD that is cheaper than the current imported product, with jobs staying in Australia," he said.
"The broadacre Australian weather allows us to compete with the overseas market on a serious volume. The genetics we have established can ensure year round outdoor production."
Mr Munro has joined with renowned agronomist Matthew Barnes from Australian Soil Planners, biochemist and cannabis researcher Brian White and one of the first patients to be on a medicinal cannabis program, Mike Cleary, to form SatiVite Pty Ltd.
"We formed this company after many imported products were being held up and Australian patients had supply problems to receive the much needed medicine that helps patients find relief from their symptoms," Mr Munro said.
Their current license is restricted to seed harvesting only, meaning arguably about $6-$8 million worth of CBD will be ploughed back into the ground.
"We will be required to plough in an enormously large amount of money of CBD after we harvest the seed because we don't have the right processing licenses," Mr Munro said.
"We have applied for licenses but the wait could be up to two to three years and at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"We have an import and distribution warehouse in Brisbane and pharmacy selling overseas CBD products to doctors and prescriptions.
"It seems ludicrous we are ploughing in perfectly good product."
The group are undergoing a number of trials with growth regulates and weed control chemicals which is currently limited to a hoe due to the limited approved products for the emerging industry in Australia.
"We are working with CSIRO and two leading Australian universities to ensure a quality safe Australian product for our patients when our license is approved," he said.
Mr Munro's business BMC build custom cotton harvest equipment and he intends to use his skills to establish a harvester for their crop that complies with the stringed safety rules.
"Some of the plants are getting what we would consider to be too tall but we are just doing lost of trials into how to make it machine harvestable and engineered 'Australian tough' for export around the world," he said.
State agriculture minister Adam Marshall visited the crop recently and was excited by "the crop of the future".
"It could be a very valuable rotational crop on between cotton or cereal crop plantings," a statement said.
"For those worried about literally being high on life in Moree as a result of this crop, don't worry - industrial hemp is specifically bred with an incredibly low THC content (the factor that gives you a high) and is also very strictly regulated by both the state and commonwealth governments."
Lucy Kinbacher
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
