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http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/news...owing-hemp
Department of Agriculture is preparing to request a streamlining of the process
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At the normal pace of government, that process and setting up compliance agreements with growers could take two years.
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The legislation to enact hemp pilot programs contains $425,000 for two staff positions and programming.
Two years... $425K... I wonder how much the "special permits" will cost...
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Hemp is a magical plant with so many uses. Can someone tell me how we will be able to produce it cheaper than India and China? Have we not learned anything from Sugar and Pineapples?
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To me, and I may be wrong, but it is more of a "boutique" crop that caters itself in a limited, cheap product where cotton isn't viable. The fabric is coarse and not very strong, more like burlap in strength and feel. Ropes are no longer made due to rot problems, synthetic blends are mostly used now.
Why would one want to invest in vast crops of the stuff without direct processing mills with dirt cheap labor, except to be sure that personal growth of the other strain would be nearly impossible due to cross pollination?
Community begins with Aloha
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"Why would one want to invest in vast crops of the stuff without direct processing mills with dirt cheap labor"
The USDA film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1oFcgLfgV0 certainly makes it look like dirt cheap labor would be required to pull a profit in today's market, but I'm guessing that mechanization and industrialization could do away with most of the labor.
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I'm really hoping Hemp farming becomes a reality for Hawaii. The medicines and foods are incredibly health promoting.. I especially love the fabric made of Hemp and Flax or Tencel. (Wood pulp). Surprisingly, I have never found fabric softer or more durable than Hemp blends. If only we could produce them here! If you like cotton, you'd love Hemp Tencel clothes!
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quote:
Originally posted by 2liveque
Hemp is a magical plant with so many uses. Can someone tell me how we will be able to produce it cheaper than India and China? Have we not learned anything from Sugar and Pineapples?
What, a voice of reason? Yes, it would just be another attempt at the Plantation Export model, which has failed in Hawaii for sugar cane, pineapples and coffee (Hawaii coffee plantations failed in the late 1800's).
What is the domestic (inter island) consumption of hemp products? There is no demand. There are already hundreds of hemp consumer products being exported from a multitude of third world countries where the labor rate is much, much lower than Hawaii. Hawaii can't be export competitive with the Federal minimum wage.
Here is the Walmart page for hemp products, anybody can go down there today and pick up multiple hemp products. I picked up a spool of hemp string and was not impressed at all. It is scratchy, stiff, shreds, maybe a little stronger in tension than cotton string but not that much and it absorbs moisture like crazy. Hawaii hemp is just another meathead idea from old hippies on Maui. So no wonder, all the geriatric hippy-wannabes in Hawaii just love it.
http://www.walmart.com/search/?query=hemp
"Aloha also means goodbye. Aloha!"
*Japanese tourist on bus through Pahoa, "Is this still America?*
