Beginning farmers come to our hemp community and ask the same question, which I will answer today. My name is Artem, I am the co-owner and general director of Hemp Industry Trading House LLC. We’ve been in the hemp business for over a year now and I can share my thoughts on where is the best place to start?
All hemp growers in Russia are guided by government decree No. 101 of February 6, 2020, paragraph 3, which reads:
- Varieties of the following drug-containing plants shall be permitted for cultivation for industrial purposes not related to the production or manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances:
Hemp with a mass fraction of tetrahydrocannabinol not exceeding 0.1 percent in the dry weight of the leaves and inflorescences of the upper parts of one plant;
The question that newcomers ask is: how to start a hemp business or how to start sowing hemp?
Step number 1. Why do you want it? What do you want to end up with?
To get the primary product (raw material) that hemp produces: seeds, inflorescences, leaves, stem, root, or do you want to take pictures in the field with your hemp?
The stem
A) The stem can be used to make fiber for the textile industry, in which case it must be harvested before the seeds mature. The fiber will be more delicate. And for fiber qualities coarser: for construction, insulation, for the manufacture of mattresses, for the production of gunpowder, can be collected after hibernation.
B) From the stem can be obtained hemp hurd, which can be used as bedding for livestock, in the construction of houses – mixed with clay and build walls, make panels. Hemp hurd makes quality fuel pellets.
Seeds
The seeds can be pressed into oil, the oil content of 1 kg of seeds 20-30%. The resulting cake can be used to feed fish, bait fishermen, and you can make protein.
The seed can be separated into kernels and husk. The husk can be used as stuffing in cushions and can be given to fish for food. The kernel can be added to food, and protein can be made from the kernel.
The seeds can be eaten naked and cooked into porridges. Or you can make coffee with hemp seeds like we do.
Inflorescences, leaves, root.
Some entrepreneurs make teas, tinctures, drinks, and medicines from the sphere. Which help with serious illnesses: epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, depression and others. View the range at the Hemp and Flax Exchange, and you can also post products for sale or buy.
Step number 2. Before you sow, start selling.
Start by selling what you want to produce eventually. Don’t start growing if you don’t have the extra money to experiment. If you take us, we started with sales and planted 10 hectares in six months.
It’s November 2022 and we still can’t harvest the seeds. The harvest is disrupted. It’s not for nothing they say that investments in agriculture are some of the riskiest. We buried about 300-350 thousand rubles in the field.
In the Vologda region it rains all the time, the inflorescence is always wet and the field is always muddy, the entry into the field is limited. Harvesting of wet inflorescences by combine harvester is impossible, because everything will wind up and stick.
The weather should be clear for three days before harvesting. To allow the inflorescences to dry out. The humidity of the seeds should be up to 12%.
We use a PALESSE GS12 harvester for harvesting.
So, you have to start with sales if you don’t have the extra money to experiment. We have an offer for sales agents. It’s the most ideal way to get into the industry.
Step 3: Find an experienced comrade, colleagues.
There are many farmers in our Hemp community who sow hemp in different regions of Russia. We also have representatives from other countries: Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine, Mongolia, Canada, Thailand, the Netherlands and others. The chat room itself is full of answers to any question you may have, all you have to do is enter keywords into the search box.
You can begin by exploring our Hemp Business Forum, especially the Knowledgebase section. There is a lot of useful information for both experienced and beginners.
But, we can use Russian.
Conclusion
We wish success to everyone in this difficult business. Today in Russia 15-20 thousand hectares under hemp. Contrary to 1 million hectares in the 1900s when the Russian Empire was the world leader in hemp exports. We invite you to join our community of hemp and flax growers of Hemp.
If you want to invest in the Russian hemp market or gain access to our community, then contact me. Subscribe to Linkedin and YouTube.