Hemp oil production is ramping up at Hemp New Zealand's new premises in the Ashburton Business Park.

The company relocated from Tauranga to Ashburton over Christmas to be closer to hemp growers in Mid Canterbury and the necessary infrastructure.

Business development manager Nigel Hosking, who has a long history with hemp in Mid Canterbury, said he got the keys to the bare building in November last year.

Since then, they've moved a UV seed treatment plant, cold process seed press and other equipment from the North Island and fitted out the factory.

The last food safety audit was completed in April and bulk seed processing is underway.

The dark green earthy-scented oil is stored in 1000-litre bladders for export or sent off for bottling or turned into capsules, while the remainder of the seed is milled to create a healthy plant protein for smoothies.

Hosking said hemp protein was a "good healthy option for infants through to the elderly".

The seeds are also shelled and sold as hemp hearts.

The company sells extra virgin hemp oil, hemp hearts, and hemp protein, along with a skincare range containing hemp oil, direct to consumers under its Hemp Farm brand.

Hemp products are also exported to Australasia and sold wholesale to food manufacturers and contract manufacturers.

Hosking said there was an oversupply of hemp seed this year but there was an opportunity for Mid Canterbury farmers for the next season.

He said the district was the perfect location to scale-up production and could see

The hemp growing season runs from late November through to December when the soil temperatures are warm. Harvest is usually between 90 - 110 days.

Hosking said hemp fitted in well as a rotation crop for arable farmers

The seed is then cleaned, stored, and used as needed for processing.

Hosking said the hemp grain was stored offsite and brought in for processing in batches of about 10 tonnes with the press processing a 1.5 tonne container in 24 hours.

He said the processing factory ran "quite lean' but had the potential to scale up as demand increased as the use of hemp around the world increased.

One of the benefits of New Zealand-grown hemp was that the origins of the oil back to the farm that grew the seed, which had the potential to add to the trust as an organic brand.

Hosking said the whole hemp plant could be used for various products from hybrid fibre yarns and weed matting, to panels for building, through to tea from the leaf tips. Hemp also shared similarities with hops and could be used to make beer, he said.

But most of this is long-term potential. In the short-term Hemp NZ is hoping thatthe laws would be eased to allow the use of hemp in food products for companion animals.

Hosking said hemp would benefit from a national campaign to promote the benefits of commercial hemp and the fact it was not the same as cannabis.

New Zealand had about 20 approved cultivars for industrial hemp. Hosking said levels of THC, the chemical responsible for the psychotic effect of cannabis, had been deliberately bred out of the approved cultivars and had to be under 0.35%.

The hemp tips were regularly tested for THC levels too, he said.

By Sharon Davis