Hello all,
I feel that most commercial fiber producers generally welcome alternatives to
conventional sources, particularly if they can:
1. be grown on poor quality land unsuitable for other uses.
2. be grown for equal or greater profit.
3. show a plant's adaptability to a particular site's environment.
Like others in this discussion, I feel that the relationship between hemp and
marijuana is tenuous at best.
For alternative crops such as hemp, kenaf, etc. I tend to favor an approach
such as mixed plantations, i.e. agro-forestry. Intercropping of trees and
hemp, for example, could provide short and long term cash flow and perhaps
provide habitat as well. There are also agro-forestry systems that include
"edible landscapes" for many wildlife species. The actual mix depends, of
course, on the site as well as the landowner's objectives.
Trees have long been recognized as having beneficial effects far beyond volume
growth and/or the bottom line. Their integration into an agricultural
"landscape" may or may not be done with a financial end result in mind.
A bit of creativity with fiber cropping could go a long way toward utilization
of land that is currently unproductive. Then maybe we'd be able to leave old
growth alone.
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SYLVAN OPTIONS
Jim Carlson, Owner
P.O. Box 506 Voice: (503) 679-3161
Dillard, Oregon 97432 USA E-Mail: sylvan@rosenet.net
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