WälderKrut: Hemp from Sulzberg

Five years ago, he first came into contact with CBD, says Gervin Huber (31). Even then, he was so convinced of the hemp plant and its possibilities that he wanted to do something in this direction himself. When he told his cousin Aaron Kirmair (23) about it, he was equally enthusiastic – and he immediately got his friend Tobias Vögel (24) excited as well. The first attempts of the three natives of Sulzberg in hemp cultivation followed quickly: While Corona caused standstill in many places, the three resourceful Bregenzerwälder used the first lockdowns in 2020 to get their hemp business up and running. “No appointments, no club activities, no meetings – it was the ideal time to take off,” says Tobias. Because CBD-containing hemp flowers must be grown under controlled conditions, Aaron, Tobias, and Gervin quickly built a greenhouse themselves – a task at which many others would have already failed. But Aaron and Tobias both come from the construction industry, so building the greenhouse itself was not a problem. “For the specifics and technical necessities especially for hemp cultivation, Dr. Feurstein from HANAFSAN was a huge help to us,” says Aaron. Even though much can be read in specialist literature or on the Internet: “Nothing beats personal exchange and the experiences of an expert.”

Ingenuity and expert knowledge make the hemp grow

The greenhouse was hardly finished when the next venture followed: In spring 2021, the three planted two fields with EU-approved industrial hemp. 1200 m2 on Aaron's family farm and another 1600 m2 at Tobias's. “We are lucky that my neighbor is an agricultural technician,” says Aaron. “He got us a machine that can handle our rocky soil here and with which we could prepare the field for sowing.” A hemp plant takes about four months to develop from a seed to bloom. While the labor and care required for indoor cultivation are relatively high, outdoor plants grow without special attention. So by September, there wasn’t much left to do in the field. “What we have of course done is inform the police that we are growing industrial hemp here and not some drug plantation behind the house,” says Aaron. Because even though the neighbors know, for some passersby or tourists, a hemp field in Sulzberg can still be a strange sight. However, there is no cause for concern: “We only grow certified EU industrial hemp varieties,” emphasizes Gervin. “These are varieties with a guaranteed THC content of less than 0.2 percent. This means you won’t get ‘high’.

September is harvest time at the hemp field

When the hemp plants in the fields lose their vibrant green color, the flowers open, and the slightly brown seeds slowly emerge, it is time to harvest the hemp. For WälderKrut, this was the case in September. The hemp seeds were harvested with a type of combine harvester that Aaron's neighbor built especially for WälderKrut. Afterwards, the seeds must be dried as quickly as possible to prevent mold. The rest of the plant is shredded and returned to the soil as fertilizer. At least that was the case with this harvest, but that could change in the future. Because the hemp variety “Fedora 17” that the three men have planted can also be used for the production of hemp fibers. “We are currently experimenting with an Italian industrial hemp variety that has been specially bred for the production of hemp fibers,” says Aaron, “this plant can grow up to six meters high, which would be ideal for us.” Because in addition to the production of seeds and CBD flowers for their own distribution, Tobias, Aaron, and Gervin want to make hemp interesting again for the production of clothing and accessories in Vorarlberg. For good reason, as hemp has a long tradition as a raw material in the textile industry as well as a promising future.

Collaboration with HANAFSAN

Their own hemp textiles are still a thing of the future. However, it is already planned for this year to supply HANAFSAN with regional hemp leaves from the WälderKrut fields. And an otherwise inconspicuous part of the nearly 100 percent usable hemp plant is also interesting for Dr. Feurstein Medical Hemp GmbH: the roots. Hemp roots can grow up to three meters deep and are therefore excellent self-suppliers in terms of water and nutrients. But unlike many other crops, hemp roots can be utilized in very versatile ways. “There are promising research approaches regarding how hemp roots could be valuable as a raw material for hemp cosmetics,” explains Dr. Feurstein. Here, the biologist wants to advance his research further, of course with hemp roots from the Bregenzerwald. “Since we no longer grow hemp ourselves, we are very happy when we can source our raw materials from the region,” continues Dr. Feurstein. “For this, we urgently need ambitious partners like WälderKrut, who are dealing again with the cultivation of the unfortunately almost forgotten hemp plant in Vorarlberg.”

Hemp: Meaningful from root to bloom

Hemp is undemanding to grow and thrives even in soils that would be unsuitable for other crops. This makes hemp not only economically interesting. Because while only the exclusively female flowers are harvested from greenhouse hemp, hemp in the fields blooms for several weeks. This is necessary to later harvest the hemp seeds – and it is a stroke of luck for bees. When the spring and fruit blossoms are long gone, bees and other insects find a valuable and apparently tasty food source in the hemp flowers, as Dr. Feurstein and the WälderKrut team were able to observe during a local inspection last year. The possibilities of using hemp are therefore enormous in every respect. That’s why WälderKrut wants to expand cultivation further in 2022. The number of plants in the greenhouse is to be doubled, and the outdoor cultivation area is to be significantly increased. “Hemp has such huge potential – and we believe the time is ripe,” says Aaron Kirmair confidently, adding with a laugh: “And as the saying goes? The brave own the field!”

Image sources: (c) Luka Kevric and Tabea Walch / HANAFSAN