IHASA Newsletter
Autumn 2025
Around the paddocks
The hemp growing season has been very dry but luckily for irrigation, South Australia’s hemp crops have grown well over summer and we’re getting ready to harvest the first hemp grain crops in about 10 days. That’s planting to harvest in 100 days! Hemp fibre crops are also doing well but take a little longer – about 140 days. Still not bad considering how this remarkable plant can house you, feed you and benefit farmland and the atmosphere in record time.
Even though it seems like promoting the benefits of hemp to everyone involved in the rat race is slow and hard work, the progress since November 2017 when hemp foods consumption was legalized in Australia has been enormous. For example, in 2018 and 2019 the hemp jokes were driving us crazy and wearing us very thin. These days the hemp jokes are rare, and most people are aware of hemp foods and willing to try them. Hemp is reasonably well known by most people as a healthy food source, and these days we rarely witness members of the older generation turning their back on us at farmers markets as soon as they realize we’re trying to sell hemp. Believe me, it used to happen all the time!
Slowly, the ship is turning, and widespread acceptance of hemp is becoming normal. We now hope that public perceptions of hemp continue to improve and eventually the most stubborn members of our community (politicians) will selfishly “get on board” and take photo opportunities in hemp crops. When this starts happening, legislative changes will propel the hemp industry forward and we’ll really start to get somewhere.
Until next time,
Mick Andersen
Member Spotlight
Bernard Thomson
IHASA Public Officer & Treasurer
AHC Executive Officer
I came across IHASA following a chance meeting with Ruth Trigg at our local Farmers Market in September 2017. Ruth had been an early advocate for Industrial Hemp in SA and was Secretary of IHASA at the time.
I was invited to attend the AGM a couple of weeks later and was elected to the role of Treasurer. I knew very little (almost nothing) about hemp or its history in Australia but I was keen to learn and help where I could.
It was in my role on the IHASA management committee that I attended the inaugural meeting of the Australian Hemp Council in Melbourne in 2020. Since then I have been closely involved with the challenges of supporting an organisation designed to promote industrial hemp and its many and varied product potential.
I am intrigued by the fact that hemp has played a role in human societies for thousands of years and in spite of its vast range of potential uses, still presents significant challenges to being widely adopted and commercially viable. The call to work collaboratively, share in research, technical resources and marketing is made repeatedly, but not so easily achieved.
And I think this is part of the challenge. It appears that hemp will not give up its value so easily and makes demands not only on our agricultural practices and our processing technologies, but also on our collective organisation.
I have no expertise in agronomy or hemp processing, but I am drawn to the challenge of supporting collaborative structures, facilitating the exchange of information and building productive networks.
2025 Newsletter Schedule
For the 2025 calendar year, the following dates are when the newsletters will be circulated to members.
- 1st June 2025 (Winter edition)
- 1st September 2025 (Spring edition)
- 1st December 2025 (Summer edition)
As a valued member, if you have information you’d like included in the newsletters, please forward this to Dianne Sharpe (dianne.sharpe2@gmail.com) one week prior to the scheduled newsletter deadline for circulation.
In addition to this, if there is information you’d like to share at any time with other members and/or state entities and the AHC, please email this to Bernard and Dianne and a separate document can be done on the IHASA newsletter template for circulation to the relevant parties.
All contributions are welcome.
Hemp Recipe – Kiwi Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 cup dates medjool
- 1 cup hemp seeds / walnuts
- pinch cinnamon
- ¼ tsp sea salt
Filling:
- 3 cups cashews raw, soaked for 2+ hours
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 4 kiwi fruit
- ¼ cup cacao raw powder
- ¼ tsp stevia
- ¼ cup maple syrup / honey / agave syrup raw
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 1/8 cup water (least amount possible)
- 1 tbsp cacao paste*optional (for the real fudge feel) or
- 2 tbsps cacao nibs
- cream to serve, nice!
- 4 bananas frozen, blended until smooth
Cooking Instructions
- Line a pie dish with a suitable wrap. You could also use a springform pan.
- Melt the coconut oil by placing it in a jar, in a bowl and running it under hot water for a minute or so, letting it sit in the hot water. Continue to run the water if you need. If using cacao paste, add it to the coconut oil.
- Add all crust ingredients to food processor or blender, process until a doughy ball forms.
Miller’s Corner is a sustainability – focused housing development in the Adelaide Hills. Our despair at seeing the types of development happening in the Adelaide Hills led us to seek alternative ways of building. After seeing a Grand Designs program on hemp building we decided to investigate using hemp in our project.
After finding it was wasn’t legal to grow hemp in South Australia we joined the newly formed Industrial Hemp Association and began lobbying the government for a change of legislation. Unfortunately even with the new legislation it was not possible to purchase South Australian grown hemp. This led us to purchasing hemp from France which proved to be the most cost-effective method of getting hemp in South Australia.
Building at Miller’s Corner is progressing with currently eight buildings at various stages of development including five which have used hemp as a building product. It is expected most buildings will be completed by the end of 2021. Our website 
