Fourteen members of the New Zealand Hemp Industry Association (NZHIA) completed a workshop at her plant, where they were tutored by Australian hemp industry processors on making and colouring hempcrete for use in the construction industry.
Mrs Simmonds is keen to add another hemp start-up initiative to her fledgling business and has begun investigating making hemp textiles.
"A textile plant is now sitting in a container, which I purchased from a woman in the North Island, Nancy King, who runs the charity Earthskin.
"That won’t be set up until early next year but I think the potential to make textiles in this area is huge," she said.
Mrs Simmonds said she first went to a NZHIA course in Rotorua in 2020 and was "blown away" by hemp’s sustainable qualities and the range of hemp materials that could be created.
"I felt very strongly it was important to have a practical course here and we have had very good support from Central Otago."
A couple of growers in the region would be supplying her with hemp straw when it was ready in early 2025, she said.
Mrs Simmonds is a former nurse educator and is focused on educating people about the hemp industry because of the stigma caused by its relationship with its cousin, marijuana.
She said commercially grown hemp should not be included in the Misuse of Drugs Act because its THC levels were negligible, so people could not get stoned.
Hemp materials had been around for centuries and had been used in sails, paper, ropes and clothing, she said.
Hemp also appealed to those who were seeking solutions to reduce climate change, she said.
"Hemp sequesters more carbon per hectare than forestry or any other crop over the same growth period.
"Concrete emits carbon. A cubic metre of concrete emits up to 250kg of carbon and hempcrete can sequester up to 420kg of carbon."
Mrs Simmonds would be speaking at an Otago University event and a Wānaka Business Chamber event soon and plans to showcase hemp and provide hemp education at the Wānaka Show in March.
