We help with agronomy by bringing in experts in the hemp field to assist our farmers to get their soil ready to grow. We aim to find the best possible seed for each area across the State. We aim to help with harvest and final processing, be is seed or straw, from the crop. We aim to walk with our farmers the whole way through the process so they can organise their own business plans to suit their farms.

Why a Co-operative?

A co-operative is a proven business model that encompasses many participants and gives them a stronger voice in the marketplace. It has a set of 7 principles by which to govern its members and its business plan. These principles sit happily with the aims of the people building the WA Hemp Growers’ Co-op Ltd.

• Principle 1: Open Membership
  We have opened membership to anyone who has a current hemp growers/processors license.
• Principle 2 : Democratic Member Control
  Every member has a share and attached to that share in one vote.
• Principle 3: Economic Participation
  All members pay a membership subscription and will participate in the supply chain of our hemp seed to product processing.
• Principle 4: Autonomy and Independence
  We have a diverse Board which is elected by membership and changes on a rolling three-year term.
• Principle 5: Education, Training and Information
  We share with our members, opportunities to develop their farming skills, through data collection, building agronomy packages.
• Principle 6: Cooperation amongst Co-operatives
  We are building connections between other well-established cooperatives both in Australia and overseas.
• Principle 7: Concern for Community
  We see the beneficial environmental impact of industrial hemp with its ability to sequester carbon, remediate soils, replace plastic in the broader community, as well as many of the other 50,000 uses of the plant.

What is a Co-operative?

Co-operatives are businesses owned and run by and for their members. Whether the members are the customers, employees or growers they have an equal say in what the business does and a share in the profits.

As businesses driven by values not just profit, cooperatives share internationally agreed principles and act together to build a better world through cooperation.

WA Hemp Growers’ Co-op Ltd is a non-distributing Co-op which does not aim to make a profit but will retain working capital for staff and future projects, returning rebates to members on a user percentage scheme.

Values

All Cooperatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, cooperative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.