Panda Biotech™ announced yesterday that commercial operations have officially begun at the Panda Hemp Gin, their landmark industrial hemp processing facility in Wichita Falls, Texas. The 500,000-square-foot building situated on 97 acres is the first of its kind and the largest in the Western Hemisphere, with the capacity to process 10 metric tons of industrial hemp into textile-grade fiber, hurd, short-fiber/hurd mix, and nutrient-rich micronized hurd per hour. It is a zero-waste process, utilizing every part of the industrial hemp stalk, and operates solely on 100 percent renewable energy, making it a paragon of sustainability in the industry. The Panda Hemp Gin is fully operational, and production will continue to ramp up in the coming months. In February, the complex commissioning process of Panda’s 600-yard-long processing line and three miles of overhead pneumatic duct lines, including each piece of equipment for decortication, refining, blending, mechanical cottonization, hurd bagging and storage, and baling, was completed.
“Panda Biotech’s state-of-the-art industrial hemp processing facility is a monumental achievement and a game-changer for both agriculture and industry,” said Dixie Carter, president of Panda Biotech. “As research and development in this area continue to advance, industrial hemp fibre and cellulose will help transform numerous industries with sustainable goals and challenges. Panda’s industrial hemp will play a pivotal role in satisfying significant global market demand for renewable processes and products.”
Industrial hemp is considered one of the most versatile raw materials available with an unmatched variety of potential uses. The Panda Hemp Gin will focus on providing five main product lines from hemp, including mechanically cottonized fiber, decorticated fiber, hurd (cellulose), short-fiber/hurd mix, and nutrient-rich micronized hemp dust. The innumerous applications for each product vary broadly from consumer and industrial textiles, non-wovens, paper products, bioplastics, biofuel, animal bedding, fiberglass substitute, construction materials such as hempcrete, mulch, insulation, and more.
With a commitment to traceability and processing only U.S.-grown hemp straw, as well as providing an astounding pay-to-grow program, Panda’s partnership with the American farming community is at the heart of the operation. Industrial hemp provides a multitude of benefits for producers, as it is scientifically proven to minimize CO2 emissions, absorbing more per acre than any forest or commercial crop. Additionally, hemp requires significantly less water than most major crops, provides outstanding soil remediation, and requires minimal fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Panda is actively contracting with producers for its pay-to-grow program for this harvest and with farmers who may have straw or fiber from previous harvests or the 2024 growing season.
“The massive scale of the campus, allowing more than 22,000 pounds of baled hemp straw for processing per hour, is what makes this industrial hemp processing facility unique,” said Scott Evans, chief operating officer of Panda Biotech. “Our straw is sourced directly from our farming partners in Texas and surrounding states, and, through our decortication process, it is transformed into packaged products, ready for retail or downstream manufacturing applications, within minutes. Panda’s processing equipment and infrastructure is truly best-in-class.”
