Inside Panda Hemp Gin, a 500,000 square foot industrial hemp processing facility in Witchta Falls. Commercial operation is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2024. [Photo: Business Wire]
Dallas-based Panda Biotech has announced that it is bringing its giant Panda High Plains Hemp Gin online and ready to begin production early next year, opening a facility in Wichita Falls. It is billed as the largest skinning center in the Western Hemisphere and one of the largest in the world.
The company said building construction on the 500,000 square foot facility has been completed and the formal commissioning process has begun to sell gin online.
Panda said Hempgin will process 10 tons of industrial hemp per hour, producing a hard mix of textile-grade fibers, hard bark, short fibers, and nutrient-rich co-products that will be pelletized. .
Thousands of uses from textiles to cat litter
Panda Biotech says industrial hemp has thousands of uses, from fiber and paper to building materials and cat litter.
“Each part of the Panda Hemp Gin production line includes three miles of overhead air duct lines, refining, blending, mechanical cottonization, hard bagging and storage, packaging, etc., and is individually started, checked and balanced. , it needs to be commissioned,” Panda Biotech EVP Scott Evans said in a statement. “All equipment is now being brought online individually for official operation.”
Hemp dehulling is a process carried out through a dehulling machine that mechanically separates the fibers of the hemp plant, separating the bast and hard fibers.
Green, growing and competitive
The facility's engineering and production processes, which use only renewable energy sources, are green certified by Mid-South Engineering in accordance with the International Capital Markets Association's Green Bond Principles.
Panda Biotech said it has also partnered with scientific traceability company Oritain to bring to market the most traceable hemp that is 100% grown in the United States.
The company said it is “actively contracting” with growers to grow hemp material for the 2024 growing season and to purchase hemp fiber that has already been harvested or processed. Panda recently announced a paid program for producers to start growing Panda hemp, the company said.
Panda said the upfront deposit and agronomy support allows producers to receive tested and proven seeds free of charge, successfully mitigating the risks assumed by producers, and confirms Panda's commitment to the farming community. He emphasized that it was a promise.
Panda said the benefits of growing hemp are significant as it is a good rotation crop that remediates the soil and provides competitiveness.
Panda Biotech, a privately held company, said it is a “pioneer” in the emerging industrial hemp fiber and hard industries in the United States.
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