Hemp diversification most suitable for tillage farms - Teagasc

Specialist tillage farms are the most suitable Irish enterprises for diversifying into growing hemp, according to Teagasc.

Barry Caslin and Dr Fiona Thorne of Teagasc told the crowd at the industrial hemp conference in Ashtown, Co Dublin, on Thursday about the uses of hemp as a rotation crop.

Hemp, which grows well in Ireland’s climate, requires many of the same facilities and equipment as tillage farmers, such as cutters, combine harvesters and balers.

Caslin said that hemp also only requires minimal use of fertilisers and pesticides.

“Hemp’s ability to suppress weeds, to enrich the soil and reduce compaction made it an excellent break crop within a rotation that contributes to sustainable growing practices,” he said.

“In [all of the Teagasc] studies, hemp was cultivated successfully without herbicides, pesticides or fungicides. When broadleaf weed control posed a challenge, once established, hemp effectively smothered weeds.”

Cost

The global hemp sector is worth almost $9.5bn, according to Fortune Business Insights.

According to Teagasc, the average farm family income in Ireland in 2023 was €19,925, this increases to €21,399 for tillage farmers.

In addition, due to 49% of Irish farms earning an income of less that €10,000 in 2023, Dr Thorne added that it is important that farmers look at possible ways of diversification.

“Irish farmers don’t tend to like change - inertia is a big problem and looking at diversification opportunities can be a big sell,” she said.

“The benefit of targeting the specialist tillage farmer population is that they are used to growing crops and the roles of new crops for rotation is important for them.

“Volatility has a very significant impact on farm level in tillage. If we could introduce a crop like hemp that could provide a fixed price and more certainty in the market place, it has to be seen as a good thing.”

Growth

Ian Marshall, a dairy farmer working in Queen’s University Belfast, has been involved in the hemp sector for nine years.

He found that the subsequent crop after hemp had a 15% higher yield than it would with another break crop.

However, he said that hemp is not the perfect solution for farmers to fix financial or climate problems.

“There is a group of people that think that hemp will save the planet; it will not, it’s a tool in our armoury to help us look after the planet.

“There’s other people who I’ve worked with who believe that if we grow hemp, it will be the goose that lays the golden egg and we’ll all be millionaires; no, it won’t, definitely not, but it has a role to play.”

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