Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Carew said 251 ha of hemp were planted last year. Technically this could fit in with two areas that take up an awful lot of this committee's time. The first is how agriculture in Ireland responds to our climate action obligations and the second is how we find alternative and new sources of income for our family farmers. I have met some of the witnesses before and it is great to see them again. I always find this conversation incredibly interesting, albeit confusing sometimes. It is intriguing in terms of the potential of this crop and how we can reach that potential. The big question that has never been answered is why there is resistance across a number of Government Departments even to the exploration of this as a product that could provide an alternative source of income and address so many of the other areas of concern.

I am interested in the possibility of the seed being used as animal feed because that is a key area of interest for a lot of farmers at the moment because of current feed prices. Of the 251 ha planted last year, how much tonnage of feed did that produce? Do the witnesses have a figure for that? What is the cost, per tonne, of that feed?