Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 23 February 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Development of the Hemp Sector in Ireland: Discussion

Mr. Marcus McCabe:

On the fibre crop, you would not expect a wheat crop farmer to grow wheat for the straw and not sell the wheat. It is exactly the same with hemp. It is not just grown for the fibre. The whole value of the crop has to be taken. Farmers want the top value for the crop. Ms Carmody is correct that there is machinery that will strip the head for the seed or for the botanicals. To do that, a machine and other on-farm infrastructure is needed to deal with those tops as well. That all has to happen on the day. That is quite a significant investment, be it for a co-op, a group of farmers coming together or an industry that is going to come in and create markets for those things. Without the dual purpose, it is not very interesting to anybody and it just will not happen.