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. Eoin Carew:
In 2019, I did a thesis on hemp grown as an alternative income for Irish farmers, mainly for the sustainable protein side. I come from a beef farming background in Tipperary. Seven growers in Ireland participated in the study which showed a 39.5% higher gross margin return in comparison with the nearest crop, which was winter wheat. On the question as to whether it is profitable, based on my calculations in 2019, there is a 39.5% higher gross margin but everything has gone up since then.