Hemp as a Strategic Crop Briefing for Ministers, Department Heads and Civil Society
Executive Summary
Ireland's current zero-tolerance enforcement on industrial hemp—despite EU harmonised rules allowing up to 0.3% THC—has criminalised lawful farmers, innovators, and businesses, stifled a multi-billion-euro opportunity, and blocked carbon-negative agriculture. This briefing calls for immediate compliance with EU law, liberalisation of 'wet' hemp uses (food and feed), and proactive promotion via Teagasc research and supportive licensing. Hemp offers solutions for fodder security, housing materials, bioenergy, textiles, and nutrition—while turning farming profitable and climate-positive. Urgent reform is needed to end the suppression and unlock Ireland's hemp potential.
Purpose
To purpose is to dispel the escalating demonisation of hemp - man’s most useful multifunctional crop - generated by the current regulatory regime based on an arbitrary ‘notion’ of danger. This policy has effectively blockaded a multi-billion pound crop for the Irish economy, possible through Irish know-how and farming muscle. Competent government is called for to release and maximise the full potential of the crop in all its yields rather than channel all the ‘profit’ to one sector at the expense of all others. Farming will profit handsomely from the ‘mine’ of material hemp generates but the energy sector, the health sector, the climate sector and indeed the pharmaceutical sector are all included.
Background
Hemp is embedded in the Treaty for the Formation of Europe as a strategic crop. It is valued as a food and fibre crop and hemp farmers receive direct income supports when cultivated. Hemp is one of the earliest crops cultivated for obvious and strategic reasons. It is first choice as a multifunctional crop producing high
quality and high yields of protein, fat, fibre and absorbent carbon/biomass. Hemp outcompetes all other crops in utility and economics. Hemp is man’s most valuable biological renewable resource and is compulsory in achieving and unlocking carbon-negative farming practices requiring sober and widespread encouragement and adoption. Hemp presents one of the strongest cases for inclusion as a regular tillage crop in sustainable farming systems — a practice with deep historical precedent. History shows hemp thrived under encouragement during crises (e.g., "Hemp for Victory" in WWII), encouraging it as a strategic crop through smart and sustainable supports.
Hemp has a clear de minimis of 0.3% THC and is legally deemed ‘Hemp’ whereas above 0.3% THC is deemed the ‘illicit’ Cannabis Sativa plant. The THC limit was ≤0.2% until November 2021 when all Member States including Ireland agreed to increase the de minimis to ≤0.3%. However since the increase, Irish State Agencies, enforce a national zero tolerance approach with any indication triggering criminal prosecution.
In 2021 and 2022 The Minister of Health imposed new standards on hemp cultivation, product composition, and labelling of an EU fully-harmonised agricultural product outlawing it as a narcotic reducing the THC de minimis to zero. The reason given is an unverifiable claim of public health protection which has no valid scientific basis as true raw hemp is a safe food and well below any possible side effects. The state has yet to produce scientific evidence of harms despite multiple requests for the production of scientific evidence and High Court orders to do so (Jenkins v DPP IEHC 291).
Single market harmonisation procedures are ‘baked in’ to European law. Mandating the destruction of leaves and flowers (HPRA) without scientific basis constitutes a measure equivalent to a quantitative restriction where CJEU precedents (Kanavape C-663/18) confirm a prohibition on bans of compliant hemp parts. However arrests and prosecutions are ongoing in Ireland for the ‘possession’ of hemp foods, threatening consumers, ruining compliant farmers and business and destroying innovation in the industry.
Human Capital
From 2000-2021 Irish hemp business developers were among the foremost in world-leading multi-billion potential processes but all innovations have been stalled by an aggressive and obstructive administration vigorously pursuing stakeholders with SLAPP suits in the courts and through coordinated zealous enforcement through multiple governmental agencies. There is a real economic loss and lost opportunity for a potential multibillion industry.
Building Materials
Five acres of cultivated hemp will produce sufficient volume to build one domestic house. Products include blocks, panels, insulation batts, plasters and flooring. 10 thousand carbon negative hemp homes require 50 thousand acres. The environmental case for cultivation is particularly strong as hemp absorbs CO2 as it grows, and the lime binder reabsorbs CO2 as it cures. When properly specified, hemp lime walls can be carbon-negative over their lifecycle. The crop grows quickly, improves soil health, and requires little chemical input, aligning well with future construction regulations and sustainability targets.
Hemp lime buildings age well. They are adaptable, breathable, and repairable, unlike many sealed modern systems. If you’re building for long-term performance, low energy use, and resilience rather than short-term cost savings, hemp lime is a practical and forward-looking choice.
Farm Based Biomass
Cattle Bedding: Hemp is renowned as excellent bedding keeping animals dry and warm. This results in a high value hemp dung-mass with value in the energy sector. Slurry handling is displaced and eliminated flipping a cost to a profit from energy/carbon capture while methane is prevented, odour reduced, and cattle farming flipped from carbon positive to carbon negative with no loss of fodder production as protein/fat/carb yield per acre is maintained from the hemp fodder crop. A 100 acre dairy operation can make up to €80,000 saving/gains by introducing 25% hemp as fodder. Similar gains are possible for pig and poultry operations.
Bio-Composites
A stable annual hemp crop will find multiple markets as a raw material. Hemp fibre bound with a resinous or plastic material can supply a wide range of markets for flooring, roofing, decking, posts, rails, vehicle panels, and electronic goods.
Hemp Biochar
As an energy crop hemp combined with farm wastes is the ‘crude oil’. Farm cooperatives on 500-2000 acres will form a valuable electrical energy asset for local and national grid supply. Farms benefit from intercepting polluting slurry creation by turning waste to income while offsetting carbon turning agriculture carbon negative at a profit. Hemp char has valuable applications in energy markets, energy infrastructure, farm fertilisation, carbon sequestration, food and remediation markets. Hemp chars combine with animal and poultry beddings for odour reduction and nitrogen capture offsetting expensive fertilisers.
Textiles
Ireland has a long tradition of textile know-how and production including hemp and linen processing. This knowhow still exists within the Island with many textile engineers and families still live. Globalisation has shifted textile production to the far east depending on ‘slave labour’ to compete in global markets. At this moment combining traditional textile engineering with emerging AI information technologies allows a disruptive return of Irish textiles. Irish fashion designers and textile engineers can re-emerge with homespun slavery free apparel for domestic and international markets with hemp and linen assuring quality and sustainability.
Human Vegetable Food
The human palate cannot digest hemp fibre however the process of extracting a nutritiously dense food which provides similar or superior quantities to milk in protein and fat content. A solvent free nutritional product is quickly adopted by consumers and there is an open world market with real world market traction. Raw hemp food can and will become a daily food staple for the general population as an excellent nutritious food for young and old alike.
Current Administrative Barriers
The market is suffocated by administrative hysteria about minute traces of THC in parts per billion. This embarrassing stance is continuously reinforced by policy makers and media hysteria. No primary producer can currently cultivate hemp without first agreeing to destroy the crop. Currently the acreage of hemp under cultivation in Ireland is shrinking rapidly. No investment in the hemp industry infrastructure is possible where arbitrary administrative obstructions are aggressively enforced. With producers scantily relying on perceived loopholes to evade regulation and merely survive.
The Remedy for Irish Agriculture
Hemp is a key to multiple problems facing agriculture, economy, carbon economy, housing, pollution. Without this crop these same goals simply cannot be achieved. There is a competence gap within the administration which has chosen to ring-fence and enclose a very narrow spectrum of compounds into the pharmaceutical sector while deeming the rest of the crop as dangerous waste while monopolising these same compounds within a lucrative market. In the past Ireland was leading light in Europe with its progressive attitudes around hemp production investing in hemp business, research and infrastructure. Policy changes in 2022 limit the development of hemp to a fibre only programme leading to access barriers for hemp farmers and producers to the European Union common market.
The Irish state needs to comply with the already established European law where hemp supports are ‘baked in’. A progressive policy would not only comply with European law but take proactive steps to promote the lawful production of raw hemp food and feed with the following policy positions:
Teagasc expands its research into the study of true raw hemp in the farming sector.
Fodder potential as protein and nutritional comparison with other crops such as grass
Hemp as bedding - comparative studies with wet concrete and dry hemp bedding
Hemp dung energy potential
Hemp varieties research for maximum yields in Irish climate
Hemp as cash crop/break crop in dairy farming
Hemp bedding effect on mastitis in dairy herds
Hemp as break crop in tillage and yield boost in subsequent crops
Hemp as bedding in poultry farming
Hemp in carbon farming.
Harnessed and regulated hemp is a multi-billion boost for Irish farming and the Irish Economy and without it we are shooting ourselves in the foot.
Strategic banking
That financial institutions take stock of the inventory of carbons assets currently polluting and the wasted potentials with a view to funding farm energy infrastructures. Current infrastructures are obsolete and investment in new energy capture technologies orbiting the hemp crop secures multiple material and economic yields placing Ireland as a leader in sustainable farming and energy.
Licensing Review
To vigorously encourage the crop it is high time to review the current regime regarding hemp farming.
True raw hemp has a full safety profile as minute constituents remain in the carboxylated form. The serving size, no matter how large, can never come near the Acute Reference Does (ARfD) and/or the Lowest Observable Effect Levels (LOEL). All forms of ‘wet’ hemp foods for man or beast can be consumed liberally and according to appetite without any side effect. Therefore a licence to produce dried hemp would be appropriate where THC levels could be elevated closer to the THC 0.3% de minimis. It is therefore more appropriate to control hemp via the dried crop while liberalising the wet crop so as to promote mass adoption by farmers into Irish agriculture. This strategy maintains control of crops which approach the de minimis while encouraging substantial acreage for ensiled and raw production helping to create a boom in Irish farming.
Conclusion
The current attitude of the Irish government is frankly embarrassing in its contempt for the very industry that can solve many problems. Ministers and officers consistently ignore any approach from Hemp Federation Ireland the industry representative body. This is not the conduct of a civilised nation administering a system of positive law.
This document is circulated to members of the houses of the Oireachtas, members of the Irish Farming Community, The Irish Media and the people of Éire as Public Notice
Author: Marcus John Mc Cabe B.Ag Science
For further information and clarification contact Kate on: 089 9464198 or via email at:
kate@hempfederationireland.org