Growing HEMP in Ireland

of frost would kill it.
I grow hemp for a local Coop. This year we’ve 63ha in the ground. It’s absolute simplicity to grow. Plant and close the gate. No fertilizer whatsoever or herbicides etc.

Poorest crop to return a margin so we use it in shallow/dry soils, awkward fields, out of the way sh1tholes etc etc. The Coop pays for the harvesting. We’ve to bale and store the crop. The Coop would take about an artic per week. The longer you store it the more you’re paid.

If it wasn’t a damn good breakcrop we wouldn’t bother with it tbh.
I saw someone on Agriland (I think) claiming a gross of €3-4k per acre...we’d be lucky to gross €800/ha.
Which parts (seeds, leaves, flowers, stems) of the hemp is the local coop processing ?
Is the coop making end products or an intermediate processor ?
 
Which parts (seeds, leaves, flowers, stems) of the hemp is the local coop processing ?
Is the coop making end products or an intermediate processor ?
Seeds are harvested separately and the rest of it is baled for fibre.
The Coop processes both.
 
I sowed 2 acres of finola this year, but it did not grow very well, probably my fault by harrowing it in too deep.
Are you harvesting the seed with a stripper header or regular reaper header or something else?
 
I sowed 2 acres of finola this year, but it did not grow very well, probably my fault by harrowing it in too deep.
Are you harvesting the seed with a stripper header or regular reaper header or something else?
The Coop does the harvesting with a special dual header. Top part takes the seed and the rest is swarthed for baling when dry.
Seed needs to be planted no deeper than 2cm when planting.
I haven’t got the returns for this years crop yet because it’ll be the end of Feb before all the bales have been taken.
 
The Coop does the harvesting with a special dual header. Top part takes the seed and the rest is swarthed for baling when dry.
Seed needs to be planted no deeper than 2cm when planting.
I haven’t got the returns for this years crop yet because it’ll be the end of Feb before all the bales have been taken.
See in newspaper this week that lads are getting 0.5 ton per acre off it at 1000 euro per ton. Hoping for 1500 euro per ton next year. How would that compare to France on price and yield. Can you use any sprays on it? and how does it compare to other crops profit wise?
 
See in newspaper this week that lads are getting 0.5 ton per acre off it at 1000 euro per ton. Hoping for 1500 euro per ton next year. How would that compare to France on price and yield. Can you use any sprays on it? and how does it compare to other crops profit wise?
If we are reading the same article, the cost of drying the seed was €240 per ton, so he got about €750 per ton for seed (2 acres). Seeds are not clean enough after a combine so cleaning is also needed and will incur another cost. If you store the seed for any length of time you need your own drier and possibly a seed cleaner.
 
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Seeds are harvested separately and the rest of it is baled for fibre.
The Coop processes both.
I only harvested the seed.
You mentioned a figure of €800/ha.
Do you know what was the value or ratio value of the seed per hectare versus the value of the baled stalks per hectare from last year ?
what variety did you sow ?
 
I only harvested the seed.
You mentioned a figure of €800/ha.
Do you know what was the value or ratio value of the seed per hectare versus the value of the baled stalks per hectare from last year ?
what variety did you sow ?
Seed is worth circa €1000/t minus drying and cleaning costs.
Straw/fibre is worth around €80-110/t depending on how long you store it.

The best return we’ve got so far is 1t/ha of seed and 6tDm/ha of fibre.
The Coop supplies the seed. I think the seed they supply leans towards volume of fibre rather than seed.
They have a new plant for processing the fibre into insulation amongst other things. I think the seed goes for wild bird seed.
 
See in newspaper this week that lads are getting 0.5 ton per acre off it at 1000 euro per ton. Hoping for 1500 euro per ton next year. How would that compare to France on price and yield. Can you use any sprays on it? and how does it compare to other crops profit wise?
Why in the name of God would you *want* to put spray on it...? It’s a weed. You plant it and close the gate.
It’s probably the least profitable crop we grow. If badly hit by prolonged drought it mightn’t be worth €2-300/ha.

Good establishment is everything. Don’t plant until soil temps are 15*C. No weed sprays, no fert, nothing. We would always incorporate a legume CC and apply a smidge of fym. It grows to about 4.5-5.5m high.
It’s fierce handy for very dry land or out of the way plots that you don’t want to be messing with.
 
What is the legality of this now? I heard the FSAI are clamping down on CBD oils specifically using co2 extraction which is 95percnt of cbd Brands out there. Is this plant even worth growing?
 
The industry will keep going. Germany just changed the classification of cbd oil from food supplements to essential oils and now there 100% legal lol
 
What is the legality of this now? I heard the FSAI are clamping down on CBD oils specifically using co2 extraction which is 95percnt of cbd Brands out there. Is this plant even worth growing?

It needs to be cold pressed with a cold press. Any chemical removal must contaminate the end product.

Most of the product tested by FSAI do not have any CBD in them (the cbd is in the leaf -- not the seed), so they are being sold under false pretences as I understand it. It is impossible for the consumer to know what is in a bottle, one needs expensive laboratory equipment to validate content.
 
was a lad about 7mile away grew it for the last number of years but didn't grow it this year.
I know nothing about it bar looking at it passing by.seemed like a very poor patchy crop last year
 
I was at an open day recently in our local brewery/distillery. I was speaking to one of the owners at the event, who mentioned that they were hoping to establish a new distillery in South Kerry, to use hemp as the main ingredient to make whiskey. It will be interesting to see what comes to pass on that front, as the man I spoke to, did admit it could be a difficult crop to work with on their side of things.
 
Hemp was featured on the RTE science program last night. An interesting crop, particularly from a fibre perspective. If was as good as they were saying, you’d think that companies like Kingspan would get involved. The guy who explained about Hempcrete had a lovely looking house.

Maybe I haven’t paid attention but you’d also think the Green Party et al would be pushing it from a Carbon sequestration point of view as well as being a natural building material.
 
Hemp was featured on the RTE science program last night. An interesting crop, particularly from a fibre perspective. If was as good as they were saying, you’d think that companies like Kingspan would get involved. The guy who explained about Hempcrete had a lovely looking house.

Maybe I haven’t paid attention but you’d also think the Green Party et al would be pushing it from a Carbon sequestration point of view as well as being a natural building material.
Hemp can’t compete when wheat is over €200/t. Local processing plant will only be working for 3mts because hemp just wasn’t grown.
 
Hemp was featured on the RTE science program last night. An interesting crop, particularly from a fibre perspective. If was as good as they were saying, you’d think that companies like Kingspan would get involved. The guy who explained about Hempcrete had a lovely looking house.

Maybe I haven’t paid attention but you’d also think the Green Party et al would be pushing it from a Carbon sequestration point of view as well as being a natural building material.
Not sure if the local hemp crop was harvested again this year.
 
Not sure if the local hemp crop was harvested again this year.
I lost 2 acres of hemp this year because I could not get dry weather to harvest it and all the seed eventually fell out of the heads.

In Ireland the weather inland is tricky, because of late frost inland, one cannot sow early and then you are at risk of wet weather during a late harvest.
 
Hemp can’t compete when wheat is over €200/t. Local processing plant will only be working for 3mts because hemp just wasn’t grown.
are you saying there is much less hemp being grown in France at present because the price of wheat exceed €200 per ton ?
 
are you saying there is much less hemp being grown in France at present because the price of wheat exceed €200 per ton ?
Yes.
Hemp is consistently the worst paying crop here. Because the processor supplies and pays for combining it suits out of the way places, and crappy land that you don’t want to spend too much time on.
Biggest plus point is that it’s a very good break crop.
 
Yes.
Hemp is consistently the worst paying crop here. Because the processor supplies and pays for combining it suits out of the way places, and crappy land that you don’t want to spend too much time on.
Biggest plus point is that it’s a very good break crop.
Would you ever throw hemp seed into the cover crops?
 
Would you ever throw hemp seed into the cover crops?
Never again.

It is an excellent dry season CC, once it doesn’t get too much water. It needs very little water to grow in an explosive way and can become a serious problem to get rid of it. Being a very fibrous plant it can be a dose to break down also. The last time we used it in a CC we ended up baling it and dumping it in the dungstead. Takes a long time to break down to compost also.
 
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