The UK Government has announced a series of reforms to hemp licencing, making it easier for farmers to grow the crop.
At present, anyone landowner or farmer wishing to grow hemp has to apply for a licence, outlining the specific fields they wish to use for hemp crops. Home Office guidance says that the fields must be located “sensitively in locations away from schools, public rights of way or vehicular access,” limiting choice for large farms, or making it impossible for smaller farmers.
Under new regulations, set to come into effect for the 2025 growing season, farmers with a hemp licence will no longer have to specify the fields in which they intend to grow hemp crops, instead being able to plant anywhere on a licensed farm.
From 2026 the maximum period a hemp licence can be used will be extended from 3 to 6 years, subject to compliance with the licence terms. Farmers applying for a new licence will be allowed to defer the start date by up to one year, helping to make business planning easier and crops more cost-effective.
The changes, developed in collaboration with experienced hemp farmers, are designed to improve the licensing system and help boost the UK hemp industry.
“These reforms will bring an important boost to this industry and cut down the unnecessary burdens that have been placed on businesses,” said Minister for Crime and Policing, Dame Diana Johnson.
“This government will always listen and engage with industry experts, and we want to make it easier for licence holders to capitalise on the economic potential of legally growing hemp.”
The reforms follow recent recommendations from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) that the legal THC limit in hemp be increased from the current 0.2% to 0.3%, matching the legally permitted level for hemp growers in the European Union, United States, Canada and other countries. As well as allowing more tolerance to crops that go over 0.2% during testing, the increase will allow farmers to choose from a greater range of pre-approved seeds when selecting the varieties of hemp they will grow.
“Recognising that industrial hemp is a field-grown agricultural crop, these reforms will simplify the license application process and provide greater flexibility within the crop rotation, enabling farmers to fully realise the economic and environmental benefits of the crop,” said Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, Daniel Zeichner.
“These improvements to the licensing regime for industrial hemp are a positive step for farmers.”
Farmers growing hemp in the UK have faced significant challenges in recent years. In 2019, the Hempen cooperative was forced to destroy over £200,000 worth of crops after a baffling Home Office decision to revoke its hemp growing licence mid-way through the growing season.
Hemp is a fast-growing and profitable crop that requires less water than other plants, needs little to no chemical pesticides or fertilisers and improves the quality of the soil it is grown in. A 2021 study by the Centre for Natural Material Innovation at Cambridge found that hemp was twice as effective at removing carbon from the atmosphere as trees, with study author Darshil Shah stating that “Industrial hemp absorbs between 8 to 15 tonnes of CO2 per hectare of cultivation. In comparison, forests typically capture 2 to 6 tonnes of CO2 per hectare per year depending on the number of years of growth, the climatic region, the type of trees etc.”
