Hemp licences hit high as more farmers grow the cannabinoid crop

Despite licence increases, the amount of land licenced for hemp cultivation fell to around 362 hectares (ha) in 2020, down from 547ha the previous year

Sean Pollock Email

November 08 2020 02:30 AM

The number of hemp-growing licences issued to farmers this year has hit 94, up from 74 over the whole of 2019, as more farmers seek to grow the cannabinoid crop.

According to the figures - released by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), which issues the licences to farmers - of the 94 licences issued this year 60 were new. Thirty-four were renewed as the holders also had a licence in 2019.

The HPRA said uses featured on applications for the licences included food products, animal bedding, industrial/fibre use, hemp oil extraction, use in cosmetics and research and forensic analysis.

Despite licence increases, the amount of land licenced for hemp cultivation fell to around 362 hectares (ha) in 2020, down from 547ha the previous year.

Paul McCourt, co-founder and chief executive of Celtic Wind, a hemp cultivation and cannabidiol (CBD) brand, said the increase in licences issued this year would have been driven by farmers looking to get into the industry for the first time. He said many licences would have been issued for research and development plots, meaning they would be smaller in size, partially explaining why the amount of land for cultivation decreased.

McCourt claimed the CBD market and natural building material markets were influencing the growing of hemp. Despite this, he added, the market for CBD had reduced globally over the past year due to Covid-19, meaning some commercial operators would have reduced acreage reserved for CBD.

"There has been a reduction in all of the markets, especially since Covid came into play," he said. "CBD is the most affected as it was [sold] through pharmacy, health stores and general retail. Even the natural building industry was affected. We had orders to fill but these halved in size of what they were as people hold on to see how Covid goes.

"I would be of the opinion that the whole industry would have downsized because of the year that is in it."

McCourt said Celtic Wind had also reduced its acreage for growing hemp. It cut the amount of land used from 400 acres in 2019 to 40 acres this year.