10052893Hemp Excellence ProjectClosedCollaborative R&DISCFThe Hemp Excellence Project is a collaboration between farmers, research and industry to enhance the knowledge base for hemp cultivation to help open up new opportunities for farmers to grow this sustainable crop. Industrial hemp, cannabis with a low level of the psychoactive compound THC, has seen a global upsurge in interest in the last decade. It has thousands of uses, with applications for all parts of the plant. These include food, construction, textiles and bioplastics. The global hemp market is projected to reach $15.26 billion by 2027\. Hemp has huge potential as a financially and environmentally sustainable crop. This makes it highly appealing as farmers look to diversify in the transition from BPS and reduce their carbon footprint. There are three key parts that can be harvested: the seeds for nutritious foods or industrial use, the stem cortex or shiv for building materials, and fibre, for use in fabrics insulation and many other biobased materials. Fibre offers many opportunities for the UK's emerging bio-economy, to replace products manufactured from non-renewable resources. Hemp had been grown in the UK for hundreds of years prior to being abandoned due to drug classification. As a result of this gap in cultivation, grower knowledge and processing infrastructure have become depleted and there has been very little published research on growing in the UK. Farmers are held back by a lack of knowledge and research on: * Agronomy and variety choice for optimal UK-yield * Harvesting methods and equipment * Optimum pre-processing for quality and return to growers The project is being led by a Kentish farming business who will conduct on-farm trials to identify the best ways to grow hemp in a UK agricultural context for quality and yield. They will collaborate with a crop science organisation for research design and analysis of results. A leading footwear brand will provide industry insight to deliver joined up thinking from farm to end user. The Hemp Excellence Project will produce data on hemp establishment, cultivation, harvest and pre-processing which will be compiled into a report. This will set a precedent for on-farm hemp growing research and provide valuable knowledge for existing and aspiring growers. This would give UK farmers more confidence to add this profitable, sustainable crop to their rotation. The know-how developed will contribute to future development of the UK hemp industry such as new processing facilities and market access.