A farm in Worcestershire has been “raising eyebrows” among local villagers after it planted 30 hectares of hemp.
The plant, a variety of the cannabis sativa plant, is something farmers need a licence to grow in the UK.
Jake Freestone, from Overbury Enterprises, on Bredon Hill, is one among 130 licensees who can legally cultivate the crop, which is used for clothes, rope, paper, sound proofing cars, and even for strengthening cement.
“It looks very much like what it shouldn’t be, but it’s grown for its fibres, so the actual drug element has been bred out of these varieties,” the farm manager said. “There’s absolutely no special effects here, whatsoever.”
And despite its suspicious appearance, Freestone said the crop was giving his farm “resilience going forward” against a changing climate.
“We are living in a changing climate, so the crops we have historically grown might not be as suitable going forward in dryer, hotter climates, and also in wetter climates as well.
“This is a crop we can plant slightly later in the spring and it’s very drought tolerant. It likes the heat and it’s probably about seven feet tall in places.”