Net Zero Supply Chain Growing!
Scottish Borders industrial hemp harvest has gone well as farms assess re-growing industrial hemp as a break crop for the first time in the area in decades, helping activate the net zero supply chain.
The next stages of industrial hemp trials have gone well over the summer in the Scottish Borders.
A short-cycle carbon capture crop, the industrial hemp harvest involved cutting, retting and baling during August and September, with the crop reaching an average of 2 - 2.5metres growth after only 3 months since planting in May.
Industrial hemp has an incredible range of benefits, including sequestering carbon at a rapid rate, that can then be locked into buildings and other applications, improving soil health for future crops and supporting biodiversity gain. A traditional crop in Scotland and the UK, after a 100 year ‘oil age’ blip, industrial hemp is making a come back around the world as an alternative to materials with high carbon emissions.
Re-learning how to farm this excellent ‘break crop’ or ‘cover crop’ that captures carbon is a significant step in decarbonising the supply chain for construction and other markets turning to bio-based, circular materials natural fibre insulation and other products manufacturerd at the IndiNature Mill.
The IndiNature production team visit to watch Iain Fullerton and East Yorkshire Hemp cutting the hemp trial crop.
When manufactured into insulation, biogenic carbon sequesterd into the industrial hemp crop as it grows is combined with low energy inputs in processing and IndiNature manufacturing, which means the final insulation products have a net carbon capture cradle-to-gate in life cyle analysis, locking carbon into buildings for the life of the building.
Earlier in the summer, 60 local farmers and stakeholders from across the South of Scotland and North England were able to assess the first few weeks of crop growth in trials led by SAC Consulting, part of Scotlands Rural Collge. You can see the difference in crop height compared to the visit in June.
Upcoming changes in legislation and licensing of industrial hemp in the UK are also very welcome - recognising the usefulness of industrial hemp as a resource that has been neglected, and making it easier for farms to add the crop back into their rotation.
One step closer to realising the vision of re-establishing local supply chains for net zero renewable resources.
The current research and trials build on the 2022 SAC feasiblity study commissioned by IndiNature with contributions from SAOS and Nick Voase East Yorkshire Hemp. The 2024 SAC study is funded by Scottish Enterprise and the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC), supported by Hadden Farm, East Yorkshire Hemp, Elsoms Seeds and IndiNature.