THE PROMISE OF HEMP

Cultivation of hemp is booming in Aotearoa.  In almost every region of the country, the plant is gaining favour for its export potential, drought resistance and as a crop for farmers to diversify their revenue streams. 

The fibre, seeds, and bioactive ingredients are extracted and turned into an ever-expanding range of therapeutics, foods, textiles and other products.  But the rise of the hemp economy in Aotearoa means a lot of hemp material is leftover on farms, with much of it going directly to landfills. 

According to Craig Bunt, Professor of Agricultural Innovation at Otago University, this is a waste of a potential new source of feed that could unlock health and wellbeing benefits for livestock, improve our farms and reduce Aotearoa’s reliance on imported Palm Kernel Extract (PKE).  

“On paper, we know there are a lot of good things in hemp after it has been processed.  The analysis of minerals and nitrogen compounds in hemp makes it stack up.  It looks like it's got all the components you would need in an animal feed or supplement feed.

“We also know there’s plenty of fibre in leftover hemp material, and the rumens of sheep and cattle are basically fibre processing bio-reactors.  But we have none of the data in New Zealand to say how we would use it and what it could do for us,” Bunt says. 

THE PROBLEM WITH ZERO

This is because feeding harvested hemp to animals is against the law in Aotearoa.  Under the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act (ACVM), any feed products derived from hemp must contain no detectable levels of tetrahydrocannabinols such as THC or CBD.  In addition, feeding hemp to animals could also be an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act. 

Bunt says the requirement for zero tetrahydrocannabinols makes the likelihood of producing hemp-based feed in Aotearoa unachievable, despite the fact that the concentrations involved would be far too low to produce any psychoactive effect in animals or humans. 

“At the moment, what’s really blocking us from gathering data and evidence about the potential value of hemp as a feed are those lines around zero.  And I think that’s a consequence of Aotearoa’s politics, specifically our conservative approach to livestock which comes down to concerns about our export markets.” 

The risk of tetrahydrocannabinols being detected in meat or other animal products from Aotearoa is real and understandable.  In many countries we export to, THC is strictly banned and any trace of it could result in exports being cancelled, as well as significant damage being done to Aotearoa’s reputation as a producer of safe, premium food products.  Bunt has no issue with legislation that safeguards and protects our primary export base but argues that our current regulations are creating inconsistencies and slowing down agricultural innovation. 

“We’ve created this situation where if we feed hemp to livestock, then any products made from those animals will contravene the Misuse of Drugs Act.  But we can legally grow hemp and turn it into muesli bars and sell them to anybody in the supermarket.  That’s not a misuse of drugs, even though it’s the same material. 

“Even if we took the Misuse of Drugs Act out of the equation as we have for human products, we still have the ACVM putting in additional layers of controls and regulations.  The reality is that we have far more freedom with what we put in our own mouths than what we can feed farm livestock,” Bunt says. 

THE ARGUMENT AGAINST PALM KERNEL 

Another compelling reason to evaluate the use of hemp as feed is to reduce Aotearoa’s importation of PKE as supplemental animal feed.  We currently import more than 2 million tonnes of PKE every year, more than any other country in the world. 

Bunt says the global palm oil industry has a terrible record on sustainability, being linked to serious deforestation, habitat loss and human rights violations in countries like Indonesia. 

“At the moment, we don’t have anything in Aotearoa we could produce which is equivalent to PKE in terms of the biomass or energy content.  But hemp has a more complete nutritional profile than PKE.  It also has greater traceability and a much better environmental footprint.” 

Bunt also stresses that any import of plant material into Aotearoa constitutes a biosecurity risk.

“Anything we can produce here in Aotearoa improves our biosecurity and lowers the chance of harmful organisms finding their way into our environment.  So it’s not just a question of whether we can use hemp as an equivalent or better supplemental feed, it’s also an opportunity to strengthen the security of our food production capacity,” Bunt says.  

THE WAY FORWARD 

While Aotearoa is not alone with its restrictions on feeding hemp to livestock, there are small signs of change.  Bunt points to the United States, which has similar legislative barriers in place but now allows trials that are showing positive results.  

“There’s a group in Oregon which has been feeding hemp to beef, dairy and goats.  They’re looking at blood levels, residue levels in meat, milk and animal behaviour.  The general feeling is that animals tolerate hemp well as feed, and of course, it’s good to add diversity to their diet as well.

“We’d like to feed hemp to livestock here and look at issues of inflammation and stress and see how that might be impacted.  It would also be useful to involve pregnant ewes and see what impact that might have on their offspring and their development,” Bunt says. 

But what about the exporting issue?  According to Bunt, one way forward would be to utilise hemp as livestock feed for products that won’t be exported to major markets of concern. 

“There are already farmers in Aotearoa that produce beef in ways that mean you can’t export it to Europe.  They do it for a niche purpose so they can export to the United States.  So we may end up with a similar scenario for hemp, where we can use the livestock for domestic consumption or for situations where they can’t get into the wrong market.” 

Bunt is currently laying the groundwork for a smallscale trial to be conducted at Lincoln University in partnership with Southern Medicinal, a company that provides hemp seedlings to Southland farmers for cultivation on their land.  It will be the first study of its kind ever undertaken in Aotearoa. 

“We’re just getting our information together.  We’ll need animal ethics approval, we’ll need an ACVM license and the Ministry of Health will probably stop by and make sure we’re not feeding hemp to any animals that might go into the food chain.

“We’ll generate some data, look at food utilisation, look at animal welfare, look at animal biomarkers and how they respond to hemp feed, and then we’ll have some information which is relevant to Aotearoa’s environment that we can build on,” Bunt says.  

The Lincoln trial is expected to take around 18 months.  And despite the regulatory hurdles to getting the research off the ground, Bunt says it’s critical for Aotearoa as a major agricultural exporter to understand the role hemp could play in improving the health of our animals and farms. 

“Every time there’s a new crop, we have to learn how to use it in our specific systems and that takes many, many years.  At the moment we can’t even start that work until we have the approval to feed hemp to animals. 

“If we want to be competitive and innovative, and do things in new and better ways, we need to do the research.  Simply put, we need to find new ways to farm better,” Bunt says.