INDUSTRIAL HEMP, YORKSHIRE: Luke’s farming life revolves around hemp, which he believes can play an important part in regenerative farming and provide a useful ‘break’ crop to sow between cereal crops. Luke grows demonstration fields of hemp, trains farmers in how to grow it, and introduces them to markets for this novelty crop.

“In contrast to many other break crops, hemp breaks disease cycles, boosts diversity and improves soil health by drawing down carbon into the soil,” says Luke, who was raised on his family’s dairy farm.

He discovered hemp’s benefits while recovering from an injury incurred while working as a stonemason, the profession he trained in and still practices alongside hemp farming.

“I reflected on my own involvement in the farming and the heritage industry. I recognised the challenges that future generations (including my son) would face, and became increasingly concerned that so-called ‘conventional’ farming was having adverse long-term impacts on the land,” he says.

“Through research I discovered the benefits of industrial hemp, a crop that’s been neglected in the UK. I recognised its ability to draw atmospheric carbon down into soil at an unmatched rate so believed it was time to integrate it into modern farming practices. That led me to co-found my company with my business partner.”

The hemp is sold into two main markets: construction, which uses hemp’s woody core to make ‘hempcrete’ (a low-carbon concrete alternative) and wood replacements for domestic interiors; and textiles, made from the fibre of the plant.

Luke says the industrial use of hemp is still very much in its infancy in the UK, but he is confident it will soar as manufacturing companies face carbon taxes. The automative sector is already using hemp to replace plastics.

Luke now combines stonemasonry with building up the hemp business. “Just as the buildings I work on have lasted generations, I hope that the growing of industrial hemp will serve future farming generations and make them resilient.”