WEST WORCESTERSHIRE MP Dame Harriett Baldwin joined an award-winning farmer looking to beat the drought by growing an innovative crop on Bredon Hill.
Dame Harriett visited Jake Freestone who manages Overbury Farm to see the fields of hemp which the farmer is growing thanks to an intervention by the MP who helped secure a licence to allow him to grow the controlled plant.
Hemp needs less water than other crops, draws more carbon from the atmosphere, and can be processed into eco-friendly goods like textiles and building materials. Jake was mired in red tape before reaching out to his local MP to get support for his application. Hemp is subject to tight restrictions and farmers must seek approval to cultivate it.
Jake is a highly regarded innovative farmer and has embraced a variety of new techniques to improve productivity and profitability at his farm.
The pair also discussed issues facing the wider farming and rural community, including Government cuts to the Sustainable Farming Incentive programme and plans to ban trail hunting.
Dame Harriett said: “I have been meeting with Jake for over a decade to see his innovative approach to farming and I was happy to help him navigate the red tape to grow hemp in rural West Worcestershire.
“Anyone who drives around the county as we approach harvest time, know how dry and brown the landscape is so it was refreshing to stand by a field so lush and green that is good for the environment and useful to our national economy.
“Hemp is an exciting new crop which local farmers can turn to for its adaptations to drier weather and qualities as a sustainable product. It does have a poor reputation, but in my opinion, and in the view of expert farmers, we should be making it easier, not harder to grow.
“Unfortunately, the Government does not seem to recognise the value of the countryside in the fight against climate change and is determined to cover it in houses and solar farms, but I will always back our local farmers.”
Jake Freestone added: “It was a very timely intervention by Harriett in securing the Home Office licence that we needed to grow the crop as the spring planting window was ending.
I am really looking forward to seeing how the crop performs with a changing and warming climate that we are currently experiencing. We need to be flexible in our approach to different crops and this one has certainly captured the imagination of the local walkers and riders on the Hill.”