It is illegal to feed unprocessed, harvested or hemp products such as balage or silage to animals.
“Clearly, the potential risk associated with residue transferring to export product is a serious risk that must be avoided at all cost,” Ritchie said.
Hemp and hemp products used as animal feed are regulated under the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act.
It is an offence to use any unauthorised compound and no hemp products are authorised.
Beef + Lamb North Island general manager Matt Ward said while the area of hemp grown here is small and hemp has very low levels of THC, the psychoactive substance found in cannabis plants, any trace of it could result in export meat being rejected.
Even running stock on harvested hemp crops might result in traces of THC being found in meat, which could put red meat exports at risk, Ward said.
Given the poor feed quality of hemp stalk it is unlikely to be used for grazing lambs but farmers might be tempted to run cull ewes on crop residue before sending them for processing, particularly given feed shortages and lack of killing space.
“It would be very easy for farmers to unwittingly run old ewes or mature cattle onto hemp stubble without thinking of the remote but potentially devastating chance of THC tainting the meat.”
While crop stubble is often valuable at this time of year for stock at or above optimum body condition hemp should be avoided and shut off from all livestock, Ward said.
A Ministry for Primary Industries alert clearly states feeding unprocessed hemp to animals without registration is not permitted and might also be an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Feed products made from processed hemp, like hemp protein powders, can be fed to or used on animals only if it can be proved there is no detectable THC and they meet the requirements for an exemption from registration.
The chemicals in hemp and related compounds and any preparation or plant containing them are classed by the Ministry of Health as controlled drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Controlled drugs and anything containing them can be given to or fed to animals only after registration under the ACVM Act and even then registered products come under strict MPI controls and conditions of sale and use.
Unprocessed or minimally processed hemp products, like hemp used for grazing, balage or silage will contain THC and are therefore strictly forbidden, MPI said.
