For starters, farmers must get a licence for the privilege to grow hemp from the Ministry of Health at an annual cost of $511 + GST.
This is all because the plant is a cousin to cannabis (which, ironically the current Government wants to make legal) even though anyone would have to smoke about a hectare of hemp to even get a buzz.
And to stop all those crazy hippies raiding hemp crops to feed their habit, any farmers growing hemp beside a road must use a cover crop – say, maize – to hide the hemp crop from the prying eyes of any passing traffic.
Unbelievable, but true!
