Good Practice - Project
CAP supports the commercial and environmental potential of hemp production in Austria
Good practice eligibility criteria for hemp production using direct payments from CAP's Pillar 1 in Austria.
General information
Beneficiary type
- Farmer / land manager
CAP specific objective
- SO1. Ensuring viable farm income
Intervention type
- Art 21 – BISS
Summary
Hemp is an eligible crop for farmers to produce with help from CAP direct payments. It is a fast-growing and strong fibrous species providing carbon storage, pest management, and cost savings for EU farmers. For instance, in only five months, one hectare of hemp can fix the same amount of carbon as a young forest.
Direct payments for hemp and all other eligible crops from Pillar 1 are available to help support the sustainability and resilience of EU farming communities, including in upland areas suffering natural handicaps.
In Austria, CAP direct payments offer possibilities for farmers interested in commercial and environmental properties from hemp. Farmers growing eligible crops can receive direct payments per hectare as well as additional payments through eco-schemes. These direct payments are controlled by good practice eligibility checks covering active farmers, harvest and flowering limits, seed certification, field declarations, and applications.
Results
- Recent figures for Austria indicate 162 farms (689.47 ha) in 2025.
- Austria’s CSP does not specify a ring-fenced budget for hemp, and payments are crop-neutral; farms growing eligible crops may receive direct payments and, where applicable, additional support through eco-schemes or redistributive actions.
Promoter
Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management
Funding
EAGF – BISS (crop-neutral), about EUR 208/ha on typical farmland (not hemp-specific); additional options via eco-schemes or CRIS.
Context
Hemp is a crop increasingly grown for fibre and carbon sequestration across Europe. The EU CAP Network Assembly recognises this through its member from the European Industrial Hemp Association.
EU farmers can receive direct payments from the CAP to help with hemp production. Such payments are controlled by conditions that check both farm and crop eligibility. Farmers must use certified seed from varieties listed in the EU Common Catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species; over 110 hemp varieties have been registered in this catalogue.
Carbon storage is one of the primary benefits of hemp cultivation, as one hectare of hemp sequesters between 9 and 15 tonnes of CO2. This is equivalent to the quantity sequestered by a young forest, but hemp only takes five months to fix the same amount of carbon.
Hemp is also advantageous for farmers as a rotation crop to mitigate cyclic risks from pests, and the species' rapid growth helps shade soil against weed threats or erosion while boosting water retention. Additional environmental benefits and cost savings for farmers stem from fewer natural predators, which cuts the need for insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides.
Austria’s CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) for 2023-2027 includes Pillar 1 direct payment possibilities for farmers interested in the commercial and environmental properties of hemp. These payments include good practice approaches, controlling legal concerns, while facilitating the ecosystem services offered by hemp.
Objectives
Austria’s CSP aims to provide direct payments for hemp because the plant is legally an eligible crop under CAP rules.
Direct payments from Pillar 1 in Austria for hemp cultivation aim to support the sustainability and resilience of local farming communities, including those in upland areas facing natural disadvantages.
National good-practice controls in Austria ensure the use of certified seed from listed varieties and accurate parcel declarations (typically one declared variety per field parcel). Other important operational objectives include clear harvest timing: hemp must not be harvested earlier than 10 days after the end of flowering, unless an official compliant sample has already been taken from the relevant area.
Activities
CAP direct payment actions are area-based; thus, payments are not dedicated to specific crops by design. All eligible crops, including hemp, can receive BISS payments when the crops are produced on eligible farmland in full compliance with related regulations.
Austrian farmers receiving hemp direct payments from the CSP are required to follow several specified activities. These key requirements and technical conditions oversee hemp growing and include compliance with four main considerations:
- no vegetative propagation: areas with hemp cuttings, such as cut shoots or other vegetative propagation, are not eligible for direct payments, but hemp seedlings and generative propagation are eligible.
- certified seed and variety list: only certified seed can be used. The variety must be listed in the EU Common Catalogue (in Austria: the national industrial hemp variety list). To be eligible for direct payments, the crop must comply with a THC threshold of < 0.3%. Farmers need to upload seed details in advance, providing information about the variety name, label number, and the amount in kilograms. If multiple farms participate in a CSP submission, then each farm must specify its share and submit a separate declaration. All original seed labels must be kept in the farm records and submitted if requested by the CSP authorities.
- application timing and field declaration: farmers must declare the use of hemp as a harvest use type in the field parcel list by 15 April of the application year. The parcel listing for each variety used must record the variety name and the applied seeding rate in kg/ha. If multiple varieties are grown, they must be recorded as separate parcels. Single seed sowing and seedlings are all covered by the good practice rules. A minimum seeding rate of 20 kg/ha is advised as a good practice guideline.
- harvest and flowering limits: in Austria, hemp must not be harvested earlier than 10 days after the end of flowering, unless a certified compliant sample has already been taken. Ploughing and harvest are not eligible nor permitted (without formal approval) before 10 days after the end of flowering.
Main results
- Recent figures for Austria indicate 162 farms (689.47 ha) in 2025.
- Austria does not specify a ring-fenced CAP budget for hemp. Farms growing eligible crops can receive EUR 208 per hectare via Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS), plus EUR 44 per hectare for the first 20 hectares, plus EUR 22 per hectare for the next 20 hectares via Complementary Redistributive Income Support (CRIS), as well as Complementary Income Support for Young Farmer (CISYF) and support through eco-schemes.
Key lessons
CAP direct payment actions are area-based; thus, payments are not dedicated to specific crops by design. All eligible crops, including hemp, can receive BISS, CRIS and CIS-YF when the crops are produced on eligible farmland using CAP compliance conditions.
Good practice technical requirements for cultivating industrial hemp under CSP direct payments in Austria require that:
- only certified seeds are permitted for cultivation.
- hemp may not be harvested before 10 days after the end of flowering, unless an approved hemp sample has already been taken from the relevant area.
The EIHA has been selected to participate in the EU CAP Network Assembly. We are grateful for the appointment and eager to make sure hemp farming is supported throughout the EU for a smooth increase in production that benefits primarily our EU farmers and the green transition.