Textile hemp is
progressively establishing itself as a high value-added crop in north-western
Europe. The 2025 growing season, marked by contrasting climatic conditions
across regions, provided valuable insights into the crop’s agronomic behaviour
and production potential in Wallonia, Flanders, the Netherlands, France and Germany.
Field observations and trials conducted within the Hemp4Circularity
framework confirm both the promise of textile hemp and the importance of
mastering key levers such as sowing date, soil choice and harvest timing.
Textile hemp: a high value-added crop with strong potential
Although textile hemp is still in a research and development phase, the 2025 results are overall encouraging. In Wallonia, around 100 hectares of hemp for long fibre production were cultivated during the season.
Within field trials coordinated by Valbiom, yields of 7 to 8 t/ha of retted straw were achieved, allowing the extraction of more than 1.2 t/ha of long fibres and around 1.5 t/ha of tow. These figures confirm the crop’s strong potential for growers when agronomic conditions are favourable.
Several factors contributed to these performances. Sowing early enough (19th April) to ensure sufficient moisture for germination in dry spring conditions enabled strong vegetative development in spring. While varietal trials carried out under the Hemp4Circularity project and the BioMaSER agreement (including Bialobrzeskie, Muka 76, Santhica 27 and USO 31) highlighted differences in phenology and fibre productivity. Variety choice and early crop establishment therefore play a key role in maximising fibre yields.
Harvest timing: a decisive factor for fibre yield
The 2025 season clearly confirmed the importance of harvesting at the right phenological stage. If we look at Wallonia’s results, mowing after flowering significantly reduces the proportion of long fibres: around 14% when harvested late, compared with more than 18% for crops cut at flowering. Delayed harvest directly penalises long fibre yield.
Differences were also observed along the stem. At scutching, long fibre yields exceeded 20% in the lower parts of the stem, while remaining below 10% in the upper sections. These results underline the importance of cultivating fine, tall hemp plants, allowing inflorescences to be crushed during processing and maximising usable fibre length.
Plot selection: lessons from Flanders
In Flanders, Inagro monitored a hemp field in the province of East Flanders, sown with the early variety USO 31 on sandy soil. Limited rainfall after sowing led to uneven emergence and significant drought stress, triggering early flowering.
The final straw yield reached only 4 t/ha, clearly reflecting the impact of the dry season and soil type. Although the hemp has not yet been scutched, this case study already highlights a key message: plot selection is critical for textile hemp, particularly in regions prone to spring drought. Soil water-holding capacity appears to be a decisive factor for securing biomass and fibre potential.
France: climate as a key driver of fibre potential
The 2025 French textile hemp season was strongly shaped by dry conditions and above-average temperatures, which influenced sowing strategies, crop uniformity and final suitability for textile markets.
Early sowing was generally beneficial, as higher spring temperatures enabled rapid emergence and early growth. In contrast, later sowings often experienced slower and more heterogeneous establishment, mainly due to cooler conditions and limited surface soil moisture. Dry soils led to uneven emergence in several fields, increasing crop heterogeneity and weed pressure.
Water stress and heat in early summer triggered very rapid vegetative growth, allowing most crops to become quickly competitive against weeds. However, severe weather events (storms, wind and hail) caused lodging and stem breakage in some areas, resulting in the exclusion of affected parcels from textile outlets.
A key observation in 2025 was early flowering, driven by higher-than-normal temperatures and strong solar radiation. While this had little impact on well-developed crops that had already reached sufficient height, it is expected to limit fibre yield in shorter or heterogeneous stands, as flowering marks the end of stem elongation.
Harvest conditions were generally satisfactory on homogeneous and tall crops, with optimal cutting heights reached in the majority of parcels. Retting remained highly dependent on local rainfall, with dry late-summer conditions slowing the process in some regions.
Overall, the French results confirm that soil moisture at emergence, crop uniformity and climatic extremes are decisive factors for securing textile-quality hemp under increasingly variable weather conditions.
Improving production conditions and economic prospects
Across all regions, production methods continue to improve. Several harvesting solutions are now locally available, and although scutching capacities remain lower than in the flax sector, processing speeds are now considered technically satisfactory.
Combined with the good yields observed in 2025, these advances contribute to growing economic viability for textile hemp. Provided market prices remain stable, gross margins could reach around €2,000 per hectare, reinforcing interest in the crop while underlining the need for continued technical optimisation. However, this profitability can only be guaranteed if supply is stabilized from one year to the next, ensuring consistent quality and quantity to secure markets and outlets.
From fibre to fabric: processing results
Significant progress was achieved in hackling through the development of a new classification system based on specific criteria for raw materials, namely scutched long fibres, such as residual hemp shives, bonded fibre bundles, colour, and length.
The mechanical properties of hemp yarns were evaluated during spinning, but a high level of variability was observed. However, establishing clear relationships between these properties and their underlying causes remains challenging. These causes may include varietal differences, retting conditions, crop maturity, and biochemical composition.
These irregularities result in a 50% reduction in hackling efficiency and a 35% reduction in spinning efficiency compared to flax. However, these performances could be improved as field production becomes more consistent. In addition, combing and spinning machines could be adapted, as they are currently specifically designed for flax, with new processes dedicated to hemp fibres.
Various weaving and finishing tests, including dyeing, washing, and stonewashing, were carried out. The results were generally very positive, although the stiffness of the yarn can pose challenges during weaving, potentially leading to increased breakage. Overall, these outcomes highlight a wide range of possibilities in textile product design.
This wide range of possible applications calls for giving hemp a distinct identity and market positioning through clearly defined territories of expression. Rather than placing it in direct comparison to linen, hemp should be differentiated on its own terms. Creating a strong sense of uniqueness and desirability will be essential for successfully positioning hemp in end markets.
These territories of expression could, for example, draw on both tangible and intangible values such as reliability, raw beauty, resistance, naturalness, structural brutalism, outdoor living, or endurance. Together, these qualities can form the foundation of a coherent and compelling collection strategy.
Stay tuned – More information to come!