RUTHENIA ALBA · Knowledge centre
Fibre hemp in Poland — from registration to sales
The number of fibre hemp growers has quadrupled since 2022, while the number of buyers has fallen. Anyone who sows without a buyer, a harvesting technology and a KOWR entry loses the season. This hub guides you along the whole route: law, seed, agronomy, machinery, sales — based on sources, without promises.
Market situation
The number of growers is rising, the number of buyers is not
The farmer's route
Six steps — in this order
The order is not accidental: whoever starts with seed ends up with a crop and no buyer. Each step has its own guide.
- 01
Purpose of cultivation and buyer — before you buy seed
Fibre, seed or dual-purpose cultivation? The purpose determines the variety, sowing rate, timing and harvesting technology. First find a buyer: a contract with a processor or a buyer from the KOWR register. There are currently 76 buyers for 1,681 producers — a crop without a buyer does not turn into money.
Who buys straw and seed - 02
Variety and certified sowing material
To the KOWR register you attach the purchase invoice for seed of the elite or certified category and the label from the packaging. The variety must be in the EU catalogue and have THC up to 0.3%. In Poland Henola dominates (about 40% of the area in 2026), followed by Finola, Białobrzeskie and Futura 75.
Varieties and sowing rates - 03
Entry in the fibre hemp register (KOWR)
Since 7 May 2022 there are no longer mayoral permits or regionalisation; instead there is an entry of indefinite duration in the register kept by the director of the KOWR regional branch competent for your place of residence or registered office. You submit the application BEFORE sowing (decision within 14 days), state fee PLN 30. Changes must be reported within 30 days (from 27.08.2026; previously 14); KOWR inspects at least 10% of producers every year.
Registration step by step - 04
Fibre hemp payment (ARiMR)
Area-linked payment — you apply in eWniosekPlus within the usual subsidy deadline. Conditions: variety from the catalogue, THC ≤ 0.3%, plot at least 0.1 ha, area not greater than in the KOWR register, declaration of cultivation and seed labels to ARiMR by 1 September. The Rajan variety has been excluded from payment since 2023; Finola has been admitted again since 2023.
Conditions and rates - 05
Agronomy and harvesting
Hemp is sown densely for fibre (60–70 kg/ha) and sparsely for seed (25–30 kg/ha). It is cut, not pulled — and long, strong fibre wraps around every rotating element of an ordinary machine. Harvesting is the weakest link in the Polish chain: the technology and machinery fleet must be matched to the purpose of cultivation before sowing.
Harvesting technologies and machinery - 06
Sales, processing and settlement
Straw goes to decortication (fibre + shives), seed to cleaning and drying (down to 8–9% moisture), biomass to the buyer under the contract. You may grow up to 1 ha per year for your own needs without a buyer — from 27.08.2026 the law distinguishes between “own needs” (no resale) and “processing on your own account” (processed products may be sold). Settlement with ARiMR and any changes to the register close the season.
How much you can earn — and from what
For printing
Three checklists for the season
Before sowing, during the season, after harvest. Print them and keep them in a binder with your KOWR and ARiMR documents — inspections ask about exactly these things.
winter — April
Before sowing
- Chosen crop goal: fibre / seed / dual-purpose / biomass.
- Buyer with a contract or letter of intent (processor, buyer from the KOWR register, IWNiRZ Hemp Programme).
- Variety from the Common Catalogue of Varieties, THC ≤ 0.3%; check whether it qualifies for ARiMR payment (Rajan — no).
- Invoice for purchase of certified seed + labels from packaging (copies for KOWR and ARiMR).
- Application for entry in the fibre hemp register submitted to the KOWR regional office (by place of residence / registered office) BEFORE sowing; stamp duty PLN 30; decision within 14 days.
- Cadastral plot numbers and area consistent with what will go into eWniosekPlus.
- Soil: pH and nutrient status tested; hemp performs poorly on acidic and waterlogged soils.
- Harvest technology agreed with the buyer (cutting length, retting, bale form, moisture).
- Harvester or harvesting contractor booked — there are no “free hemp combines” in August.
- Crop insurance (since 2025 a state subsidy of 65% of the premium for seed hemp).
May — September
In season
- Sowing after frosts have passed; seed rate according to purpose and the variety breeder’s recommendations.
- Nitrogen fertilisation according to ODR / breeder recommendations — excess N worsens lodging and fibre quality.
- Payment application in eWniosekPlus; declaration of fibre hemp cultivation and seed labels to ARiMR no later than 1 September.
- Every change (area, plot, variety, buyer) reported to KOWR within 30 days — fine for failure to update: PLN 1,000. Actual area must not deviate from the declared area by more than 5%.
- Readiness for a KOWR inspection (at least 10% of producers per year) — documents in one binder.
- Harvest date agreed with the buyer: fibre — at flowering, seed — when about 70% of seeds are mature.
- Before harvest: sharp blades, guards on shafts and chains, machine cleaning plan to remove fibre wrapping.
September — December
After harvest
- Straw: field retting to the agreed degree, bales in netting, removal straight after pressing (bales absorb moisture).
- Seed: drying to 8–9% without overheating, cleaning, sample to the buyer.
- Sales documents consistent with the contract; the buying entity reports contracts to KOWR by 31 July.
- ARiMR payment settlement; labels and invoices kept in case of inspection.
- Season review: yield, costs, machine time — for decisions on variety and area for next year.
Knowledge base
Seven guides — each with sources
We do not summarise blogs. Every figure comes from KOWR, ARiMR, MRiRW, IWNiRZ, ODR or the machine manufacturer's documentation — and each has a date.
Hemp exchange
Raw material, services, land — in one place
In Poland there is no place where a farmer, processor, service provider and investor meet around hemp. Listings are free and verified; we do not publish prices that the advertiser has not provided.
Technology
Harvesting and processing — what we really offer
Hemp is cut, not pulled. Flax pullers are not suitable for hemp — that is why we build the hemp line on different machines from the flax line.
Turning the swath and baling retted straw are stages that flax machines also perform for hemp. Harvesting hemp itself is a separate category of machinery — the whole harvesting guide is about it.
Calendar
Where the industry meets
19–20.09.2026
Hemp Harvest Festival — 4th edition
Konopnica, Lublin Voivodeship
Organiser: Konopnica commune with KOWR. Around 40 exhibitors, agricultural and family part.
Event page ↗25–26.07.2026· took place
Hemp Festival in Płowce
Płowce, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
Fundacja SiejeMy Konopie and Stowarzyszenie Siewców Konopi; patronage MRiRW, partners ARiMR, KOWR, KPODR. The main agricultural event of the sector.
Event page ↗10–12.06.2026· took place
23rd EIHA Conference
Poznań
European Industrial Hemp Association for the first time in Poland; scientific partner IWNiRZ-PIB.
Event page ↗
Questions
Most frequently asked questions
Is growing fibre hemp in Poland legal?
Yes. Fibre hemp (THC up to 0.3% in the dry mass of inflorescences) may be grown legally after entry in the fibre hemp register kept by the director of the KOWR regional office. Since 7 May 2022 there are no mayoral permits or voivodeship limits. Basis: the Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction after the amendment of 24 March 2022 (Journal of Laws 2022 item 763), with later amendments — the latest of 3 July 2026 (Journal of Laws 2026 item 1004), in force from 27 August 2026.
How much does registering a crop with KOWR cost and how long does it take?
Stamp duty for a producer’s entry is PLN 30 (buying entity — PLN 125). The application is submitted before sowing to the KOWR office competent for the place of residence or registered office, attaching the invoice for certified seed purchase (in the applicant’s name) and the packaging label. The decision is issued within 14 days of a complete application. Entry is open-ended; changes are reported within 30 days.
What is the subsidy for fibre hemp?
The coupled payment per hectare of fibre hemp for 2025 was PLN 168.99/ha (reference rate EUR 29.55/ha). The estimated rate for 2026 advances is PLN 124.73/ha; the MRiRW announces the final rate by 1 December. On top of this come basic direct payments and eco-schemes, as for any crop.
Do I need a buyer to grow hemp?
Up to 1 ha per year you may grow for own needs without a contract with a buying entity. Above that, you sell to a buying entity entered in the KOWR register. In practice it is worth having a buyer before sowing regardless of area: in 2026 there are 76 buying entities for 1,681 producers.
How does fibre hemp differ from fibre flax at harvest?
Flax is pulled with the root, hemp is cut — a different machinery category. The hemp stalk is thicker, taller (1.5–3 m) and more lignified, and fibre wraps around the rotating parts of ordinary mowers and combines. Turning the swath and pressing can already be done by machines known from flax.
How much can you earn per hectare of hemp?
According to MRiRW and IWNiRZ calculations for 2026, seed cropping gives about 12 thousand PLN/ha before subsidies at a yield of 1.8 t and a price of PLN 13/kg, and conservatively 5–6 thousand PLN/ha. Straw at prices of PLN 300–350/t (agricultural press, 2026) adds PLN 360–560/ha; Kombinat Konopny pays PLN 700–800/t in 2026, but within 50 km of Elbląg. The result depends on the buyer, variety and harvest technology — not on the hectare alone.
Talk
Planning hemp? Let's start with harvesting technology and sales.
We select the machine line for your crop purpose, design the processing line and calculate financing. The first conversation costs nothing — and we do not sell machines where it is better to hire a service.
Sources
The figures on this page come only from institutional sources and are dated. Market prices are quoted from the entity that announced them; we do not forecast prices or promise income per hectare.