GROWING CANNABIS for export could be a lucrative post-Brexit business for farmers looking to tap into new markets.

Property agents Savills has teamed up with cannabis specialists to launch a business venture for UK growers. The new project Crop17 will help farmers learn how to identify the best land for planting cannabis, how to source equipment and understanding the legal stipulations around the Class B drug.

Cannabis is banned for recreational use in the UK – only last week more than 1400 plants worth £1.2m were seized in a series of drug raids in Sussex. The active ingredient in cannabis – Tetrahydrocannabinol – is illegal in the UK but Cannabidiol (CBD) is not. However, all CBD products sold in the UK have to be imported typically from the US, Canada and Columbia. There are several countries worldwide which have legalised it, sparking a boom in exports from the UK.

A director at Savills, Alex Bragg, said: "The UK agriculture sector is embarking upon a period of unprecedented change. A phasing out of subsidies, a new dawn for trade, adapting to meet climate change targets and a huge growth in ag-tech presents the industry with huge challenges and opportunities. For the forward-thinking and innovative farmer and grower adapting into new markets is a key priority."

Director of farm contracting business LF Papworth, Kit Papworth, based near North Walsham, has been invited to attend a Savills conference in London on hemp cultivation in the UK. He said: "The hemp and CBD (Cannabidol) oil markets have a huge potential, for both the oil and the biomass produced by the plant, which can be used in industry, building materials and for sequestering carbon.

"Farming in a post-Brexit world means we have to look closely at all of the opportunities, and this is just one of many that we are considering," he concluded.