Jake admires a new batch of plants in the tunnel house Photo: Supplied
Which hemp cultivars grow best on a Karamea dairy farm? Jake Gibbons is working towards finding out.
The former Antarctic explorer tells Country Life he's encouraging local farmers to use hemp as a way to reduce carbon emissions.
"There's been a lot of studies done that say one acre of hemp can sequester the same amount of carbon as one acre of Oregon pine.
"It takes Oregon pine 30 years to sequester that carbon. It takes hemp 120 days to do the same thing."
Gibbons believes switching to hemp will also help farmers improve the health and quality of the soil on rotational paddocks.
"It has the ability to pull out heavy metals and other bad aspects of soil that you don't want in there."
Photo: Supplied
Kathy Blumm & Jake Gibbons at the fertile basin area on their property Photo: Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
Jake and his wife Kathy Blumm got their license to grow industrial hemp four years ago and own a 100-hectare native forest at Little Wanganui.
A cleared basin in the middle of it is where Jake plans to grow hemp to showcase to farmers.
In preparation, he's been gradually improving the soil fertility.
"Our soils are very acidic and thin, so I've tried to create the most diverse eco-system I possibly could."
Photo: Supplied
Photo: Supplied
Photo: Supplied
Hundreds of plants are growing in a large tunnel house near the basin, and the best seed stock will be showcased to farmers.
Jake says there's already been a lot of interest, with several groups having already visited the site to check out his plants and discuss their potential.
"I'm kind of lucky. I'm a triple amputee so anytime I come up with an idea they love to come around to hear it because they think 'you're already mad' for a start!"
Before Jake and Kathy settled in Karamea, the couple worked for years with the US Antarctic Program at both the North and South Pole, which is where they met.
Jake and Kathy on the polar summit in Greenland Photo: Supplied
They also did several deployments to Greenland together, which is where Jake lost his two legs and an arm to frostbite.
"I got caught out in quite a large storm for three days and three nights, and somehow managed to make it back [to camp]."
This life-changing event led to the next stage, or adventure, in their lives.
"Kath and I had a talk and she said 'Well, what is something else you'd rather do?'
"And I said 'You know what, industrial hemp, that's going to be one of the key things in the future, it's something we can give back to society'. So we've put our hearts and souls on it'."
South Pole station Photo: Supplied
Photo: Supplied
Photo: Supplied
Photo: Supplied
