We decided that we would grow hemp and go from killing animals to growing something , from destroying things to creating things .
Farmers across North America are increasingly moving away from raising chickens for slaughter to growing hemp on their land instead .
Many are converting their old chicken barns to grow industrial hemp , in a move which has been praised by animal rights organisations .
The advocacy group Mercy for Animals has set up a ‘ transfarmation ’ project to help farmers switch from animal agriculture to a plant-focused business model .
Their transfarmation website says : “ More and more farmers are seeking a way out of animal farming .
“ Whether they ’ re fed up with Big Agriculture ’ s exploitative contracts or the poor working conditions , they ’ ve had enough .”
One of Mercy for Animals success stories is the Halley farm in Texas . For 30 years the family raised thousands of chickens in 12 factory-style sheds .
The Halley family collectively said : “ We decided that we would grow hemp and go from killing animals to growing something , from destroying things to creating things .”
Mercy for Animals President Leah Garces said : “ The 12 chicken houses used to contain tens of thousands of suffering animals .
“ Now they will be used to dry hemp and it is just so beautiful to see the transformation .”
Another ‘ hens to hemp ’ story highlighted by the group , was that of Mike Weaver from West Virginia who converted his chicken business into an indoor hemp farm and processing facility .
Mike described how he was inspired to move to growing cannabis after seeing how it benefited a friend who was battling cancer .
Since growing hemp , Weaver explained how his new business was more ethical and better for the environment .
He said it was also a huge bonus that it was far more profitable than his chicken farming business had been .
Mercy For Animals said there was a huge market in growing hemp and said the demand for plant-based ingredients was estimated to grow from $ 8 trillion in 2018 to $ 13 trillion by 2025 .
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