When a farmer in southern Oregon planted 1,000 hemp plants in the summer of 2015, he expected a good harvest. Instead, he woke up to find that deer had eaten 960 of them in a single night. It wasn't a pest problem, it was a lesson. The animals instinctively chose the most nutritious option in the field.
From wild deer to farmed salmon, research now shows what the animals already knew: hemp is one of nature's most complete feeds. And it's not just changing animal health, it's changing the quality of the eggs, cheese, meat and milk that reach our plates.
Wild animals flock to the hemp field
The hemp field acts as a magnet for wildlife. Deer, rabbits, insects and birds seek it out, not by chance, but because hemp offers exceptional nutrition.
In Oregon, the Oregon Family Farm Association documented how deer systematically grazed down an entire hemp field.
Hemp leaves contain approximately 15–20 percent protein. Rabbits use hemp fields as both a food source and shelter, thanks to hemp's rapid growth which creates dense habitat in just a few months. Reports that hunters in the USA plant hemp as a food plot usually refer to sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea), a legume in the family Fabaceae, unrelated to Cannabis sativa. The two are often confused in English because both are called hemp.
But it's not just mammals. Surveys of hemp fields in Colorado have documented 23 different bee genera. Hemp blooms late, from August to September, precisely when most other crops have stopped producing pollen. During periods of poor late-season pollen availability, hemp fills a critical gap in pollinator food supply. Hemp pollen contains approximately 25 percent protein. In the same survey, the honeybee was the most common visitor at 38 percent, followed by the wild bees Melissodes bimaculata and Peponapis pruinosa.
The hen and the egg: 6 times more omega-3
The most dramatic effect of hemp as animal feed is seen in eggs. A study published in Poultry Science by Gakhar and colleagues in 2012 showed that when laying hens were fed 12 percent hemp seed oil in their diet, the omega-3 content in eggs increased from 2.4 to 15.3 milligrams per gram. That's a sixfold increase.
The results were consistent: better yolk colour thanks to higher carotenoid content, no negative effects on hen health or egg production, and no impact on taste. The eggs simply became more nutritious with no drawbacks.
A meta-analysis published in the journal Animals in 2025 confirmed these results across multiple studies, showing that hemp seeds, hemp seed cake and hemp seed oil all significantly enrich omega-3 fatty acids, particularly DHA, in egg yolks. The study also showed improved yolk colour, which is an indicator of higher nutritional value.
In August 2024, AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) took the formal step of approving hemp seed meal as official feed for laying hens in the USA. This meant that what research had shown for over a decade was now regulatory accepted.
Goats and cheese: 5 times more CLA
When researchers publishing in the journal Agriculture examined the effect of hemp seeds in goats' diet, they found that CLA, conjugated linoleic acid, increased by five times compared to the control group. At the same time, saturated fat decreased significantly and polyunsaturated fatty acids increased.
CLA is a fatty acid studied in nutrition research. That a simple change in the goat's diet can quintuple this substance in cheese and milk is remarkable.
An earlier study published in Frontiers in Animal Science in 2022 confirmed that hemp seeds change goat milk's fatty acid profile at a fundamental level. The researchers mapped not only the fatty acids but also gene expression and microRNA, showing that hemp affects milk production down to the molecular level.
For those wondering about taste: there are no published blind tests on goat cheese from hemp-fed goats yet. But anecdotal reports from producers suggest that the improved fatty acid profile gives a richer, more complex flavour.
Pigs and pork: 2.6 times more omega-3
Mourot and Guillevic at INRA in France published a 2015 study in the journal OCL where they fed three groups of 12 pigs with different oils: palm oil, rapeseed oil or hemp oil. The results were clear.
The pigs fed hemp oil had 2.6 times higher levels of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) in the meat compared to the palm oil group. In practice, this meant that 100 grams of pork from hemp-fed pigs contained 250 to 300 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids, a level approaching what nutrition experts recommend for daily intake.
The study also showed that hemp oil was superior to rapeseed oil, which "only" increased omega-3 by 1.8 times. Hemp's unique fatty acid profile, with an omega-6/omega-3 ratio of 3:1, makes it an ideal feed supplement for producing more nutritious meat.
Salmon and aquaculture: nutritional profile comparable to fishmeal
The University of Stirling in Scotland conducted a 2023 study on hemp seed meal as a replacement for fishmeal in salmon feed. The university described the result as promising.
The hemp seed meal was reported to have a nutritional profile comparable to soy and fishmeal, which is the gold standard in aquaculture. Establishing digestibility is described in the university's own account as a next step, not as an achieved result. The amino acid profile was similar, with high levels of aspartic acid, glutamic acid, phenylalanine, histidine and arginine. Additionally, the hemp seed meal had minimal anti-nutritional factors, something that is often a problem with other plant-based protein sources like soy.
This is potentially one of the most important discoveries for global food production. The aquaculture industry faces a crisis: fishmeal is a finite resource that is becoming increasingly expensive and environmentally burdensome to produce. If hemp can offer an equivalent alternative, it opens the door to more sustainable fish farming at scale.
Trials are now being extended to trout, shrimp, tilapia and other species.
Cattle: CLA increase with no drawbacks
Gibb and colleagues published a 2005 study in the Canadian Journal of Animal Science where cattle were fed up to 14 percent hemp seeds in their diet. The results showed no negative impact on growth or feed conversion.
On the contrary, CLA content in meat tissue increased, and omega-3 fatty acids (particularly C18:3) increased significantly. Hemp seed cake proved capable of replacing soy meal as a protein source in cattle feed, an important result given soy production's environmental impact.
Oregon State University has since continued to investigate hemp as cattle feed and reports promising results for both meat production and milk quality.
Bees and pollen
Perhaps the most surprising effect of hemp cultivation is on bees and other pollinators. A study by O'Brien and Arathi published in Biomass and Bioenergy in 2019 documented 23 different bee genera on hemp fields in Colorado.
Hemp produces no nectar, but it produces abundant pollen, and that's exactly what bees need. The pollen's protein content of approximately 25 percent makes it a valuable nutritional source.
What makes hemp particularly important is the timing. Hemp blooms from late July to late September, a period when few other crops produce pollen. Cornell University's hemp programme confirms that this late blooming coincides with a critical food gap for pollinators.
What effect this in turn has on the health of bee populations at large has not been investigated, and the studies cited make no such claims.
Why hemp's fatty acid profile is unique
What unites all these results is the exceptional nutritional profile of hemp seed. Hemp seed oil consists of over 80 percent polyunsaturated fatty acids and has an omega-6/omega-3 ratio of approximately 3:1, considered optimal for both animals and humans. Read more about hemp seeds and essential fatty acids.
Additionally, hemp contains gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), a rare omega-6 fatty acid. The combination of ALA, GLA and stearidonic acid (SDA) makes hemp one of the most complete plant-based fatty acid sources available.
It is this profile that explains why the results are so consistent across species: from hens to goats, from pigs to salmon. Hemp's nutrition is universal.
The raw material Helsama works with
The hemp Helsama refines is grown on Gotland, on limestone bedrock that is naturally alkaline. A high lime content in the soil binds several heavy metals, making them less available to the plant. The island is dominated by agriculture, but it is not free of industry: cement production in Slite has been running since 1917, and Sweden's Land and Environment Court has ordered the operator to investigate contamination in Bogeviken. What applies to an individual field is decided by that field's own measurements, not by the island's reputation.
The studies above concern feed for animals. They say nothing about what hemp seed does in a human diet, and should not be read that way.