LongLine Fibre™

Unlocking Low-Carbon Fibre Supply Chains for the UK

A dense row of tall, green LongLine Fibre plants with slender stalks and narrow leaves stands next to a path covered in cut leaves, under a sunny blue sky.
Homegrown strength for Britain’s sustainable future.

Overview: From Field to Fibreboard — Building a Sustainable British Construction and Textile Future

Natural fibres are essential to the UK’s green transition, with applications from low-carbon construction and composites to technical textiles and packaging. Yet, while Britain’s climate is perfect for growing hemp—a world-class source of strong, sustainable fibre—virtually all the long-fibre hemp used in construction or manufacturing is still imported. The reason? There’s never been a UK-bred hemp variety tailored specifically for the requirements of British fields and British supply chains.

LongLine Fibre is Precision Plants’ flagship initiative to close this gap: the first precision breeding project to deliver a homegrown, long-line hemp variety engineered for reliable yields, high-performance fibre, and robust field resilience. Our mission? Make the UK’s green materials revolution truly local, from farm to factory.

Fibre is the Future—But Genetics are Stuck in the Past

  • Imported Genetics: Nearly all hemp varieties available to British farmers are imported relics from central or eastern Europe, poorly adapted to UK-specific weather, soils, and agronomic systems.
  • Inconsistent Yield & Quality: British conditions—often wetter, windier, and at a different latitude—produce unpredictable fibre length, strength, and uniformity, deterring processors from investing in domestic supply.
  • Lack of Traceability: Modern industries demand traceable, guaranteed provenance and performance, but current supply chains lack the genetics and digital systems for this.
  • Vulnerability to Storms: Traditional hemp varieties are highly susceptible to wind damage (lodging), a risk that increases as British weather grows more extreme with climate change.

The Opportunity: Bringing Fibre Home

The UK government’s Industrial Decarbonisation and Construction sector strategies, alongside net zero targets, all point to rapid growth for sustainable, traceable natural fibres—if farmers and industry can rely on consistent supply. British hemp has unrivalled potential—regenerating soils, sequestering carbon, and producing versatile fibre—if we can breed the right variety.

Our Solution: The LongLine Fibre Project

Precision Breeding for a British Fibre Backbone

LongLine Fibre will deliver a next-generation hemp variety that is:

  • Long, Strong, and Uniform: Genetically optimised for maximum bast fibre length, consistent strength, and efficient processing—with a quality benchmarked for construction, composites, and textiles.
  • Adapted for the British Climate: Bred for consistent performance across UK soils and growing seasons, tolerant of wind and wet when it matters, and robust against lodging.
  • Engineered for Tomorrow’s Supply Chains: Using digital seed-to-product traceability alongside advanced genetics—meeting the strict standards for provenance and sustainability now demanded by high-value UK industries.
  • StormGuard Resilience: Built as part of our StormGuard trait program, stacking stronger roots and flexible stems for maximum harvest security in a changing climate.

Where We Are Now: The 2025 Field Baseline

Our approach leverages Precision Plants’ advanced lab expertise and partnership network:

  • 2025: Control Crop Establishment
    This year marks our first crop of conventionally bred (non-edited) hemp, grown at Rothamsted Research under our Low-THC licence. These trials set the essential performance benchmarks for UK fibre traits and field challenges, guiding our breeding objectives and protocols.
  • Laboratory Validation:
    Our team at the University of Hertfordshire has already proven CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing works in hemp, providing a powerful tool to target fibre quality, length, and storm resilience traits.
  • Processor and Industry Engagement:
    We are working closely with processors, construction firms, and textile innovators to define their “wish list” for fibre performance—ensuring market relevance from the very start.

What’s Next: Engineering Quality and Resilience

After agronomic benchmarking in 2025, we will:

  • Deploy Precision Gene Editing (2026):
    Target edits for longer bast fibre, increased cellulose, reduced lignin (for easier extraction), and improved resilience to UK storms.
  • Advance StormGuard Traits:
    Integrate root and stem flexibility enhancements—helping crops withstand winds and ensuring farmers can depend on their harvest.
  • Field Trials of Edited Lines:
    Bring gene-edited LongLine Fibre lines into Rothamsted Research plots for rigorous multi-site, in-season validation, with processor input and full regulatory oversight.
  • Supply Chain Co-Design:
    Collaborate with end-users on best practices in harvesting, retting, and value-chain traceability to maximise economic and carbon benefits.

The Impact: Greening Britain’s Supply Chains

1. Powering British Green Growth
Homegrown, precision-bred fibre gives UK manufacturers, builders, and engineers a predictable, sustainable domestic source—reducing dependence on imported materials, supporting green jobs, and lowering embodied carbon.

2. Strengthening Rural and Manufacturing Economies
Farmers achieve new, premium crop opportunities; processors and manufacturers benefit from supply chain security and consistent quality; rural regions gain investment and jobs through new fibre hubs.

3. Climate and Weather Resilience by Design
LongLine Fibre’s advanced genetics aim to safeguard yield and quality—even in harsher, stormier weather—securing farm incomes and industry supply against the growing volatility of climate change.

4. True Circularity and Traceability
Every tonne of LongLine Fibre can be traced from seed to final product—delivering verified sustainability credentials for both food and built environment applications and enabling new “circular economy” business models.

Open Collaboration: Science at the Service of Industry

The LongLine Fibre Project stands on partnership:

  • Scientific Excellence:
    Our breeding is rooted in the University of Hertfordshire’s genetics research, with agronomy support from Rothamsted Research and supply chain guidance from forward-looking industrial partners.
  • End-User-Driven Design:
    Traits and data are co-defined with processors, builders, and material scientists to maximise real-world utility and adoption.
  • Knowledge Exchange at Every Stage:
    Protocols, data, outcomes, and learnings will be continually shared with growers, researchers, and policymakers—not just a new variety, but a step change in the UK’s capacity for green materials.

Project Milestones

  • 2025: Baseline Trials
    Control (non-edited) hemp grown at Rothamsted Research to establish UK benchmarks for fibre yield, length, and quality. In-depth engagement with industry on trait priorities.
  • 2026: Precision Breeding and Early Trait Enhancement
    CRISPR/Cas9 applied to target genes for fibre and resilience, based on validated protocols from our laboratory research.
  • 2027: Field Trials and Processor Partnerships
    First gene-edited LongLine Fibre lines trialled across Rothamsted’s diverse research plots. Fibre yields, quality, and processing performance assessed side-by-side with standard and control varieties. Supply chain protocols and processing relationships formalised with British construction, composite, and textile industry partners.
  • 2028 Onwards: Knowledge Exchange, Adoption, and Scale-Up
    Results disseminated via open days, technical guides, and grower networks, sharing not just variety outcomes, but also best agronomy and processing practices. Early-adopter contracts and commercial-scale pilots launched, enabling English farms and fibre processors to capitalise on the new genetics.

Alignment with DEFRA’s Farming Futures Vision

LongLine Fibre delivers directly to several DEFRA and Innovate UK strategic aims:

  • Sustainability: By unlocking reliable, low-input natural fibre, the project supports lower-carbon British industry, improved soil health, and enhanced biodiversity within regenerative cropping systems.
  • Productivity: Offering dependable fibre yields and a fresh, premium crop option, LongLine Fibre can significantly boost farm profitability and secure domestic supply for growth sectors.
  • Resilience: StormGuard trait stacking enhances climate resilience, reducing the risk of catastrophic yield losses due to increasing weather extremes in the UK.
  • Knowledge Exchange: A foundation of open science, data sharing, and co-development ensures rapid translation from research to real-world, industry-wide impact.

Invitation: Grow with Us

Are you a:

  • Farmer looking for stable, profitable new rotations and early access to the green materials market?
  • Processor, builder, or manufacturer who wants a secure and transparent British fibre supply chain—reducing risk and winning sustainability-conscious contracts?
  • Researcher or policy leader committed to advancing British innovation and climate action, or aligning rural growth with net zero goals?

We warmly invite you to join the LongLine Fibre journey: whether you’re interested in pilot trials, trait feedback, or knowledge sharing events, your involvement will help root resilient, low-carbon supply chains on British soil.

Let’s build a future where sustainable materials are grown, processed, and championed right here in the UK—field by field, fibre by fibre.

“With LongLine Fibre, British farmers and manufacturers don’t just keep pace with the green revolution—they lead it. Smarter crops, stronger supply chains, a greener tomorrow: it all starts with better genetics.”

LongLine Fibre: Growing the backbone of a sustainable Britain.