German Cannabis Crop: Elderly Bavarian Farmer Accidentally Plants Field Of Hemp (PHOTO)

An elderly German farmer's field went to pot on Tuesday, after local drug enforcement agents knocked on his door to inquire about the crop of cannabis growing on his property.

According to CNBC, the 74-year-old Bavarian man told police that he wanted to plant sunflowers in a fallow field that he normally uses for growing potatoes.

Since he didn't have any sunflower seeds handy, the farmer decided to scatter bird seed around the field instead. According to the Local, the bird seed mix that he used contained hemp, resulting in an unintentional crop of more than 1,000 cannabis plants.

Concerned neighbors alerted police to the field of 10-foot tall plants, which the farmer had failed to recognize as cannabis. Once police explained the situation, the man proceeded to plow the field with his tractor, destroying the hemp.

An NBC News translation of a Bavarian police press release stated that the cannabis the farmer grew was too weak to have an intoxicating effect.

But the farmer isn't off the hook just yet.

Bavarian police spokesperson Stefan Brabetz told NBC that the man's case still has to go in front of a judge, who will decide whether or not to file formal charges.

Although this farmer's hemp cultivation appears to have been a mistake, other farmers have been caught red-handed growing psychoactive cannabis, also known as marijuana.

In 2011, state and federal drug enforcement agents arrested two California brothers known for growing tomatoes after they raised a pot crop in their hot house. The DEA seized 2,168 plants in their raid, according to the Bay Citizen.

Hemp, a kind of cannabis, is grown in different parts of the world, such as Canada, for use as grain and fiber. Germany once had a ban on hemp growing, but according to the Hemp Industries Association, that restriction was lifted in 1995. However, CNBC reported that under German law, it is illegal to "knowingly" grow cannabis.

(via Fark)