Feral plants were once cultivated in farm or garden settings. “Conserving the genetic diversity of crops is … an intrinsic good in terms of building climate change resilience,” Stansell says. While the research on incorporating feral genetics is still new, researchers and breeders are already ordering feral hemp seed samples through the U.S National Germplasm system for breeding trials. So while working with feral plants can genetically diversify and make plants more resilient, cross-breeding is not an agricultural fix-all. There remain unanswered questions about how feral plants can operate for farmers on a larger scale.