Cannabis Growers: Tearing off the Deviant Label

“We have had a deviant label applied to us,” claims marijuana grower Casey O’Neill. “We are a marginalized society.” He worries that as cannabis becomes a legal and acceptable industry, small, heritage marijuana farmers will be pushed out by large agribusinesses. And, he wants to keep that from happening by creating a co-op of craft cannabis growers and helping those growers tell their own story and create their own label (literally) as they learn to market to consumers. IMG_20150322_110546_480

Initially, O’Neill says, the Emerald Grown Marketing Services Co-op will help farmers craft a farm name and describe “the unique things that make their cannabis special and different than any other in the world.” This June, he says, the Co-op which is affiliated with the Emerald Growers Association will put out a catalog of farms and their products. “We will print 25,000 copies of the inaugural run in June and 100,000 in December of the fall edition.”

The catalog would bring together growers and dispensaries. “This is the coolest thing about it,” says O’Neill, “If you are a buyer, one thing you want is consistency. For buyers you never know what you are going to get. It’s like going fishing. The co-op would provide a way for business partners to have some sort of standard and consistency.”

Because marijuana has been illegal, says O’Neill, growers have had a difficult time learning simple marketing practices. “70% have not thought of a farm name,” says O’Neill, “and that’s one of the first things necessary to have your own business.”

Two meetings are being held–one in Redway and one in Willits–to, as the Facebook invite says, “create a platform that will represent that qualities of heritage cannabis and give us the opportunity to come out from under Prohibition at a pace that works for each of our farms. ”

Emerald Grower

Photo of an Emerald Grown Co-op flyer.

O’Neill says, “Farmers will elect a board of directors and establish the procedures for running the Co-op. For now it is strictly marketing services, helping farms to create representations of themselves that can be put in a catalog.”

He has big dreams that someday the Co-op will do more than that but for now, that is all that he feels is legally possible in California.

And there’s another hitch. Not just everyone can join the Co-op though. “Requirements for Farmer-owners are that their farm be $1000/year members of the Emerald Growers Association,” wrote O’Neill earlier. “This creates a certain commitment level which we feel is necessary to make sure that farms understand the amount of work that will be required as our industry transitions from unregulated to regulated.”

“As heritage cannabis farmers we need to make sure that when we come out from under prohibition we are able to participate in the economy,” O’Neill says, “We need to create a network that will help farmers understand how to present themselves to the world….We need to come out from under the culture of Prohibition and be able to present ourselves as small business owners.”

The Co-op, he believes, will help growers work together. “We have been so divided and kept in the dark that we are just now being able to talk to each other,” he says.

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Nomads Landing
Guest
9 years ago

Casey and everyone at HappyDay Farm, thank you for everything you do brother. The topics you have brought to the table are issues we have been fretting for years. Protecting our culture and those of us in it, is a selfless act sir, that can never be repaid in its entirety. For now, a thank you, a bowl, and a hug will have to suffice.

Tulip Torpedo
Guest
Tulip Torpedo
8 years ago

I have been thinking about this catalog. It is weird how the article about Restoration Hardware ties in. I watched RSTO from it first store across the street before it went into the CW Long building. Steve grew the business through catalog sales. Blew our minds how huge it is now. The current CEO is boasting that some of the early catalogs are sold on Ebay because they were so art full. People did not throw them away. One problem business has when they are successful is meeting demand. You could start with a snail mail catalog. I am thinking if it is legalized you would be able to mail or ship ups. Of course on the interweb a catalog sales will explode. The main thing would be being allowed to ship and meeting demand for quality ,quality, and more quality.

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[…] an aside, the story shows the shift in attitudes towards pot people–as what local grower Casey O’Neill calls the “deviant label”  is no longer being applied to cannabis growers and marketers. Instead, the Chronicle writer […]

Tall Trees
Guest
Tall Trees
8 years ago

I guess they’ll be able to be a Tier II grower then? Good luck with all that paperwork, it’s overwhelming. The water board is out of their minds on this one.

Nick thrasher
Guest
8 years ago

Big stinky ups, top shape, good day.!!

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[…] Under the circumstances, some growers are looking for ways to get water to their crops without adversely impacting the environment. In this video, a Mendocino farm waters its cannabis and its veggies with a two million gallon pond. (See here for more about that farm.) […]