What’s It Like When a Photo of Your Cannabis Farm Is Spread Widely in the Media?

Greenhouse and marijuana

This greenhouse and marijuana image was taken by the Humboldt County Drug Task Force.

About five years ago, a series of aerial photos became available from the Humboldt County Drug Task Force showing various marijuana grow operations. Below is a story from the owner of one of the farms and his reaction to first seeing his farm depicted.

The article first appeared in a new publication devoted to cannabis, the Emerald Tribune. It is reprinted here with their gracious permission and the permission of the land owner.

AJ Owen of Alderpoint wrote,

This aerial photo of a cannabis farm has been shared on hundreds of news outlets and websites since it first appeared after being taken in 2010.It was photographed by the Humboldt County Drug Task Force as part of a series of photos between 2009-2011 depicting grow scenes. These scenes purportedly illustrate the overuse of water, illegal grading, massive landscaping and other violations of environmental regulations. This image is used in numerous news stories, most often with titles and subjects related to terms like “big-time weed dealers,” “DEA raids,” and even “robbery and murder.”

This is a photo of my farm.

the-photo

No one from the media has ever talked to me about this photo or my connection to any of the stories published with it.

This is the first time I’m telling my story.

The Reaction

The first time I saw the picture was in the North Coast Journal in 2011. I wasn’t even aware a photo had been taken.

Initially, I thought, ‘That looks familiar.’ Then, I realized — that’s my farm.

My stomach turned: I started to feel sick. I was shocked, confused and riddled with anxiety: what did this have to do with my farm? There was no doubt it was my property and I knew my neighbors would recognize it.

I worried about the safety and security of myself and my family. Would someone try to to rob us? Was the Sheriff going to raid us?

Google image search results

A Google search turns up dozens of news stories  using this image for articles on cannabis.

I felt exposed.

I  hated that people could use this picture of my property without my approval. It’s invasive. It’s bothersome that most of the stories associated with this picture have negative connotations. The Sheriff’s department took the picture. For them, I get it. It’s the media outlets that don’t seem to care that these farms are owned by people and families, and by publishing this image, especially on unrelated topics, they put us at risk.

The Truth

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but it can also be used to tell a thousand lies.

The photo, and by extension our farm, have nothing to do with these countless negative stories on cannabis — but it sure feels like it when you see it on an article. This photo doesn’t depict illegal grading or environmental degradation. It is often chosen to use alongside cannabis cultivation stories because of the large greenhouse. It’s also a very clear illustration of a grow operation.

Cannabis farming isn’t always the most photogenic when taken from a distance. It’s easy to take a nice picture of flowers up close, but to get a picture of a cannabis farm from a distance is tricky. As I reflect on the photo now, I realize I’m proud of how nice our farm looks from the air.

The Farm

This isn’t a picture of green rushers moving in, growing a bunch of marijuana and trying to take money out of the area. This is a photo of a local farm, run by someone who cares deeply about the environment and his property. I make very methodical decisions on where to place things.

The greenhouse in the famous photo as seen from the ground in 2010.

I grew up in the area. I grew up in the cannabis industry. My parents were cannabis farmers. I became good at farming, and when I was 19, I was able to get a piece of land located near my parent’s property. I started my farm by building a cabin on the piece of land. I’ve been around this industry for 30 years.

This is not land that’s being exploited or pillaged. When you look at the property, it’s very clean. A lot of thought goes into the operation and where to put a road, a garden, or plants.

Our farm is also not 100 percent cannabis. We have goats, pigs, chicken and sheep. I love agriculture, and a huge part of our farm is food, grown to help feed everyone who works and lives here.

We’re also not a large commercial operation by any means. In the scale of any other type of farming, our farm is actually quite modest. We’re similar to any other small family farm you see at a farmer’s market. When we have a surplus from our crops, we give them away to our friends and neighbors.

I’m glad to get to tell my story to The Emerald Tribune. I didn’t have an outlet before now to defend what stories have been and still are tied to this photo.

The photo’s existence doesn’t scare me like it did before, once I realized it wasn’t going to negatively affect my family. It is a recognizable, even a good, quality picture. These days, I’m proud to say “that’s my farm,” and we’re forever immortalized as a part of the industry’s early days.

The author in front of his now famous greenhouse.

Note: Redheaded Blackbelt used this image to illustrate this piece here. And, we also shared an article including it when we were working for the Lost Coast Outpost.

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J
Guest
J
6 years ago

I do love how clean and organized his garden is. It’s actually pretty artsy from the Ariel veiw. I’m glad he got to show a ground pic so you can tell the greenhouse house isn’t the monster it looks like from the sky. Good job keeping your property clean and sustainable!

blythe blue
Guest
blythe blue
6 years ago

First thing i thought? What a nice place. I’d be proud to own that. There’s a lot of plants but that’s what happening in today’s market. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Honeydew Bridge C.H.U.M.P.
Guest
Honeydew Bridge C.H.U.M.P.
6 years ago

How much dope does he need for his ailment?

You’d think by looking at it he has an elephant with a medical card for 6 tons a year.

Why didn’t the sheriff department raze all that?

cannabisdogooder
Guest
cannabisdogooder
6 years ago

Well yes, a big grow (and beautiful in my eyes)….but also many growers of cannabis for medical often give (not sell) to cooperatives that help other sick people who benefit from cannabis medicine.

Bobo
Guest
Bobo
6 years ago

I have never met a grower that gave anything away

Brodie
Guest
Brodie
6 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

If I did not have to pay income tax either I could contribute more to the bake sale. When you say baked you mean in a oven?

Brodie
Guest
Brodie
6 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

I want to know who granted amnesty to all the growers who registered and said that they have been growing on their properties for up to 5 years. How come they do not have to at least pay income taxes for the past 5 years and say where they have sold their product. probably out of state. I have been paying taxes for a long time on every dollar I have made( corporate taxes which are high along with my personal income tax. ) I would be in jail or have nothing.

Jdk
Guest
Jdk
6 years ago

@cannabisdogooder…No they don’t give this medicine away…..Lol.. That is a fiction. They all belong to or own collectives to justify their plant count. 90% still divert back east, and all deal in cash with almost no receipts or accounting. Stop drinking the Kool aid. I personally don’t have any problems with the Illegal nature of the industry. But I do take issue with all of you liars out there perpetuating the myth that somehow this 600-1200lbs a year is given away for free to patients. And by the authors own words..”It’s just a family felony. I think the neighbors would all have to agree..”

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Jdk

It’s a very organized farm…good job….and people don’t understand the overhead costs involved. It’s just like any business, you have to have $ to invest and keep it going through the season, and when harvest time comes around your spitting more $ out for trimmers….so yes it’s very necessary to grow 100s of lbs so u can pay the bills, survive the off season and have medicine for patients…..and put away $ for the next year.

Wiccad Sister
Guest
Wiccad Sister
6 years ago
Reply to  Jdk

Actually JDK, there are numerous So Hum growers that GIVE AWAY WEED. Us for one, and many of our friends, including this guy, for patients that are too ill to make it to a dispensary, can’t afford the medicine, want to try alternative medical treatment, or have the big C and related malease. Quit lumping all cannabis growers into one piece. Geez! If you live here, you should already know.

beau
Guest
beau
6 years ago

Yes I’m sure all that was amassed via “Giving”

ClassWarrior
Guest
ClassWarrior
6 years ago

Umm… Maybe because this isn’t Texas, chump. The logging industry has collapsed, because you cut down too many trees. The fishing industry has collapsed, because you have poisoned the waters. The mining industry has collapsed, because Mother Earth only has so much to give to her rapists. So, what industry is left? Farming! Now, ask yourself WHY farming is still viable here. Let me break it down so your tiny little brain-in-a-box can handle it: Farmers, unlike rednecks, actually care about their surroundings. We are smart enough to know that the very survival of our species relies on our connections with nature, and each other. And unlike you, chump, we farmers are happy folk with love and joy in our hearts. I know, I know… That’s why you hate us.

By the way, let’s put the size of the farm in the photo in perspective: that looks to be about 2 acres or so. Most of the greedy greenrushers buy a 100 acre parcel, cut down every tree, build a 12,000 sq ft mansion, and densely pack 50 acres with 80,000 plants.

Try something new: comment sober!

Honeydew Bridge C.H.U.M.P.
Guest
Honeydew Bridge C.H.U.M.P.
6 years ago
Reply to  ClassWarrior

Growing dope isn’t farming, it’s dope growing.

I’ve been involved in permaculture for decades, using Back To Eden organic gardening.

Dope growers don’t grow all that dope and give it away.

Try commenting without telling lies, covering for the crimes dope growers commit.

They are not peaceful people living with nature, giving things away.

I’m not sure if you actually believe what you wrote, or are trolling.

Either way, in the words of Frank Zappa, ‘ Dope- you are what you smoke! ‘.

Lay off the banana peels or buy a better filter….

Hum broseph
Guest
6 years ago

Chump. FYI, When you speak using generalizations to make your points, it makes you look ignorant. Are you a product of Humboldt’s quality public school system?

Dan Fuller
Guest
Dan Fuller
6 years ago
Reply to  Hum broseph

That’s ALL the CHUMP does is bitch & moan about Cannabis Growers, according to his extremely narrow POV evertyone who grows even the smallest amount of Cannabis or even USES the smallest amount should be jailed for life!!!! Time after time he comes in here pissing & groaning as well as moaning about how all in the Cannabis industry from the top to the bottom should ALL be jailed!!! No matter WHAT the LAW says!!!!

sharpen your pencil
Guest
sharpen your pencil
6 years ago
Reply to  Dan Fuller

I’m pretty sure that the chump is one of those bridge trolls you see at the Honeydew store drinking beers on the tailgate of their rusted out POS 70s model pickup, pissed at the world because he can’t afford the good things in life and is too damn lazy to sack up!

cannabisdogooder
Guest
cannabisdogooder
6 years ago

Really, i think there are two kinds of growers: the greedy greenrush types and those that grow with great respect for the earth, all organic grows with managed runnoff procedures, growing, giving, and yes,selling enough to make a living, make medicine and recreational, and supporting the local retailers and service industries. And, no, i am not a liar.

geezus
Guest
geezus
6 years ago

Regardless people grow for profit don’t care who you are. Ya you give away your cannabis to Cooperatives ya for donations is that what we call it haha. I live up here I’m no fool.

sharpen your pencil
Guest
sharpen your pencil
6 years ago
Reply to  geezus

No[edit]. You have an idea of what a person is that grows pot, and anyone who knows otherwise or contradicts your narrow minded point of view is telling a lie…..

geezus
Guest
geezus
6 years ago

No [edit] I live up here and do the same shit braj but not nearly as greedy

Wiccad Sister
Guest
Wiccad Sister
6 years ago

No, you aren’t!! The truth is out there. Some just refuse to believe.

Chris
Guest
Chris
6 years ago
Reply to  ClassWarrior

Hey [edit], the logging industry did not die because they cut down every tree. Iis because the worthless enviros want to make a buck off anything anyone else is doing. Fuck em. Do some research.

Bobo
Guest
Bobo
6 years ago
Reply to  ClassWarrior

Umm, Growers are poisnening the rivers also. Just saying

Cheers
Guest
Cheers
6 years ago
Reply to  Bobo

Right. And thousands of acres of vineyards soaking in roundup is legit?! No problems there

Jdk
Guest
Jdk
6 years ago
Reply to  ClassWarrior

The bulgarians and hmongs care about their surroundings?

OnCrak
Guest
OnCrak
6 years ago

Because they’re not assholes. Get it?

Notbuyinit
Guest
Notbuyinit
6 years ago

It never ceases to amaze me that in the country with the largest most profitable pharmaceutical/health care industry in the world that some people around here can’t seem to wrap their brains around the fact that medicine is bought and sold everywhere. Do you make your own aspirin? No. Does bayer give away free aspirin? No. In a world run by capitalism this is very normal. It’s not hard to understand.

sharpen your pencil
Guest
sharpen your pencil
6 years ago
Reply to  Notbuyinit

For some people it is impossible to understand….. See it every GD day!

Perspective
Guest
Perspective
6 years ago
Reply to  Denouement

Thanks for the link. Ive been saying this is going on and some people refused to believe me. Well, here it is…..
I think its fracking nuts to be spending lots of money to grow cannabis up here. All these farms up here think they are bigly. Ohh, you got 22k sf. ohh, cool you got an acre. Cute!

homegrown
Guest
homegrown
6 years ago
Reply to  Denouement

I agree with you, it looks like the end to me. Even the crustiest, most rednecked Humboldt ‘farmers’ know that there is no competing with Salinas Valley Big-Ag farms. No one really thought that they would happen, especially this fast, but here they are.

Well, Humboldt (Mendo and Trinity) get ready for a tidal wave of bad sh*t happening as the economy crashes. Darn.

rolling hills
Guest
rolling hills
6 years ago
Reply to  Denouement

Some people will buy industrial grow weed from Salinas, some people won’t. There’s a lot of big grows down south in in San Bernardino County, but buyers from the East Coast still come here to buy. It’s a huge market and if the product is good it will sell, and the product is top of the line up here.

Old Head
Guest
Old Head
6 years ago
Reply to  Denouement

It does look like big changes are on the horizon, as large-acreage legal grows begin to ramp up and wholesale prices are likely to continue to fall. But as long as cannabis is still illegal in large parts of the US, a sizeable black market will persist, and Humboldt will probably continue to serve that market for some time to come.

So I don’t think we’ll see a sudden all-out crash, but probably more of a gradual process — at first, folks who already have the property, infrastructure and skills can continue to make some money (though probably less and less over time), but it will no longer be possible for new operators to invest in property and infrastructure with the expectation that they can pay it all off with a couple of good years. In other words, the Green Rush will finally subside, and then the tide will gradually recede as the farmers with poorer land, poorer water supply, and less efficient operations will eventually be squeezed out.

BVD
Guest
BVD
6 years ago

First thing i thought? What a nice set-up and very clean! I’d be proud to own that operation. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

DaPisan
Guest
DaPisan
6 years ago

I remember seeing all those aerial pic’s of dozens if not hundreds of grows. What a waste of resources and to what end.

sharpen your pencil
Guest
sharpen your pencil
6 years ago
Reply to  DaPisan

It was to give Mark Lovelace something to brag about, I wish that d bag fell out of that damn helicopter!

Steve Parr
Guest
Steve Parr
6 years ago

I’ll bet your average family farmer growing cantaloupes wishes he could do as well. I see a minimum of about 1.5 million coming in off that setup every year.

“Hyuck, hyuck — just barefoot Johnny and his hoe, here!”

Mid evil
Guest
Mid evil
6 years ago
Reply to  Steve Parr

A real man doesn’t count another man’s money. Get a life and mind your business. Looks like a well cared for property to me.

OnCrak
Guest
OnCrak
6 years ago
Reply to  Mid evil

Word.

10 toes
Guest
10 toes
6 years ago
Reply to  Mid evil

Exactly

I agree.
Guest
I agree.
6 years ago
Reply to  Mid evil

Well said.

Sleepy Alligator
Guest
Sleepy Alligator
6 years ago
Reply to  Steve Parr

It’s people like you that are the problem with today’s society. Always analyzing other people and making judgments about them and then spewing your hatred on here or somewhere. All based on a photo! Mind your own business! So what if this guy makes millions every crop! More power to him. It’s obvious from the photo that he earns every penny he makes. I’ve never seen a pot farm or a photo of one as clean and professional as this one. Instead of being jealous you should try learning something from the photo.

More powder for more fun................
Guest
More powder for more fun................
6 years ago

Thanks for the comment. I make meth for the same reasons. Money!! I don’t twist any of my consumers arms. They have money I have a product they want. It’s called business.

guest
Guest
guest
6 years ago

Very good analogy. Are you selling “Medicine” too?

Muggin'
Guest
Muggin'
6 years ago
Reply to  Steve Parr

It’s amazing to see how far removed from reality these dope growers have become. “Similar to a small family farm you see at the farmers market” my ass. Who does this guy think he’s fooling?

Old Head
Guest
Old Head
6 years ago
Reply to  Muggin'

As far as the size of the area under cultivation, yes, this is comparable to the smaller family farmers you would see at the farmer’s markets. The larger farmer’s market farms actually have way more acreage under cultivation. So by that standard, the claim is actually understated.

Of course there’s a big difference: Most of the fresh farm products at the farmer’s market sell in the range of a couple dollars a pound. Last I heard, cannabis was still selling in the $1,000-$2000 per pound range in Humboldt. That’s way down from its peak a couple decades ago, to be sure — but pound-for-pound it’s still way more profitable than any other crop you can grow around here. Which is why so many people continue to grow it.

Guest,
Guest
Guest,
6 years ago

Haha right, good one

Truthy
Guest
6 years ago

Looks like a million dollar crop, grown by a growaholic, corporate, greed head. So sorry you were picked on by aerial surveillance, so unfair that you dropped your pants in public, and now you think it’s reasonable to complain that someone took a photo of your fat, naked ass. You, and your cronies, born in Humboldt, Bulgaria, or anywhere in between are the problem. If you buy soil, you’re not a farmer, just a grower. If you need armed guards to protect your produce, you’re not a farmer. Just another greedy, entitled grower. Fucking snowflake.

Greenie
Guest
Greenie
6 years ago
Reply to  Truthy

You should get on google earth and see some actual large farms, some with 10 airplane hanger size greenhouses.
Stop lumping everyone into the same box. We need to thank the people who have been doing it right. And most folks who have been growing on their land for a long time do grow food as well. Most everyone i know does, and then we put it up for winter,like most old skoolers who can a lot.

The average farm size in CA is around 350 acres. 350 acres! Like it or not cannabis is an ag crop now and thats the big concern is that big folks will come in and make larger and larger farms. We need to stand behind smaller growers.

By the countys regs, this guy is in compliance. If you dont like that then get involved with our local regulatory process. The regs were written with the clause that things can be changed.
With all the federal cuts to programs for kids, old folks, etc, you may sing a different tune when we get a huge influx of money from our new taxes! If the board of stupes doesnt line their pockets too much.

Blowing it up
Guest
Blowing it up
6 years ago
Reply to  Greenie

This ain’t doin it “right.” DOPE YUPPIES

Guest,
Guest
Guest,
6 years ago
Reply to  Greenie

You should google earth this one, it’s surrounded by others, just one of many. yes they are lining there pockets as we speak

Jdk
Guest
Jdk
6 years ago
Reply to  Greenie

@greenie…Yeah compliant with county regs as of next year 2018 if he’s permitted then by county and state… He was way over in 2010..Again I got no problem with this guy’s farm good job bro. But the half-truths being sold as facts here by the armchair experts are disturbing. And yes he is mom And pop compared to the mega grows and glowing mega houses in the hills currently. Tell the truth folks.

Annon
Guest
Annon
6 years ago
Reply to  Truthy

I couldn’t agree with this commenter more. Just a “family farmer” doesn’t jet-set around the world and throw cash around like it’s play
money. . Shopping trips, cars, cars, cars. Selfish greed, greed, greed. This piece is an f-ing, omg, rolling my eyes, joke.

Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
6 years ago

Very nice! All the usual haters here getting jelly of a beautiful farm, looking for things to cry about. Some jerks can’t help but covet their neighbor’s things.

Veterans friend
Guest
Veterans friend
6 years ago

Modest? I think you have rationalized your avaricious nature quite nicely. But dude, there is nothing “modest” about the size of your operation.
I agree, it is lovely, clean and orderly. No horrible damage etc. But if you are any kind of farmer you realized several hundred thousand dollars from your modest farm, each season it was in operation.

O. Crimony
Guest
O. Crimony
6 years ago

Exactly. Having been around the industry for many years, that was my estimate also. The idea that he gave away any surplus is laughable. A nice stance in case the IRS comes around tho. I’m not even saying there is anything wrong with what he is doing, but the odor of self justifying BS is a little intense.

spam
Guest
spam
6 years ago

Boo fucking hoo.

Rusty
Guest
Rusty
6 years ago
Reply to  spam

Agreed!

Guest,
Guest
Guest,
6 years ago

Bad move Adam, you just brought way more heat to your “farm” not to mention admitting to breaking law for the last 30 years. Loose lips sink ships, think you would know that by now.

Jorge Cervantes
Guest
Jorge Cervantes
6 years ago

Kudos to this gentleman for pointing out that there is no” illegal grading or environmental degradation.” As i recall many of those photos depicted scenes that had made clear cuts of steep hillsides. I frown upon People that claim they are responsible stewards of their land. Yet they cause similar damage as the timber companies have for years just on a smaller scale. Their clear cuts to grow weed in areas not suitable for cultivation will be remembered for hundreds of years. Those photos are part of history. Might even be in a museum in the future. The pride some of those
folks will have.

Denouement
Guest
Denouement
6 years ago

Who the hell cares. You are a pot farmer. Poor farmers, they all complain, no matter what they grow. Looks to me like a shitload of weed. I suppose you drive a Prius, never ever drive while towing a big old trailer at 80 mph, don’t ever use fertilizer, rodent poison, plastic water tanks or bagged potting soil that has to be trucked in from, well, wherever…

I sincerely hope you are moving this operation to country where the water is pumped from the ground, where you compost your soil or develop a commercial strain sustainable in farming soil. This is where cannabis farming will go. It will be grown by sober businessmen, on valley farmland, close to market. Hopefully we are moving to an age where weed will be cheap and freely available, and everyone in America will get bored with being stoned! I sincerely hope all you hilltop growers have a plan B, cause you will need one! OH, and Humboldt – Mendocino County weed is about to kick your ass and take your market! Now you really have something to complain about!

Guest,
Guest
Guest,
6 years ago
Reply to  Denouement

Your last statement ruined your whole comment

Denouement
Guest
Denouement
6 years ago
Reply to  Guest,

Sorry, must of lost some respect somewhere…

you brought it on yourself
Guest
you brought it on yourself
6 years ago

this may not be much NOW, but 7 YRS AGO in 2010 before everyone blew it up like crazy, this was a large, totally illegal grow. you didnt know they would fly over and check you out and take photos? if you didnt attract attention to yourself by having an over-sized grow (at that time..not now) then they wouldn’t have used your farm. i mean why didnt they use your neighbors’? maybe because you were the biggest on the block? YOU put yourself at risk with your greed, not the ones who exposed what you were doing. how much has it expanded now.. x20, x50, x100 ?? i think you were lucky to not get popped when you should have been. if you really are a good steward of your land then THANK YOU but all the big growers say that and its mostly bs because when it really comes down to it, its all about $

Zingbot
Guest
Zingbot
6 years ago

Where does the water come from to irrigate this “farm” ?

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago

Clean farm? Yes. Farmer..? Not really. I don’t know any other crop where a 19 yo makes enough to buy his own, large, expensive property. If you are growing this crop, you better keep your property clean because with the money made there’s no excuse for leaking generators and sloppy earth moving. To portray this industry as some do, still one of homesteading and canning, is a farce. The people still doing that are not this new generation who have been making millions for years. I don’t meet people like that who can their own tomato sauce, but their parents did so that counts, right? I’m not antiweed by any means but to paint yourself as a farmer, someone who digs in the earth, plants a crop, is regulated by laws on employment and product application and harvest methods, then gets at most $10 a pound for your crop, is completely insulting to actual farmers. I’m glad to see this industry come into the light and I appreciate a clean property but growers have been drug manufacturers and drug dealers or they wouldn’t be earning enough cash, tax free of course, to buy land at 19. Stop pretending it’s farming when your crop price and ability to compete is completely tied to the fact that you’re producing a black market product. And we could all survive without all those measures of a thriving economy supposedly growers bring, you know, the mediocre, overpriced resturants and the way too plentiful art galleries. See, those are still self-indulgent, they’re for you. I got disenchanted with all the lines growers try to sell about our economy after spending enough time here to see the awful state of the hospitals, schools and community resources. Why don’t you go build some playgrounds for the kids forced to grow up in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do? How about some anonymous donations to our local clinics? Taking yourself out to dinner does not count as community involvement. Time to step it up growers, do you really care about your land, the greater land? What have you done for your community that wasn’t in some way self-serving? Are we really applauding millionaires for not trashing their property? Wow, amazing. The most basic level of decency is now cause for a self-praising article that’s published on multiple sites? Put up or shut up with all that tax free cash, pot growers. You’ve had a good ride but it’s time for your concerns to move beyond your property and barrels of cash buried on it.

Denouement
Guest
Denouement
6 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Word.

Glad to see, Guest, that we finally have something to agree on.

BTW, I don’t smoke weed, or hate anyone! I support building hospitals, and operating them sensibly.

Don’t care, however, if someone else smokes weed… I do hate Meth and Heroin!

AB
Guest
AB
6 years ago
Reply to  Guest

WELL SAID!! The bottom line sums it up very well:

“Put up or shut up with all that tax free cash, pot growers. You’ve had a good ride but it’s time for your concerns to move beyond your property and barrels of cash buried on it.”

Growers want to be respected. Well, pay some income taxes. Support the infrastructure that you have been using for years with no return contribution.

And no, sales tax does not count. FYI a smart grower would become a businessman, which means obtaining a business license. This means you can buy supplies at wholesale and not pay sales tax, as long as you are charging tax for your product.

Jdk
Guest
Jdk
6 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Ditto!

Blowing it up
Guest
Blowing it up
6 years ago

You are the problem
Cuz you blew it up
Must a done it right if you’re still workin
However, from the perspective of a homesteader and food raiser and land steward, that isn’t sustainable in the slightest.

Workadayguy
Guest
Workadayguy
6 years ago

Work a day Johnny here, paying my taxes, working 8-5 daily, my choice. As long as this grow is permitted by County and owners pays income and other taxes on his product I have no problem.
However, most of the big grows are not permitted, illegal and harmful to environment and neighbors. Real big problem with that scene….warn them, then take them down Sheriff Billy….

old local
Guest
old local
6 years ago

Once again it seems like people are missing the point. Everyone knows how much water that requires who has remotely been involved in growing ganja. It’s always expand every year, ” grow more” because the price drops … you newbies have to listen to the ancient dudes once in a while…quality over quantity

Sleepy Alligator
Guest
Sleepy Alligator
6 years ago
Reply to  old local

Maybe all you ancient dudes should go over to the Central Valley and bitch and complain to the farmer’s over there who take way more water than this guy! Oh but wait that’s okay because you buy those vegetables and they’re legal .

old local
Guest
old local
6 years ago

…and grow some tomatoes on your “farm” for crying out loud

small like my butt
Guest
small like my butt
6 years ago

That is a SHIT TON of weed.multiple plantings through season equaling easy 600# /annually. In 2010 when pp# was still solid 2k. Do the math. MultiMillionaire by age 30 ! #lifegoals

Sleepy Alligator
Guest
Sleepy Alligator
6 years ago

Fuck PC! You jealous crybabies should just be like an ostrich and bury your fucking heads in the ground so you could be in the company of perfection ….yourselves! Greed this, greed that! Not a farmer! Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. We’re all responsible for ourselves and if you’ve failed at achieving your goals in life then deal with it. You’re a fuckin loser and other people aren’t so you gripe about them. I’m pretty God damn poor but do you think I hate everyone who isn’t. Fuck no! I hope this guy makes a billion dollars just to piss off all of you. Shit maybe I’ll just go bury my head!

Truthy
Guest
6 years ago

Maybe you need some sliding scale anger management…

Sleepy Alligator
Guest
Sleepy Alligator
6 years ago
Reply to  Truthy

A couple bong hits should do the trick

Rusty Cage
Guest
Rusty Cage
6 years ago

I have conflicting thoughts on this one. Readers’ comments touch on both sides of the issue for me. I appreciate this guy’s attempt to bring it out into the open and explain his side to me. That’s important taking that risk to explain or educate others.

I feel only a tiny bit better knowing that he’s above board and does care about what he does and the overall environment. I’m not happy knowing it’s also being done by a thousand other greedy nimwits on a much more massive scale who could care less about anything, including their neighbors. I have heard so many stories about widescale areas like Dinsmore, Hyampom, and Larrabee Valley ruined by massive lighting and generators, not to mention the familiar problems we already know about. Money is important but it’s not everything.

Muggin'
Guest
Muggin'
6 years ago

What a joke. You’re a lifelong criminal drug dealer, Dude. Get real. This won’t change no matter how many times you call yourself a farmer. You belong in jail. What a fine example you set for your children.

Anon Forrest
Guest
Anon Forrest
6 years ago

The “authorities” who took this photo and released it (or leaked it) to the Press should be looking at a law suit. Why not?

Guest,
Guest
Guest,
6 years ago
Reply to  Anon Forrest

Why?

Fortunian
Guest
Fortunian
6 years ago

It has always been about the money. If people would just grow for their own use instead of how much they can make by selling the stuff. They would save money by not having to purchase it, but oh no, let’s see how rich we can become by growing much more. Greed Greed Greed By the way, I am a user of medicinal marijuana and have smoked it for decades, but am not in agreement with these big time growers. I would mention a few names, but I am not a name dropper. A few of these growers are very well known people in our communities that look down their noses at everybody and think that they are better than everybody else. They think no one knows what they are up to. Look around and see who has new vehicles every year. Bought with their grow money. I agree that they should put some of that money back into their community instead of flashing the new car or expensive vacations. You know who you are so why not help your schools, hospitals, and towns?

Thinking allowed
Guest
Thinking allowed
6 years ago

Now that taxes will be due in some small part, pot growers will have to start competing in the real world. The world where grows are not funded by programs legislated to support the poor, easily used as they report no income. Where they will have the price of their product driven down and down and down by imported goods. Where the taxman shows up to collect to pay for the roads, schools, police, fire services, medical care, etc that was a free ride for decades. Where the EPA, Epic, tribes, etc start law suits all over the place. And, horrors of horrors, lawyers realize that growers are a cash cow – not for defending them but as deep pockets for liability.

And I doubt pot heads will come to the growers defense if Mexico or China flood the market with product. The only time so many of them seem to get riled about an issue is when it effects their supply. Of course they do get really nasty at that point.

Hopeful
Guest
Hopeful
6 years ago

How is this grow any different from the vineyards growing in Napa Valley to be made into wine? Why do people harp on the marijuana farmer who is clean but not realize vineyards are the same industry now that the laws have okayed marijuana farming? Put down all farmers who grow for recreational uses, or don’t put down a single one. Getting rich is only a disease if done so at the expense of others. Is he hurting anyone? It doesn’t appear he is, so stop throwing out accusations.

Thinking allowed
Guest
Thinking allowed
6 years ago
Reply to  Hopeful

It is similar in essence except for it having been illegal, unaccountable, shady, opportunistic, dangerous to those around it, damaging to the environment, and has no history of ancient use as an excuse. Of course it is the same in that can be easily abused by those who only are interested in avoiding reality who then spead misery mindlessly to bystanders. Oh and it literally stinks. Yup, very similar except so much less work.

David Wolf
Guest
David Wolf
6 years ago

No history of ancient use? What bottle did you just crawl out of? Hemp seed and extracts have been found in ancient sites all around the world. I’m surprised the gift of hemp oil wasn’t recorded with the gifts of myrrh, frankincense, etc, by the three Maji who followed some incredible brief star that left shadows at night (historically proven, nova). Even myth has some basis.

Ignorance is no excuse for stupidity. And I’m sure not Christian, I’m Pagan to the bone. Yet, I know he rose. And if he hadn’t, he would be rolling in his crypt to know the death and brutality that has been done in his name.

Thinking allowed
Guest
Thinking allowed
6 years ago
Reply to  David Wolf

There is such a thing as medicine wine just as there is a thing called medicinal cannabis. However almost no one is so delusional as to think Napa valley vineyards are producing medicinal wine. Any more than it is to think that pot growers here are producing medicinal pot, which was what some ancient cultures used it for.

You might know of ancient written records of drunken pot orgies but I don’t. However there are many written records of alcohol use from ancient China, Greeks, Romans, Vikings, etc. So if you think I’m ignorant, feel free to provide a reference. I’m willing to learn.

Thinking allowed
Guest
Thinking allowed
6 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Medical and religious use, not mass recreational and not commercial. Not that this argument isn’t a waste of thinking time anyway as the point is not that pot farmers are morally as bad as wine grape growers. Just that the comparison between pot growers and wine producers is a specious argument that supports nothing.

Personally I think alcohol consumption has a lot evil attached to it, while admitting wine is only a small part of the abuse. But wine has been a large part of every culture since people learned to make it. Pot, when mentioned at all, is a minuscule foot note. That it is news that archology has made a discovery of its mere presence is evidence of its tiny place in the world. It had a much more substantial history as a fiber. And even that is not as important a trade product as wine.

The point is that pot growers- at least so many I have known in this area and they are legion- were equally adept at stealing from public utilities, running poisons into the environment, taking water away from others, using illegal labor, letting vicious dogs loose to harass neighbors, etc etc etc asgrowing a product. As an activity it seems to attract the most self centered, self involved, vicious and greedy of individuals who think their right to sell and use trumps everyone else’s most basic rights. A whiff of criticism about pot and its surrounding issues brings out such spite and incivility, shouting out the fact that people are way, way too attached to it to be rational for all their talk about peace. And way too careless about its effects on others not to be alarming.

Truthy
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Hopeful

Wineries in napa don’t get their soil from a bag. And they don’t get to hire any foreigner who shows up with a tourist visa.

Emily
Guest
Emily
6 years ago
Reply to  Truthy

Who do you think does all the work on vineyards then?

Thinking allowed
Guest
Thinking allowed
6 years ago
Reply to  Emily

I’d have to look at the tax records to know. The ones the vineyards use as a deduction for wages paid to reduce their businesses taxes. The taxes that growers have not paid but are now looking to have to pay. And for all the lip service to environmental and social damage that was never important enough to get real about, taxes are taken seriously by the government so now attention to these growers will be paid.

Green Death
Guest
Green Death
6 years ago

Wow! You really are full of yourself!! Blowing up hundreds of pounds through extreme drought years and lying about it being “medicine” so you could make big piles of tax-free money and you actually insist you are some kind of wonderful guy?!!! You are a greedy, stupid, selfish, egotistical scumbag. I don’t care where you grew up. Sure- there will be many who buy this bullshit fable of being righteous and caring but that’s only because they want to justify their similar bullshit rationalizations about how wonderful and caring they are too. They aren’t either. And you’re not farmers. You are growers. And I know because I’ve been growing here since ’78. Smaller, cleaner, tighter and yet I still don’t bullshit like you do. I know I need some money to make everything else work. But I don’t take the fancy vacations or drive new trucks like growers of this size do. I guess they “need” those things too? Guess that justifies taking more water again this year from the fish. Yeah- I “need” it! And uber-expensive food items- and college funds for the kids- and just some barrels of cash buried for whatever, whenever- oh, and gotta buy some heavy equipment (for the “farming”)….you’re self-righteous and disgusting and that’s exactly the attitude that blew us all up into this corporate regulatory and coming eradication of all small, unlicensed grows. YOU are the problem. You X 1000 more just like you….greedy, selfish, stupid blowhards. Thanks for nothing. Your parents raised a moron.

Scooter
Guest
Scooter
6 years ago

You were not legal. Boo hoo hoo. Poor baby. Maybe you are now, maybe not, but it is legal for me to fly over and publish the pics I take of you. Where exactly are you?

Lynn
Guest
Lynn
6 years ago
Reply to  Scooter

Is it legal for you to fly over and drop pollen on his farm every year?
Maybe a drone that drops pollen bombs.

Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
6 years ago
Reply to  Scooter

Once Monsanto takes over cannabis farming in central valley, possession of pollen will become a class-A felony.

David Wolf
Guest
David Wolf
6 years ago

Since our ‘views’ and ‘news’ are so skewed by panic and calls to war, to see a true conscientious freedom fighter hurting none and bringing non-pesticide medicine to our people is heartwarming. I admire this and hope he makes lots of money and has lots of children.

Blessed be.

David Wolf
Guest
David Wolf
6 years ago
Reply to  David Wolf

I ain’t scared either. I’ve fought the good fight, n damn proud (just gettin’ old).

[email protected]

Only a closet grow, but doin’ what I can.

Truthy
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  David Wolf

Up is down

Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
6 years ago
Reply to  David Wolf

Trimmin’ up bullets of peace.

David Wolf
Guest
David Wolf
6 years ago
Reply to  Jaekelopterus

Please, let these bullets of peace pierce every heart of our nation… and world.

David Wolf
Guest
David Wolf
6 years ago
Reply to  David Wolf

That was a most sincere prayer.

Seamus
Guest
Seamus
6 years ago

“…and we’re forever immortalized as a part of the industry’s early days”
I thought the early days happened in the 70’s

old local
Guest
old local
6 years ago

Yeah, kinda love that previous comment on the time period that home slice got exposed….it was a drought period. Easy to forget about it with this season of rainfall. Wonder how that worked out for neighbors below him.

Thinking allowed
Guest
Thinking allowed
6 years ago
Reply to  old local

Or on those like a friend who lost livestock to nitrate poisoning from the run off into the creek from an upstream pot grower. But let us not mention any negatives about such growers because we will be told in a series of four letter words how stupid and twisted we are. All you have to do is look at the picture to know that this man was busy with chemical use that would get big fines from anyone else. Bare ground on such a scale says that pretty clearly.

HungryHoward
Guest
HungryHoward
6 years ago

The first time I saw me this picture if the giant greenhouse and the hoops plus outdoor plants around it was also when it was published. For 2011 it was pretty big, and yes its commercial, he was certainly over 100 sq ft or 12 plants.
The neighbors and myself were pretty amazed on how big one certain spot can get blown up and how ballsy growers were getting. At the same time in my neighborhood we are home to bigger grows
I bet he was soiling his pants when recognizing his own grow, many grows were shown right here as kym also helped make these images go public.
That little black helicopter did a good job capturing grows and thanks to these many growers felt it was safe to expand their operation. Double up as they say, year after year.
Driving prices straight into the ground.
This year you certainly need to go for it, it could be your last to make it count.
Double up Humboldt , this excludes the permitted grows that are stuck with their proposed square footage, that will be taxed at the wrong time of year when everyone is done paying trimmers.
Until they pry the watering wand from your hands, keep on making the ladies happy!

Kent Barnard
Guest
2 years ago

I’ve been looking at some property near there, I wondered what all the scabls on the mountain were. Is this a safe area to live? I’d love to communicate with this person to find out what he thinks.