Small Humboldt Growers Vs Big Money Sonoma Businesses

Marijuana garden buds harvest

[Stock photo by Kym Kemp]

“We’re not in the Mattole Valley to grow cannabis,” says Rockenbach. “We’re growing cannabis so we can live in the Mattole Valley.”

The above quote comes from a Humboldt grower, Jessica Rockenbach, who along with her partner represents the small growers of the Emerald Triangle in a lushly photographed story Sonoma Magazine published about how legalization is changing the economic landscape of the North Coast with an emphasis on how Sonoma is likely to win and Humboldt lose.

When the Emerald Cup, the triangle’s iconic cannabis event, moved to the Sonoma County fairgrounds from a former rural property in northern Mendocino, growers worried it was a herald of the turning tide of history–jobs and money flowing south from the remote counties to the more populated cities. This article hammers home the reasons why that could happen.

A depressing but good read for the Emerald Counties and the last section touches on the legal landscape following Proposition 64. Check it out here.

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Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
7 years ago

Solution: Drive through Sonoma with an open bag of pollen.

That Sauce is Boss
Guest
That Sauce is Boss
7 years ago
Reply to  Jaekelopterus

better yet, Anybody have a plane? Crop dust that shit.

John sheridan
Guest
John sheridan
7 years ago

Why be jealous. We had are run.

Lone ranger
Guest
Lone ranger
7 years ago

Just the beginning, over for Humboldt growers is an understatement, sad but like every other industry Humboldt has screwed us again , our supervisors and local agencies are good at squashing economic growth to the point of nothing left ,if you own a house in Humboldt you may want to unload it, this county is done.

gunther
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gunther
7 years ago
Reply to  Lone ranger

Nah, only the legal growers will suffer. There always will be a thriving black market in states where it’s illegal. The future looks bright.

RealityMonger
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RealityMonger
7 years ago
Reply to  gunther

Are you new here? The price has dropped from $5000 a lb to $500 a lb. People are growing all over the US now. They aren’t afraid anymore. The east coast has large grows from Maine down to Florida now.

Ask some old timer growers about the business climate….

Gazoo
Guest
Gazoo
7 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Hehehe, the average is still 11-12. And a grand for 100 plus boxes… word on the street anyways😉

RealityMonger
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RealityMonger
7 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

The article states that “Mexicans” are offering it for sale for $500. Did I misread something?

Anyone
Guest
Anyone
7 years ago
Reply to  RealityMonger

That’s what it says, are they illegals? Cartel affiliated?
Mexican immigrants are champions when it comes to undercutting the competition. From landscaping to you name it. Not like they havent been in the drug trade, not surprised.

tugboat
Guest
7 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

KYM , is the stock photo of that bud your personal stuff ? If so what strain is it and a very good job your doing . I would like to get some cuttings. Thanks.

katimin
Guest
katimin
6 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Must be talking black market for sure

hmm
Guest
hmm
7 years ago
Reply to  RealityMonger

The highest I remember was 3600 for very premium indoor. People are still getting 1200 for outdoors and 1000 per/p in larger packs.

Indoor is a very niche market but not entirely dead.

RealityMonger
Guest
RealityMonger
7 years ago
Reply to  hmm

1992-1996 outdoor crop went for $4800 in sohum. It sold really fast too.

tugboat
Guest
7 years ago
Reply to  RealityMonger

so very true, Like Pandora`s Box , the price will never go UP again.

Just sayin
Guest
Just sayin
7 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

I miss the good old days. Everyone should have started a regular business by now, you can’t make a living off the farm only.

Honeydew Bridge Chump
Guest
Honeydew Bridge Chump
7 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

MiUrkle even with powder brought $4800 in 2006, cleaner and blue got $5400.

It wasn’t lettuce then, but was about to be…

2008 began the overdrive crime with snowflakes bringing in the race to the bottom.

Gazoo
Guest
Gazoo
7 years ago

When blue dream first came out I got 4800 a pound, within 6 months it was down to 4K as others were still hittin at 45, all depends on what’s trending, just like gsc, and now gorilla glue

guest
Guest
guest
7 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

me too.

Yo Nick
Guest
7 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

So, the price to reside in Mendo hills, Humboldt, one of furthest spotscfromany metro, area,in USA…….For better as worse, is as always …Living beyond the Redwood Curtian ain’t cheap, or easy!

Lost Croat Outburst
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Lost Croat Outburst
7 years ago
Reply to  RealityMonger

Are you new to America? Try getting busted in Kansas or Ohio, see how it goes. Maybe put 5 acres in in Bible Belt, TN and see what happens. Let us know. Oh, yeah, get popped by the Illinois Highway Patrol. See how it goes.

If the price collapses, it collapses. Alcohol has remained profitable, why not weed?

Shake Well
Guest
Shake Well
7 years ago
Reply to  gunther

I think you are overlooking the fact that more and more states are already legalizing pot. Jeff Sessions may be a temporary slow down to legalization on the federal level, but even that can’t be all that far off in the future.

Ray
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Ray
7 years ago
Reply to  gunther

All you people that voted for legalization recreational weed just cut your own throat, all the bigwigs are coming in and all the real farmers that started this back in the 70s and 80s are screwed . I guess all good things come to an end .

Don Fosdick
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Don Fosdick
7 years ago
Reply to  Ray

It’s nice to see the end of out-of-towners who came in and screwed up the ecosystems with synthesized fertilizers are doomed. Go back to where you came from.

Lost Croat Outburst
Guest
Lost Croat Outburst
7 years ago
Reply to  Ray

Many people got tired of being chased by the police or going to court or watching friends get more time than drunk drivers and killers. Good and bad all come to an end. In the mid-70’s, this was deer and hog hunting heaven. It ended. People should be able to grow their own. You think a felony bust is funny? It’s not.

It's A Farce
Guest
It's A Farce
7 years ago

You keep saying such things. I think you are in a time bubble. I was here for CAMP years- ran from choppers and lost some plants. I got popped in “93 for transportation of 28 pounds in The Corridor and served 6 months in county. I was not whining and whimpering about it! Saw many friends get hit and none of them did serious state time or cried and whined. Around here it was always minor time to serve if you even got caught. THEN since Gallegos it wasn’t even anything. One day and a fine. Not even felony cultivation- not even when it was huge greenhouses. So I am calling you out for your constant fear-mongering and misrepresentation of the consequences. Because you use your inaccurate picture to justify a terrible “legalization” that just gave it all away. I guess “being safe” is your highest concern? But life is not safe. And our game was based on risks. You can’t have it both ways. And I believe it was an influx of whiners like you that led to the giving away of our local economy to corporate control. Yes- now we can be safe…because we have nothing left to steal. Good job!

Taurus Balzhoff
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Taurus Balzhoff
7 years ago
Reply to  gunther

Keep smoking that dope. We only grow enough to get by… Dopers…

Hmmmm
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Hmmmm
7 years ago
Reply to  Lone ranger

You mean obama screwed us with weak policies that allowed big money to take over.

Lost Croat Outburst
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Lost Croat Outburst
7 years ago
Reply to  Hmmmm

Of course not. You want policies? Neo-Confederate Jeff B. sessions III knows all about whompin’ on people, that’s his heritage. Bauregarde (sic) is a Confederate General so whompin’ is his middle name. He has already said no good person smokes pot, so it’s just a matter of what God’s final orders will be.

broksi
Guest
7 years ago

“10 Mexicans’ a day coming in, offering to sell at $500 a pound, so take it or leave it.” – So Cal Dispensary Owner

its been fun guys, but humboldt is done!

Shake Well
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Shake Well
7 years ago
Reply to  broksi

You mean “Humboldt is saved!”

ha
Guest
ha
7 years ago
Reply to  broksi

More like the clubs will not have real humboldt herb. The real humboldt herb will stay on the black market.

hmmm
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hmmm
7 years ago
Reply to  broksi

and he would never lie, never.
really, never.

Caroline
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Caroline
7 years ago

How will the mattole have enough water for steelhead if every man woman and child feel entitled to grow weed in the mattole.

Now I ask, to the mattole weed growers, what kind of future do you see for your children?

Expect them to follow in your foot steps. Because after setting the example, of all you need to do to get buy is grow illegal drugs, what do you honestly think they will do with themselves? Drive to fortucky to work at McDonald’s at 16?

Where will they live as land and water are already scares in the mattole?

Ever stop to think about whether the valley can even support said agriculture?

What historically was grown out there for profits? Cattle, sheep, grains, tobacco, and orchards. All require only seasonal rains. Homesteads garden for themselves because it’s more economical.

How’s that vineyard doing out there? Just plain Killin it huh.

Clowningyou!
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Clowningyou!
7 years ago
Reply to  Caroline

Catching rainwater [edit], ever heard of this phenomenon ?

Perspective
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Perspective
7 years ago
Reply to  Clowningyou!

Let me know when all the growers out there are working with rain water only. HAHAHA

Lost Croat Outburst
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Lost Croat Outburst
7 years ago
Reply to  Caroline

You’re completely out of touch. Active imagination. Everyone with a large commercial garden, maybe everyone, will be required to have storage tanks, I’m concerned that people growing large food gardens will be exempt, but an equivalent pot garden will be regulated to death. That would suck.

People fill tanks in the winter when water is abundant. Folks have operated food gardens for generations. There are publc schools and our new county librarian is very big on the bookmobile and serving rural areas. People with web/satellite access will be able to take all kinds of courses. Actually, it’s a new era for rural life if you can maintain a basic income and are happy in the country.

There are on-watershed groups right now that are working for wildlife and fish habitat.

Also, cannabis likes rich moist soil but only takes about 0ne half to two thirds the water of crops like tomatoes.

Plus, the Mattole IS the Mattole. If you have been there and don’t know it, I cannot explain it.

What do you think happens right now for the food farmers at farmers markets (love ’em)? They use water. Life goes on.

Honeydew Bridge Chump
Guest
Honeydew Bridge Chump
7 years ago

Ridding all areas of cannabis is the only answer for strong communties that are safe to raise children in.

Legal or not, cannabis draws crime be it white collar or snowflake thug, it wrecks communties.

Ending the terrorist groupings and allowing a place to raise children is the answer.

Growers need to get out and go back to their slums.

TP
Guest
TP
7 years ago

“Cannabis draws crime”
Really? Because there was quite a bit around here back in the 70’s and the crime rate was piddly.
You know what draws crime?! Heroin and meth!!! But now these tweekers have decided they would “get in” on the marijuana industry and start robbing assholes for their herb and their money.

Clowningyou!
Guest
Clowningyou!
7 years ago

Because all of Colorado has the same problem as tweeky ass humboldt?
Get a grip, people that don’t grow get a check from the state due to excess money they have from cannabis [edit]

Sleepy Alligator
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Sleepy Alligator
7 years ago

But you were just bragging about how you sold your moldy pounds for $4800 in 2006. Maybe what helps ruin a community is selling moldy weed then bragging about it.

Perspective
Guest
Perspective
7 years ago

You should be banned from commenting based on the fact you are a HIPPYCRIT! You cant be part of the problem and bitch about the problem. Selling PM herb just shows us more of the person you truly are.

Lost Croat Outburst
Guest
Lost Croat Outburst
7 years ago

Another victim of the Cannabis Derangement Syndrome: only the people who don’t use it are driven crazy by it. Wow.

Perspective
Guest
Perspective
7 years ago

While Humboldt shovels snow off their winter run hoops and greenhouses, the central valley is harvesting and replanting some of the best herb the state has to offer. Infrastructure is already there and so is the work force. They are simply switching from one crop to another. Seems to be an easy transition. The import labor force seems to be happy working with cannabis. Not sure how Humboldt is going to compete. Your cup trophies don’t mean shit in the end. You cool bios and hetti logos will get you zero traction. The state consumers don’t care about your Humboldt County Cup trophy. The state consumers don’t care about anything other than the finished product and at a good price. This is no joke. If you aren’t aware of whats going on in the rest of the state, your doomed. Humboldt growers are going to need to get their shit together if they want to stay in this county and make a decent living at growing cannabis. The smart folks I know have been buying and renting down south. And YES, they have permits as well. Humboldt is not the only place with permitted grows. Just think about warm weather all year, commercial greenhouses with supplemental lighting throughout, automated growing systems, a strong force of skilled Mexican labor and all the genetics and 5 pulls a year. The model works because suppliers can have a steady stream of product all year vs. some deps in July and then again in Sept and then the flood of full term in Oct/Nov. We are fucked up here…………………..

broksi
Guest
7 years ago
Reply to  Perspective

Gotta agree with ya!

oh brother where art thou
Guest
oh brother where art thou
7 years ago
Reply to  Perspective

In other words, they have to learn how to be real businesspersons, as in any given industry if you want to stay in business. Cute marketing and names don’t do a thing if your manufacturing is crap.

Cove guy
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Cove guy
7 years ago
Reply to  Perspective

You hit the nail on the head

ha
Guest
ha
7 years ago
Reply to  Perspective

I dont agree, cause they aint trying to compete with your legal a** on a list in a cty office, that will be handed to Sessions, real soon. Good luck with the feds bro.

Emeraldlocal
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Emeraldlocal
7 years ago
Reply to  Perspective

Ok perspective. Your hilarious however put this in your pipe and smoke it. Even if everyone is california smoked a quarter zip a day the m3dical patients can’t smoke anything close to the herb produced, so on continues Mr. Black market just amped up a little.

Perspective
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Perspective
7 years ago
Reply to  Emeraldlocal

OK, glad you could join the conversation. I’m not talking about the black market and neither is the article. But, cool story!

Don
Guest
Don
7 years ago
Reply to  Emeraldlocal

Some medical patients can’t smoke IT. I have COPD from smoking. (50 yr cig smoker and on oxygen 24/7). But candy and salves work. So naturally we can’t keep up with smokers

thebigdeal
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thebigdeal
7 years ago

I really want to disagree with Perspective,but I think he/she is 100% correct. In the end the price is what really matters.

Working man
Guest
Working man
7 years ago

I’m happy prop 64 passed. It’s soul destroying working my fingers to the bone in an honest job while my neighbors grow weed and then plead poverty and collect welfare when they are going on vacation several times a year and shop at wildberries. Hopefully they will leave and go back to L A as the price of weed plummets.

hmm
Guest
hmm
7 years ago
Reply to  Working man

I have to say, I never know a single grower that claimed poverty and collected benefits. Im a second gen grower.

Im aware that poor people sometimes try running a janky indoor from time to time, but I expect they make no significant income from it.

THC
Guest
THC
7 years ago
Reply to  Working man

I agree, but what do you do for a living? I’ve been building people’s houses around here for about 20 years now. If it wasn’t for the pot money there would be a lot less houses getting built, same goes for just about any retail store around here. When the pot money leaves with no other industry to replace it, most “real” jobs are going to be shut down as well.

Lone ranger
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Lone ranger
7 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

You got it , ghost towns ahead, will this blog site survive?

Shake Well
Guest
Shake Well
7 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

You must be referring to all the business owners who complain how they can’t find employees to work for them because of the black market opportunities around here.

Don
Guest
Don
7 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Especially County stupidvisors. Soon they will have to let some “big businesses” in the the county, or we will be down the tubes. Only some big business will be able to hire all the excess people around. Services and tourist shops will not cut it,

Lost Croat Outburst
Guest
Lost Croat Outburst
7 years ago
Reply to  THC

Yeah, nice fantasy about the Central Valley. What a crock. Is everybody nuts? Go online or pick up a copy of WesternFarmPress.com or org. And read all about all the acres of cannabis, NOT. None of this is happening in the CV unless at a clandestine location like many still are here.

Where is all food going to be grown if everyone is growing weed? In mountainous areas where other crops are difficult.

Perspective
Guest
Perspective
7 years ago

Look at Monterey County. Thousands of pounds are being harvested this winter. They are legal and expanding.

Lost Croat Outburst
Guest
Lost Croat Outburst
7 years ago
Reply to  THC

Yes, glad to agree. Pot money has kept this whole tri-county area economically alive for decades now. If we can use the Napa Valley wine model, we may survive. Redwood Capital Bank did an economic analysis and they absolutely agree with your in-the-field observations.

Don
Guest
Don
7 years ago
Reply to  Working man

Nothing wrong with an honest job! Don’t let your green eyes show.

ol' homesteader
Guest
ol' homesteader
7 years ago

After watching this game for thirty years now; I will have to agree. Pot has run its course here, just like logging trees for money.
Back to why we came here in the first place . . . . Happy Homesteading!!!!

lauracooskey
Guest
lauracooskey
7 years ago

That’s what i’m hoping. Adios to all that… let me get back to “home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes” and “move to the country, build you a home. Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches, try to find Jesus (or whatever), on our own.”

Emily
Guest
Emily
7 years ago
Reply to  lauracooskey

I get that, it sounds nice. But we need an economy to survive and keep our children here. Otherwise we turn into, well, say the oregon coast. A beautiful place, but terrible place to live. No culture, nothing to do, only drugs and old people.

lauracooskey
Guest
lauracooskey
7 years ago
Reply to  Emily

Emily, there’s a big difference in the mindset and intentions of people on the mid-Oregon coast and, for instance, a certain little valley in southern Humboldt County. In one place, the conscious desire is to live a mini-American dream of easily accessible corporate-sourced consumer products, to have mainstream health care nearby, to have homes with all the plastic modern conveniences, and to fly your flag and listen to your Christian radio. Which values lead to Lincoln City strip malls, fast food joints, trailer parks, and as you said, drugs and old people. It’s a disconnect between the dream and the reality. (Not to paint with too broad a brush here; there are plenty of artistic, interesting, individualistic folks up there; i am just trying to make a point with my generalities.) Then here we have a place with one of the highest densities of PhD’s of any community in the country (sorry, don’t have a link for that, but i believe it)–you may knock it as “gentrified,” and indeed many of the “new settlers” come from well-off families, and their country-raised, cabin-born kids’ futures are protected by distant but proud grandparents. But whether bolstered by family money, by a willingness to enjoy natural beauty, small community values, and the absence of modern industry in exchange for being cash-poor and having to work darned hard to grow food, gather firewood, patch roofs, etc., or by an inventive, entrepreneurial nature that has figured out ways to actually make money via the internet, eco-tourism, pig hunts, art, or craft products–any way they can do it, these intentional backwoods people would mostly prefer to reject any economy that meant a threat to the cultural values.
Your statement above suggests that without an “economy” (i am going to assume that, loosely, you mean at least, for a rural community, a prevailing cash cow, be it a product or service), there is no culture. I suggest that without a culture, there is neither money nor art and fun; but with a strongly defined cultural identity, and a sense of mutual dependence and love of place, an economy will naturally follow–even if it is no one prevailing mode, but a collective of efforts. And many of us have been noticing for some time that the main thing preventing this flowering of a humble yet sufficient economic culture has been the too-easy money of illegal weed.
(I am not missing the irony in the fact that the money was also an initial draw, and a means of sustenance, for decades of community-building; but where was the motivation to start, say, Amish-type home production businesses when weed paid exponentially more?)
Winter happens, and it can be hard… but every year Spring waits right around the corner. I am really getting hungry for those home-grown tomatoes and peaches!

Perspective
Guest
Perspective
7 years ago
Reply to  lauracooskey

Love that song

Lake County Not So Bad
Guest
Lake County Not So Bad
7 years ago

I’m not in the business but I really believe that Caroline and Perspective are spot on. I used to think I wanted to retire and settle in Humboldt but after reading this blog for six months, no way. It’s only going to get worse, a lot worse. Go back a few decades and look at what happened to family farmers when big ag took over. If they were lucky, they became farm labor instead of farm owners. The unlucky, homeless. Look at what happened with alcohol. You can buy a six pack for far less than it would cost you to make it in your garage. Same thing is happening with cannabis right now. The favorable climate, water and ready labor in more southerly counties will make cannabis growing far more lucrative than almonds. When that switch happens, watch out.

And yes, I have seen $500 a pound listed here locally on Craig’s. $650 relisted multiple times with fantastic pictures to go with it.

Ullr Rover
Guest
Ullr Rover
7 years ago

With regards to your beer comment: I brew my own beer. I do make high end beer for much cheaper than the cost of a six pack. The problem with turning the garage beer production into money is the massive beauracracy that requires expensive permits and infrastructure to do so.
Which, sadly, is the model for cannabis “legalization”.

Lurker
Guest
Lurker
7 years ago

It Is 800 hundred a pound all day long in laytonville .Locals in sohum saying they would be happy to get 1000 to pay their bills grow stores are still owed thousands on there charge accounts ….5600 an lb in Aug back in the nineties now 1000 a pound year round .At least the kids who grew up here will be able to buy cheap land in a couple of years and some will come home .There will also be a lot of foreclosed properties that were over priced and the owners will never make the payments .This is done revenue in Colorado is dropping and the markets are getting flooded .Better get a real Job if you want to live around here !Better pay off your land .

Clowningyou!
Guest
Clowningyou!
7 years ago
Reply to  Lurker

I’m not surprised that laytonville shwag is that cheap, I know a few grower there and their quality never comes close to so hum dank.
As a matter of fact those giant og seed plants these guys have ALWAYS LACK SMELL AND LOOKS!
and every time I ask them, ” where is the spice, where is the flavor?”
You should consider yourself lucky to get that much for laytonvilles finest mendo pretendo.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂👊

MOGTX
Guest
7 years ago

Shoot I got 2000 for my out door ,at the beginning of the harvest now I’m getting 17 ,so 500 a pds Bull shit . Rumors like that is not cool .

John
Guest
John
7 years ago
Reply to  MOGTX

Liar.

Friend
Guest
Friend
7 years ago

If you haven’t noticed the retail stores are still getting 6000 a lb as it leaves there shop. I would have to say smart buyers will still use the black market as things aettle down. As a consumer I choose to buy better smoke for a fraction of the cost from a local small grower.

ha
Guest
ha
7 years ago

The people whining at 500-1000 a pound, are bad hustlers. People who get more, are not braggin or gonna share. Humboldt will be fine. Good luck legal fedi targets!

Clowningyou!
Guest
Clowningyou!
7 years ago
Reply to  ha

Hey [edit] if you get a chance you should read the news article or Google trumps first change to the white house website,..turns out the page that contained the info on the cannabis war has been taken down, the feds don’t mess with Colorado or other states that run their own show, but people like you or the ones that you are referring to will have a chopper land and your crop cut, hopefully arrested as well,…
[edit]

Sunshine Johnston
Guest
Sunshine Johnston
7 years ago

As farmers we are at the bottom of the food chain that feeds capitalism. Everyone wants to take from us as the producers and our starting position is as price takers. Mandatory distribution favors the biggest growers as they have market staying power. Smaller growers loose under this model supported and created by Hezekiah Allen. CGA wants to take the cultivation tax and put it on the distributor but that will not protect the farmer from baring the cost. Direct sales and tax incentives that benefit small farmers will be in jeopardy. Farmers also benefit when there are many options for distribution and my concern is RVR’s CEO will make it difficult for smaller distributors to compete. Marketing and branding based on region like wine gives even the smallest independent producers market share. The article is right about farmers needing funding for branding and startup costs and making a business plan is critical to getting it right. Ted Simpkins is not my first choice. Beware of shading predatory lending and know your own worth. Some of the money coming to our county is far worse than what we have seen during the black market so be mindful. Santa Rosa will serve us all in northern California and not just Sonoma. Humboldt will do fine.

ClowningUs
Guest
ClowningUs
7 years ago

The supervisors have definitely ruined it for humboldt that’s besides the fact that taxation without representation is UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
also have they not eradicated all other grows that are not in compliance, and are not making any effort to be compliant. The black market is not going to disappear the way they planned it to be. Compliant grows are left in the grey zone as much as non compliant ones and that is a shame.
Let the slaves celebrate legality, taxation and regulation is ultimately the way they left it hanging in uncertainty.
The big money guys will move in little neighborhoods putting up big fences around a once beautiful meadow changing the neighborhood and killing its integrity once and for all. then they will grow a couple thousand pounds on the first early dep run and have no remorse selling it for peanuts driving the price down so mom and pop have no chance to survive.
Never has there been this much property for sale in this county, look on craigslist alone to get an idea.
Do the supervisors intend to be satisfied with the money of a couple dozen ultra mega grows and care less for the rest of Humboldt population in rural communities?
What is really going on? Are 2000 sq ft and under grows still exempt or are we down to 6 plants, seems like no one has addressed this topic in a minute.
How will people survive? Legal states including Maine and PA are jumping at this opportunity while california seems only to waste valuable time trying to figure out how to tax the farmer into non existence,…with all the other states legal demand is at an all time high yet the middleman is talking about 11 or 12, even 900 bucks for a pound, its a complete,joke!
Is everyone supposed to be a commercial grower now to make the same ends meet?
Times are uncertain, cant blame anyone for pulling out that doesn’t have that kind of money to continue doing what they love.

Lone ranger
Guest
Lone ranger
7 years ago

Kind of reminds of old Humboldt people that said the redwood market would never fall.

Clowningyou!
Guest
Clowningyou!
7 years ago

Don’t let go of it unless you have to, or as much as you have to.
Middleman is clowning and prices will go back up.
This resource is the closeat thing to gold that we have, so stop giving it away, before you know it you will have to pay someone 800 to take it, if the nonsense giveaway doesn’t stop.
Nothing has changed! Eighths are still 45 to 50 bucks , I was just in a dispensary and seen an eighth for 55 bucks.
Stop giving it away already!

Clowningyou!
Guest
Clowningyou!
7 years ago

Thanks for editing kym, I get carried away sometimes,.. Thank you for all you do as a matter of fact!

THC
Guest
THC
7 years ago
Reply to  Clowningyou!

Easy to say if you’re sitting plush, but if you’re sitting on top of a big charge account at a local grow store or huge property payments or like everybody else you went out and mortgage your house. financed a new boat. Finance the new $60,000 truck. Finance a Bunch of quads and bought a bunch of toys that you can afford and put them on your credit card, then you’re pretty much forced to take whatever price you can get. I’m glad I don’t use credit and everything I have is bought and paid for, even if it’s not as cool as the Jones down the street.

NorthofHumboldt
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NorthofHumboldt
7 years ago

There is no bud like the bud from small experienced growers. They treat it like a garden planted with affection and grown with careful personal involvement and oversight. There is a culture of respect involved and people who grow astounding madicinal Marijuana. There is a subculture of illegal sales and careless growers in it for money. Truth is its not easy money ever. It’s a coveted thing to grow dank and people without experience often lose thousands of dollars trying to set up a quick grow for financial gain. Part of the culture of youth on this northern end of Cali is to use gang like tactics to try to attain status and wealth. It is often a violent and tragic version of the culture or illegal subculture of Marijuana growing. In all honesty the successful small growers I know all have jobs or retired from full time work. They are respectful of their children and grow legal clean and conservative grows. Our culture will live on here as we continue to grow and harvest delightful and astounding flowers that bring joy and healing to those involved. There will always be those willing to pay for dank from the emerald triangle. I have hope that those after the “easy money” will follow it.

Working man
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Working man
7 years ago

You have clearly smoked way too much of your own stash.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
7 years ago

So many amateur economists in Humboldt with many ideas and misconstrued truths.

had enought
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had enought
7 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

. thanks anonymous.must be nice to know the future. those that can do. those who cant talk shit on blogs like this. just a bunch of cry babys with out a clue. most here dont know what there talking about. fools without lives.

Taurus Balzhoff
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Taurus Balzhoff
7 years ago

Pot in California will be grown outside Yuba City and Bakersfield, using labor and expertise that used to exist only in Humboldt. All you folks up here may be able to continue, growing for the black market and exporting to the areas where weed is still illegal, but in the end you will be over-matched unless you organize, process centrally, brand, and export in a businesslike manner. Pirates will always exist: it’s a product you can grow anywhere there’s water and sunlight.

The gold rush ended. The timber thing is over. Where the pot thing will go is anyone’s guess, but, getting high is for stupid and apathetic people. Thinking that anyone cares where the bud comes from may starve all of you yet… AND:

The point of legalization is that anyone is allowed to grow their own at will.

gunther
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gunther
7 years ago

You make some good points but it’s not that easy to grow your own. Put in a few plants in a greenhouse in the back yard and when you come home from work, the neighbor kids will have it ripped off. Guaranteed.

There is a reason that 40 acres of scrub land behind a locked gate is going for $250K, and it’s not to grow radishes for the Farmer’s Market at $3.00 a bundle. And it’s not to go legal either.

Taurus Balzhoff
Guest
Taurus Balzhoff
7 years ago
Reply to  gunther

I have done it. 2 plants was enough for quite some time, back in 1984…

Taurus Balzhoff
Guest
Taurus Balzhoff
7 years ago

Hey, pop into a bar in SF and see how much a Martini is… You could always do without…

It's A Farce
Guest
It's A Farce
7 years ago

I’d like to laugh at all you fools but I am also losing my community and way of life. That wonderful “legalization” proposition was really “tax and regulate and give it away to large corporations” but many were too stupid or ignorant to see that. Now we lose, lose, lose. It’s over. Latest news- that 5 year period before the state board allows UNLIMITED size grows? Turns out it was not a mandatory 5 years and the new state board is going to allow UNLIMITED size grows to be permitted sometime this year. Yeah. Deal with reality. Sell off your place quick! If you can. We are about to descend into a severe local depression with hundreds of wandering thugs hooked on substances stealing whatever they can. Expect violence and theft and unchecked mental illness all over this county. Some greenrushers have already figured it out and they have sold or are selling their turn-key mega-grows to the last wave of well-financed speculators who are arriving. They have played us well, made a lot of money decimating our community and now they are moving on…as they never really had any love for this land despite their hippie clothes and slick words. Like the backwoods yokels you are here in Humboldt you have been slickered and easily fooled out of the only real valuable asset you had. Indeed you gave it away while hoping and pretending it would somehow magically end up differently. But what’s happened is the result of basic common sense and logic. Gallegos’ policies making us a magnet for out-of-town hustlers to descend and blow up mega-scenes was not good. That was obvious to anybody with half a brain. But you welcomed and encouraged them! Making heroes of people who stepped into the media spotlight showing off their huge grow operations and talking smoothly of “becoming like real businesses” and such- also not good for the community. Now we have real business people piling into California and guess what? They are sleazy predators backed by millions of dollars and corporate structures geared to care about one thing-$$$. You should be ready to use your skills as a gardener to get minimum wage because that is what they will pay you. Congratulations Humboldt!! You are the local idiots who got played and had it all taken away. Same story all over through the history of western civilization but you thought you were somehow special and immune to it. Well…you aren’t, you weren’t and now you are not anybody at all.

Daryl
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Daryl
7 years ago
Reply to  It's A Farce

Is there anything we can do? We need to take action somehow to get these corporate interests out of the game. We cannot accept defeat.