Legal Farmer Proposes Three Prong Approach to Alleviating Cannabis Glut
Welcome to our letters to the editor/opinion section. To submit yours for consideration, please send to [email protected]. Please consider including an image to be used–either a photograph of you or something applicable to the letter. However, an image is not necessary for publication.
Remember opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of Redheaded Blackbelt nor have we checked the letters for accuracy.
My name is Bill Walter and my wife Hsueh-mei Yang and I own and operate Emerald Healing Humboldt, a permitted legacy cannabis farm in Humboldt County. This letter is our perspective on the devastating crash of California’s cannabis market.
The California cannabis industry has faced a number of challenges in its development, including CAMP raids in the 215 era, heavy taxation at the state and local levels, and discriminatory treatment at the federal level, such as tax code 280E. Coming into legal compliance is lengthy, expensive and frustrating. All of these factors have made participation in the cannabis industry less profitable and more demanding.
As difficult as they are, the taxation and compliance issues didn’t crash the market. The problem is the tremendous oversupply of cannabis. This may seem like stating the obvious, but in our many conversations with people in the industry, it’s surprising how many people are fixated on licensing fees and taxes. And, even those who recognize the oversupply problem don’t necessarily realize the extent of the problem.
Oversupply comes from the vast number of illegal black market grows, and the many permitted multi acre mega-farms that California, and other states, have approved in their rush to generate revenue. Until there are serious steps taken to control the amount of cannabis available, the legal cannabis industry will not return to profitability.
In recent years Southern Oregon has become a haven for illegal cannabis grows. The internet is full of videos showing vast illegal gardens. And it’s not just Oregon, it’s California too. Southern California is inundated with huge illegal grows. It’s on the East coast as well, smuggled from Canada. The links at the bottom of this letter document the degree to which Oregon and California are overrun by illegal cannabis grows, and the East coast by smuggling. It’s shocking reading how bad it really is.
In addition, just the amount of legal cannabis produced in California is estimated to be more than the state can consume. The edhat.com link attached at the end of this letter reports that Santa Barbara County approved another 1,575 acres for cannabis cultivation, in addition to 536 acres of existing permitted area. When Prop 64 was approved a big grow in Humboldt was 50,000 square feet. 1,575 acres is 68,607,000 sf.
With this much cannabis it’s no wonder the prices have crashed. Despite the legal separation between outlaw cannabis and legal cannabis, in reality, there’s a big overlap. The black market hugely affects the legal market since many smokers will buy readily available illegal pot that is much cheaper.
The solution to the problem is simple, at least in theory. 1) Law enforcement needs to get serious about eradicating illegal grows. 2) California and other states need to cap the amount
of permitted square footage grown in each state. And 3) The federal government needs to make cannabis commerce 50 state legal and allow sales outside the US.
The California legislature, Department of Cannabis Control, Department of Fish and Wildlife, and law enforcement are all in a position to make a significant difference. State agencies have an incentive to work together and neighboring states do too. Increased law enforcement will help reduce illegal grows, and the State can allocate funding, and show the political will, to help law enforcement accomplish that. DCC can impose square footage caps on licenses approved by the State. DFW plays their part by helping implement and enforce reasonable water usage. Approving water usage for hundred plus acre mega-grows in arid regions of the state, in drought conditions, is not reasonable.
Thank you for reading this letter and considering our proposals. We’re in this together and it’s going to take all of us to keep this industry alive.
Bill Walter and Hsueh-mei Yang
https://www.oregonlive.com/marijuana/2022/02/oregon-lawmakers-take-aim-at-explosion-of-illegal-pot-farms.html
https://www.oregonlive.com/marijuana/2022/02/oregon-lawmakers-take-aim-at-explosion-of-illegal-pot-farms.html
https://www.bendsource.com/bend/black-market-green-product/Content?oid=16032487
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-07-11/illegal-marijuana-grows-have-overrun- the-california-desert
https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2021/12/19/mexican-drug-cartels-move-in- on-californias-shadow-marijuana-industry/8960873002/
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/
All those links but no good sense. Federal “legalization” is a red herring for massive international corporate farms to import into America. It will not save you. Sorry! I agree with the cap on size but …yeah… remember that 1 acre cap everybody thought they were voting for? How it got tossed out immediately in a closed- door backroom meeting by the corporate-friendly state regulators? Yeah- you actually voted for that kind of a thing if you voted for “legalization” and no- there will be no cap so please stop believing in fairy tales. The cap had to be specifically written into the proposition but it was not; everybody just hoped and imagined it would be “fair” ha ha ha…Speaking of fairy tales how do you think the cops are going to “get serious” about all the “black-market” grows? Okay- they might do a few, mostly your small-time neighbors whose properties they can easily confiscate because…that’s what they do. They take from the weakest and smallest while pretending to do their job. I remember CAMP very well. Sounds like you want that back on a massive scale so what- you can hope it works to save your permitted farm?! You were foolish to think you could ever survive in the environment you helped unleash upon us all. You are toast and it’s about time you accept that…
I’ll agree with you farce. I don’t like the sound of the desperate pleas to use the hammer on the illicit grows. The legacy farms are too small and undercapitalized to fight this.
Thanks for nailing it again Farce…..
Ganja was never meant to be a business in the first place!!
Homegrown is not a problem.
Government oppression and propaganda continues to be the problem!!
ty
Theoretical solution #1: enforcement has never been able to eradicate illicit grows. If they could have done it, it would have already happened. The size and scale, as described, is greater than ever. I don’t believe it can happen without incredible draconian measures that will most likely be illegal. The only way to reign in illicit grows is through macroeconomic pressure and federal legalization. Sorry but that will crush you too.
#2: good luck getting all the states to agree to a cap. Each state will seek to attract businesses with different regulations and incentives. This allows for the best possible overall out come, but probably not in triangle legacy farms’ favor. Maybe the feds could impose a cap, but I highly doubt they will. Part of the issue is the patchwork of regulations and licenses that have sprung up in the absence of federal control. Those intrenched interests will block this or find a way to swoop up any available licenses under the proposed cap.
#3: this might happen, but when it does it will flood the market with cheap products. Good chance imports will be allowed too.
I don’t see how any of these solutions will help the legacy triangle farms. Still hoping there is a solution, but I don’t have one that help most of the legacy triangle farms.
Just because you can afford the permit process doesn’t make your weed any better than someone who can’t but still decides to grow
^^ agree.
At this point you need AAA grade at rock bottom prices.
It’s legal farms who flood the market as well. Metrc is a joke.
California lost. More specifically producers in the triangle lost the most.
Just grow weed give it away for free.
F the legal farms. We can stay solvent and grow weed longer than they can.
Our community is divided. It was always about money, it’s just there’s not much money around anymore
Close the border, California, you have bern ignoring the rule of law for a very long time, and have the nerve to wage war on the middle class.
ShIp illegal’s and sex offenders, and criminals into the politicians neighborhood.
Ukrainian refugees are starting to show up at the US/Mexico border.
What is wrong with the price of weed. Nothing i say. For $10 i can get enough to keep me toasted all day. I love the increased supply caused by legalization and mega grows. The more grows the lower the prices. Every body who wants to grow should grow. With inflation eating up buying power it is nice to see an inflation proof product. You are complaint just does not hold water their mister. Grow grow grow.
NLM
It’s amazing how government failings are placed on small legacy farmers year after year.
Um, no, this is wildly inaccurate.
“Oversupply comes from the vast number of illegal black market grows, “
these are two totally different markets and the scale difference is vast.
You are correct here however,
“[oversupply comes from] the many permitted multi acre mega-farms that California, and other states, have approved in their rush to generate revenue.”
Humboldt is known for quality not quantity so we actually need to leave our small scale traditional market folks alone that couldn’t afford compliance, if we hope to have a brand left. The police are already hammering down on every rural landowner innocent or not, it’s a war zone where I live.
”Until there are serious steps taken to control the amount of cannabis available, the legal cannabis industry will not return to profitability.”
I think legalizing this plant was doomed to fail from the get go because capitalism is out of alignment with this sacred plants spirit. Please stop blaming the victims of the drug war. Point up not down.
“The black market hugely affects the legal market since many smokers will buy readily available illegal pot that is much cheaper.”
Again these are totally different markets. Medical consumers cannot afford to buy from dispensaries and I do not think price should be a barrier to relieving pain. Do you?
I sympathize with your struggles to get a permit and the market collapse but please place the blame on the appropriate party. Thanks.
i agree with Everything you said, except 1 slight thing. good proper capitalism happened b4 legalization lol. com munism is this regulation, not true awsum capitalism in a free market and grow area. js lol
//TPCO Holding reports Q4 results
Mar. 31, 2022 5:40 PMTPCO Holding Corp. (GRAMF)By: Pranav Ghumatkar, SA News Editor
TPCO Holding press release (OTCQX:GRAMF): Q4 Net loss and comprehensive loss for Q4 2021 was $50.6M.
Revenue of $39.6M (-1.5% Y/Y) misses by $4.95M.
Shares +0.81% AH.//
Good Riddence!!! Harborside should pay close attention. Treat our culture with respect and never forget those not here to appreciate our bounty. Blessings.
Booo! Bill, did you come from the black market or are you new? If you have been around, then you sound ridiculous wanting people to get busted for the very thing you have done. If you are new, you have no voice! The biggest sellers to the black market, are in fact, “legal” farms. This is a fact. You would be better off figuring out how to get MTRC to actually work. Start policing your own.
Well said!!! Agreed 100%. Everyone in the legal game is reliant on the traditional market still out of necessity. It’s a good thing they have something since the county set them up to fail otherwise.
articulated so well thank you.
Marijuana should grow absolutely everywhere, and it should be so cheap that growing it outside actual agricultural areas becomes impossible.
Grow weed in Trinity County?
You are done.
Grow weed in Humboldt?
Too far from the market!
Grow weed in Mendocino?
Not enough water, and too many cartel grows on leased Native American land…
Growing marijuana in a small way is a good personal choice, but a poor commercial choice.
It needs to be so legal that fine flower is sold at the Farmer’s Market for $10/pound…
Soon, you won’t be able to give it away, and your letter contains statements that were my predictions 5 years ago…
You are toast. Enjoy your last season as a pot farmer!
Yeah! And stop growing cows in Trinity too! And stop shipping Trinity water down to the over allocated farms in the central dessert. One problem with your plan is: most of your farmer’s market folks were funding their farms with weed money, since your 2$ bunch of arugula doesn’t pay the bills. It takes about a pound of weed a week now to pay the fees at Arcata.
Right now, in Round Valley, particularly on the Reservation, the whole place is lit up at night like SFO. Super bright lights and generators all night long. There are NO RULES or REGULATIONS enforced on the grows on any of the reservation properties. All the civil code state laws and local ordinances do not apply, and unless there is some kind of felony being committed, no law enforcement. Consequently this is a free market zone for any non-regulated, non-permitted, black market marijuana grow and many well capitalized growers are leasing reservation lands from native individuals and putting in big grows without any restrictions.
Good point.
But..but…but….The Mendocino County Sheriff promised he would do something about Covelo! He’s even from Covelo so how could he not know!! (Yes- sarcasm)
Last year I grew about 15 pounds total of 12 different strains just for my family and friends and I to smoke on and to experiment with doing extractions. I’ve been growing on a small scale for over a decade, never for profit, and routinely give panhandlers nugs instead of cash, and this year I’ve been turned down multiple times. Tripped me the fuck out.
Yes- that tipping point has happened. Can’t give it away! I have always donated to the homeless or the indigent medical users- all the smalls and sometimes extra bigs. As of now they have all they want…never seen this before but I’m happy for them
I think another important point that the author did not make is that largely the market and consumers have decided that outdoor grown product is simply not desirable. this is a big issue for sun grown farmers no amount of regulation is going to make consumers prefer sungrown over indoor flower. I don’t believe sungrown flower will be gaining market share in the future if anything it’s market share will continue to decrease.
These are hard truths let’s not live in the past, bless up y’all. ????✨???
Super Fire indoor going for 1k right now… What will deps or outdoor fetch come summer/fall?
Super fire machine trimmed indoor can be produced for $180 a pound. I don’t see outdoor farmers being able to compete
Including fuel or electricity? Motor oil, generator breakdowns? I can’t see permit fees being more than juice right now. Did you factor the cost of the trim machine that replaced people at $100/pound? What did you pay for lights? Do you own the 10,000 sq ft warehouse? Regulation can trump practicality, or economic benefit. Look at truck regulations. Pretty much every commercial truck older than 2010 is off the road. (For particulate matter, thus increasing fuel consumption, and CO2 production)It amounts to a Taking. The State could just as easily eliminate indoor, or mandate you only use water available from your own County for the sake of the environment. The legal market regulations favor indoor as a non seasonal, everyday bullshit type of activity. Especially where you even have indoor only regs.
Oil changes and generator breakdowns? Are you in the Stone Age? That’s why your cost of production will remain high. Fuel costs? What kind of asshole is dragging a bunch of diesel out to the hill and risking diesel and oil spills in our watersheds? You, my friend, are outdated.
Indoor in industrial zoned areas with industrial power, fully automated with dosatrons and LED lights all integrated to a master computer that feeds soilless grown indoor cheap salts 6 times a day or more every day, regulates VPD, and has your ac units, lights, and dehums all talking to each other to maintain perfect climate, LST, and PAR to heat ratios to maximize polysaccharide metabolism. All done outside of the triangle. Multiple hundred light facilities capable of being run and trimmed by 3 people. That’s the future my friend.
with that industrial elect n led lights the bill is still over 2 a lb we hv it here but they will get grants, and substities, or whatever you call it, loans, huh
Blarbitty shmarb. Save up for a 48 hr power outage. I guess just DON’T let your back up Genny not start. I’d hate to have you lose a cycle. You sound dependant on other people’s systems working for ya. Or, at least the folks you’re selling shit to are…
Plants in flower can sit in the dark for a couple days. It’s not a big deal. Plants in veg can be kept that way with low wattage led. Don’t need a giant generator unless your an asshole blowing up a massive indoor grow in the hills off grid.
I don’t grow it or sell it anymore. I grow 2 plants a year for personal. I do however help people in any market come into the new age of production and I help them lower their costs as much as possible. I’m a numbers guy, that’s all I am. Your overhead will be through the roof, how’s that $6.50 diesel doin your bottom line? ????
always remember! regulation and communism is the same thing (and thats just the beginning!!) save freedom of all people and things!!!
No it can’t. Cost of production for indoor even with LEDs and light movers is over $400/pound. That’s with dry amending instead of bottled nutrients and living soil beds that are never replaced with new soil.
Would you like me to post the exact specs for indoor grows that are producing at $180 a pound, even as low as $120? Just cause you aren’t doing it doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Ag power is 17 cents a kilowatt and industrial is 8 cents a kilowatt
Factoring Permit costs? In California? Or in some consultants Okie dream?
The permit costs have already been bore by the grower. If I were to factor in those people’s cost of permits, there aren’t many pounds being produced yet legally that are below a thousand bucks a pound, but you are conflating numbers that aren’t part of my job. I bring the cost of production down and increase the amount of production. That’s it.
I can make a grow more efficient. Recirculating systems are a huge boon to the industry, when you can recycle your runoff and use it again and you use the methane from decomposing biomass from your last run to power your fans, the cost of production drops immensely.
Everyone on this thread now owes me $1000. Your welcome.
I’m all in, with the exception of full indoor. Even mixed light with sun has got to be more efficient. I bet hydro is way more efficient than tossing out bag soil every cycle! I know it’s the way things go, but high initial investment, energy intensive farms tend to be funded by investor pyramid schemes, so the efficiency gains might already be spoken for. A seven fold overproduction in CA hurts everyone proportionally to their scale. Just looking at examples from less regulated ag, there is still a market for high intensity hydro tomatoes, distributors like them, they provide regular shipments all year, but a vast majority of tomatoes will always be grown in soil, it’s just so much cheaper.
You may not be hitting the yields necessary as well. 2 pounds a light vs 3 pounds off that same light vs 4 pounds off that same light dramatically change your cost of production. You have to have the know how to be producing at the upper end, that lowers your cost more than anything. And cutting your employees as well.
My outdoor was well received on palm springs strip just recently. Now they know what being high really means.
Good for you. It’s great that you have found a niche and maintained it. I don’t actually grow the stuff, I found you make far more money being a mercenary, making people’s legal farms profitable, and selling the equipment to do so. If you ever want to step into the new age, I have a good team to help you do it. I have the top hydrological engineer in the industry in my corner, one of the top botanists in the pot industry, and a man who is revolutionizing the amount of water and fertilizer needed to bring a plant from clone to finish. So far have it down to 10 gallons of water per plant per cycle. I’m the guy who connects all the dots, puts together a plan, and brings your garden of the future into the present. With us 4 you won’t fail, you’ll be one of the few who survive.
I love hearing the hydro that is what we did during the off season. Keep it up brother.
I am so busy it’s ridiculous this year. Ya know cause it’s so oversupplied, supposedly, lol. Someday maybe but you’re doin it right you don’t need us.
The industry is bigger with more money trading hands than ever before. Competition is a wonderful thing. It’s a great era to be in the industry in. Keep up the good work with the good attitude and things will turn out right. Blessings!
The only thing you are missing is the 5th column.
This world doesn’t bring the best products to market, it is the world in which mediocre corporate products are the only ones available, and the ability to challenge their dominance is in small pockets. Sure, I’d like to believe otherwise, but the team that wins is the one who knows how to dominate the supply chain at the expense of the little guy.
sweet!
Super Fire machine-trimmed indoor just 1 U-turn for an Elbow
how with the electric bill
lol, ya know before the meter there is so much wasted energy. I guess the best way to put it is some Humboldt growers make the power company more efficient. They just don’t know it, blessings to the outlaw!!
You must know that we are paying one of the highest electrical rates in the country. Anywhere but here would be better. And some places- like Oklahoma- are making electrical rates incredibly cheap to lure more business. heck- even get to Trinity or Del Norte and your rates drop significantly. Get a permit scam and rates go very low…Our time has passed. We cannot compete here either outdoor or indoor…Enjoy “legalization”!!!
Light one up and weep…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugFBOS5AIEI
Up to 14 for AAA.
80% of the people who buy weed disagree. You are out of touch the baggie brigade is kicking the crap outta your truth, lol
This is inaccurate. I know people who still get 2k for a stellar micro scale organic outdoor. It’s a niche market and what Humboldt is known for. We will never compete with the greenhouse grows all over the state , folks have to set themselves apart.
interesting tho that this is the 3rd time ive seen this “stage” of the “cycle” tho. maybe asia will open up lols
Solution #1 give every single person who wants to grow a permit , lower the taxes and fees, make it easy to comply, actually permit more testing sites so their isn’t a bottle neck at the testing level, and allow farmers to sell direct to their consumers to alleviate the bottle neck at the selling level.
Bring the hammer down on everyone continuing to operate illegally at that point, and allow the oversupply and free market to reign. Allow consumers to vote with their dollars about what brands they want to purchase and what brands of reefer they think are good.
Prices will tank, over-supply will happen, a lot of people’s weed won’t sell because it’s not that great, they will go out of business, after a few years the people who grow good weed will survive and the ones that don’t will go belly up. Over-supply will disappear and prices will stabilize, the people who grow the best will own the markets and everyone else will either have to work for them or find a new job.
Nobody is guaranteed a living, you have to carve out your own place. I see a lot of people are terrified of competition and free markets, maybe it’s not the taxes, maybe it’s not the “oversupply”, maybe it’s the quality of what you produce.
I’ll agree with the lowering taxes, fees and regulations to be like other crops. Won’t change the oversupply issue, but it will level the field a bit.
People going out of business because their product isn’t selling will settle the oversupply issue
Best response yet. Good to see at least one person has a clue of how a free market is supposed to work.
This is America. This is a capitalist society. We let free market forces determine what’s good and what isn’t, that comes down to a vote with people’s dollars. Obviously a lot of people didn’t get the memo of where we live. You don’t get to leverage the law to crush your competitors, that will only seed the industry to the biggest corporate players who can operate at a loss or lobby laws in their own favor using millions of dollars. That is the fastest way to orchestrate your own demise, trying to play the corporate game with a fraction of the corporate bankroll. Some people just aren’t destined to make it and it’s because of their own mentality.
i agree. good comment
Amen
Hey 1911 except we don’t have a free market in modern capitalism never did never will it’s a regulated and controlled market. Price never would have hit $$4500 for an elbow(yup, in the 90’s) in a free market.
Laws=control.
Welcome to the corporate state.
So yeah thanks for the kudos. Free markets are a wonderful thing if people will just let them happen.
Except for the fact that there is no free market in capitalism.
You Aare one of the better comments here most times but you’re repeating good advertising from the corporations.
You know, just work harder smarter longer and you’ll make it!
Except you won’t unless you have a few senators=control in you’re pocket.
Kinda like oil companies and military contractors.
We already saw the only free market ganja will ever experience in capitalism.
It’s corporate pens for the masses from here on out!
Home Grown fuck yeah!!
Vape pens to be specific
I agree, free market capitalism was in full swing in 2012-2016. The prices were what they are now. We’ve been here before only minus the regulation. A complete free market would also be free of antitrust regulation and anti-monopoly. We are stuck with what we have, try to make the best of it.
So are you advocating for not working harder or smarter? Sounds counterintuitive to success to me. I’m all for the little guy, I want them to be able to compete and succeed against the giant corporate model.
Big Ag isn’t a free market. You have subsidies, price supports, international trade agreements, tariffs, corporate tax breaks….
Illicit grows are more efficient without the taxes, regs, etc. They will continue to oversupply the general population and thus reduce the buyer pool for legal weed. I still think this doesn’t ever end well for almost all triangle license holders.
I mean, man, sometimes you gotta leave where you started to continue to be successful.
except hundreds of small farms going out of business are replaced by 1 massive farm expanding
Expansion is fine. What’s wrong with that? I like to expand
you said “People going out of business because their product isn’t selling will settle the oversupply issue” The over supply issue will not be fixed because more will be grown in its place.
If you aren’t selling it and making any money how do you expect to be able to plant again and have more to be grown in its place? Just grow more weed you can’t sell? There is already more weed being produced than is able to be consumed in this country. People WILL go under and more won’t be produced cause it can’t be consumed. Eventually supply and demand will equalize and prices will stabilize.
Here is another excellent piece of advice I tell people, worth another $500.
Don’t grow more than you can sell. That’s the fastest way to go under. Seems everyone should know that but I can’t believe the number of people who say “ well if I just grow more…” when they are still sitting on a hundred pounds of product from last year. Grow more? Why? So you can spend the extra money to sit on 200 pounds instead of 100?
guess that went over your head
What I’ve watched happen is things get bigger, price goes lower, the owner doesn’t really want to do more, or any work, get a newbie to do the grow, expect the same revenue, but have to pay the new guy. You spend all winter lying to yourself, and anyone who’ll listen about how much you sold your weed for, and how much you grew, so you need a robbery so you don’t have to pay money you’d never earn, kick the newbie and his pregnant girlfriend off the property when the rains start. Go to the bar, and repeat.
Look up the definition of “Greed”. It’s where you strive to get more than you can use at the expense of others.
Nobody’s even mentioned the drought. It’s getting worse every year.
It’s past time to stop all grows over 12 plants, That would help the price more than any plan I have heard and save water.
That’s unreasonable as the illicit grows (the ones oversupplying the market) won’t be stopped. The big license farms down south use groundwater or ditch water and will probably not be shut down. Your proposal only seals the end for legacy triangle farms who cannot afford to go fallow.
thats all bs, theve bn giving 85-90+% of Our eel river water to the grape vinards dwn south. since ive 1st heard of this in the late 80s, every drop i have enjoyed seeing of the eel river has bn only 15% or less of the origional river. period. how about redirecting at the pillsbury dam
also, we are in an experiement where there is a harp wall off the coast of california prohibiting coastal storms frm comming in (i heard a politician say) and they “spray” these “rain” “clouds” which the sacred wind has bn vallantly battling incase you didnt notice. said with love!
Also: not at all. Politicians are middle school-popular, but don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground.
1. Cloud seeding only works if its about to rain anyway.
2. If “they” are “spraying”, is it to make it rain, or prevent the rain? We need a consistent theory. Why? What is the motive?
3. Who and when are they flying these spray sorties? Look, if one asshole doesn’t wear a mask, and delays a plane in LA, it disrupts all the commercial traffic the rest of the day. What airport are all these spray flights coming and going from? Is FlightAware in on the conspiracy?
4. If you have two people, the secret is out. There is no secret that can be kept between the huge network of secret personal running your fantasy flights. We’re not supposed to know where my favorite Sargeant is right now, but I know which Russian border he’s at. Where are the Instagram pics of HARPers loading C130s with “chem” for your trails?
Up here, You are only allowed to divert water in winter. Done by April 1st. Drought or no drought there is water up here. Not so much in Ventura. Your property has water that runs through and off it? So bad to use it. Oh your property has a tap and meter between the greenhouse, and Hetch Hetchy? No problemo!
Bottle neck at testing?… you almost sounded like you know what your talking about
I do know a lot of people whose product sits around waiting to be tested for weeks on end, sometimes longer. That’s unacceptable, that’s a bottle neck to me. Weed expires, it turns brown, it goes bad, the farmers need to be able to bring their product to market as quickly as possible.
There is a major problem that some farms are contracted through testing facilities, or even worse, are vertically integrated with a testing facility. There product gets brought to market while other people have to wait. That’s not fair. People shouldn’t be going under due to regulation and inefficiency in other places of the industry, they should go out of business because people don’t want to buy their weed.
I have seen brown outdoor supposedly testing at 30% THC. That’s bullshit. That means in a quarter pound of that weed you have over 28 grams of pure THC crystals and less than 3 ounces of plant matter. It should be so frosted you can barely see the plant matter.
There are major problems in this industry that only unfettered, free market access will solve. Let the competition reign!!!
My experience with Oregon dispensaries so far. Even the top shelf seems old and handled by many hands. $250/300/oz. My 1st preference. My homegrown. Fresh and handled by one person. Me! 2nd preference. My neighbors herb, handled by two people. Him and me. And yeah, it’s better than mine. Under $30/oz. Ring that bell!
Het Smoking!!! Good on ya! Thanks for pointing out how me and my surviving old pals do it!! Fuck the “market”
Viva la Homegrown!!!
It’s the way it should be.
What’s the solution to the limited testing access for small farms? Prohibit contracting or vertical structures?
I wish I had an answer, everyone knows this was all set up poorly. The testing and distribution network should’ve been the first things ironed out before farms were permitted. Then there would’ve been a waiting legal market and hopefully ample testing sites. At least more testing sites could’ve been permitted as more licenses were handed out and the dispensaries, testing facilities, and farms could’ve been somewhat in sync.
Testing should only be operated by third parties that have no hand in the industry other than testing. I dislike the government and how they handle things, but most quality control departments are usually government. FDA, USDA, all that. I’m not saying I think they do a good job but at least it prevents a private company from vertically integrating and owning a test facility or anything. They can just straight lie. I have a hard time believing that any weed has ever been grown that is legitimately above a 30% THC level.
I saw weed in a club that claimed to be 40.02%! Are you kidding me? Where are the stems and leaves? Did you just grow a damn THC crystal?
Maybe a good business would be to start to set up your own legitimate testing facilities? Right here in the triangle. Someone should step up.
thats a great and realitively inexpensive idea! i hope people jump on this! now!! and prosper!!!
but the eff dee ai? who has fiser and merk wrking thr?? wrong example said with love!
Yeah they certainly do. Nothing is perfect and I’m sure if a weed company got big enough they could pay the FDA off too. That being said, it’s better than a private weed company owning it’s testing facility. Even worse than the THC content, how do you know the herb is actually clean?
Interesting take on the situation. Opening a test lab is tough. You gotta hire a damn PhD to run everything and the equipment is expensive. Probably better investment than opening a farm at this point. Probably better choice over the last few years.
I’ll agree, 40%+ is ridiculous. One thing I learned in chemistry class was you could design an experiment to produce whatever results you want and most people couldn’t understand it enough to know the better.
The testing results are disingenuous. THC “percentages” are more like a “Scoville” unit used to describe the relative heat of a hot pepper. I’m not sure the exact methods of testing, but it seems ridiculous on the face of it, that a bud could be 30%by weight THC. A specific percent of isolated resin crystals, maybe, but a one gr bud will never be even close to containing even 1/10 if a gram of pure THC.
Many distribution companies started to sell their own weed. You could have great weed, but it can still be hard to get them to drive out and see ya, before they sell out “in network”. Then, did metrc work? The many layers designed to “gotcha” may hang up a sale. Oops did your permit expire in the mean time? How much better does the weed have to be to get them to drive to Humboldt from LA, instead of Riverside?
Well it’s up to you to advertise and bring your weed to market. If you fail to do that, that’s your own problem and your failure is clearly your own doing.
Agreed. Drop the taxes and simplify permitting process so that it is easy for illegal growers to become legal. Let the market decide who survives.
Dear “in my 1911 I trust”
Solution #1 is the best thing I could think of. I would like to interview you for my podcast, Nana on Marijuana. email: [email protected]. Please contact me if you are interested.
None of the links are working
I think I’ve fixed them all.
As a P.S. to my previous comment, this is directed at the letter writer. Police your own, you legal farms are the ones blowing out the black market because you are too afraid to go full in on the legal and put your b**ls on the chopping block, so you hedge your bets in both markets.
Also, you think there is going to be any policing on the cartel grows in Southern Oregon and in Covelo? You must be new to how all this works. Those are cartels, they didn’t just go and set those grows up, they paid somebody off first, or most likely, paid a whole slew of people off in politics and law enforcement. The powers that be aren’t going to go after the grows whose payroll they are on.
Yep
Yup
Oh, so what he’s saying is that actually the “vast number of illegal black market grows” are in the way of his black market dumps.
No one is fooled by everyone’s fake “permitted” farmer act. Everyone knows that if crying permit holders were actually using track:trace, and marketing their product through legal channels available only to them, the neighborhood broker peddling black market pounds is of no consequence! But they aren’t. So literally after DESTROYING the black market by flooding it with a tsunami of “permitted” product they can’t fill their cash boxes up again and want struggling neighbors to get the hammer of eradication. Nice.
The divisive sentiment and self absorbed greed in this logic is absolutely offensive. The whining and complaining, soapboxing self- righteous “permitted ” baller$ are so insufferably annoying,! Get. Over. Yourself.
so eliquently proffessed
No.
“Legalization” was not the decriminalization people had been talking about since weed was deemed “illegal” in the first place. Complete decriminalization is what people actually want. Period.
Why would I support government control over the supply and distribution of a plant we should all be “allowed” to grow and trade freely wherever and whenever we want? We’re seeing the quasi-corporate form of “overgrow the government”. The legal businesses are still run by “criminals”.
Sorry your cash cow died. Everybody warned you. It’s strictly a who-you-know business now, everybody knows it. As the new generation gets older, more people will start growing their own “within legal limits” and the businesses will tank even more.
It’s still a great way for anybody with some space to make some spare cash, selling their backyard bud to friends and neighbors on the down low. Just like the olden days. Suck it up, Cannabis Corp. Inc. LLC, you’re the ones still trying to get rich during prohibition, fighting to be kings of the hills.
It boils down to the fact that weed can be truely beneficial to one’s mind and body. Incredibly and undeniably. To want for weed to be as ridiculously expensive as it’s always been is counter to everything humane. I can’t applaud that effort. I’ll boo those efforts.
Drugs are bad. Weed is unnecessary and certainly not beneficial.
You can go a long time and never use marijuana…
No shit, Sherlock. Tell us what medicines you take, and what you consume recreationaly. Then get back to the adult conversation.
p-harms n msg n nicotine much, huh lol
Clearly a jaded comment.
cannabis c ures c an cer 1grm of even bubblehash per day on stage 4 ive cu red 7 ppl n 1 dog. Definately nessissary and bennificial.
And a dog…
Never smoke dope, might chew a 5mg gummie (1:1) if I feel like it, haven’t had a drink in 30 years+, don’t take tobacco, cardiologist put me on Metropolol, but I’m old…
Marijuana is not part of a regimen of good health, and marijuana cures only sobriety…
Smoking is very unhealthy, especially for men, women and children.
The world is pretty beautiful, try living sober for 5-10 years and see if you don’t agree…
I’m right there with you…mostly. I don’t NEED to smoke weed. I enjoy it occasionally. But that’s just me. I have seen friends and other medical patients use it medicinally. They also didn’t NEED it but it sure was better than the heavy opioids they did NEED for excruciating pain that clouded them up. A good friend had a very disturbing childhood and became a terrible alcoholic…he used weed and stopped drinking. Trading one crutch for another perhaps -but a much better less violent crutch and he does NEED something. I’m all for sobriety. I think we should elevate the discussion and talk positively about sobriety- if only for the young people! But there will still remain legitimate uses for cannabis and one of those is an occasional recreational step back from daily turmoils. I also enjoy an occasional beer or cocktail. Key words: Enjoy, Occasional, Recreational, Medicinal….and not sliding into unnecessary needing or addiction, paying attention and cultivating our healthy minds w/ respect for sobriety
What an incredibly naive letter. Bill, it’s over. Read a history book, identify patterns. This is no different.
lol
What about the white market ruining my market? Stay in your lane permit patsies!
ahhhahahaha
There is no oversupply!!! The only oversupplying is the dispensaries high priced cannabis products. The customer is not buying cannabis at dispensaries. They are buying weed from the traditional market because of price!!!! The permitted farms are purposely being shut out by cannabis so they can sell 1 gram joints for $13. Tired of everyone not knowing anything get off your asses and go see as I have. The days of waiting for buyers never was how we operated prior to ’96. So if you waiting for the post ’96 type of purchasing your gonna lose your ass!! I have no sympathy for any of ya. Blessings to those who understand the weed business, Fuck Cannabis!!
Weed is on sale…
They are giving it away in SF.
https://www.purplestarmd.com/deals/
I just got done with a run. Decided I’d take a look at the scene in Southern California. I know the truth and will be reporting my findings. I didn’t appreciate the disrespect in Bellflower or the Hawiaan Gardens areas. The inland Empire and Coachella Valley have appreciation for Humboldt and I had a great time. Those are my truths.
The california wine industry needs serious checks and balances put in place. That’s within our jurisdiction because the vinyards are guzzling water a hundred fold “cannabis” right next door to the weed farms, which are comparatively minuscule. There’s no shortage of cheap and expensive wine anywhere either. Seems like there’s more booze than water. The liquor industry is guzzling it up.
It will take 100 years to repair the damage wildroot pot growers wrought in Humboldt…
Low crop price is the best way to get the people out of the business of environmental degradation and wholesale pollution…
Complain about something else, and find another way to scam a living.
Go sell real estate in HI, the billionaires are buying the whole state…
The cannabis industry has traditionally been less harmful than the timber industry. And that’s a comment on how terrible the timber industry treated us.
I am curious, from.other comment threads, exactly what pharmaceutical products you ingest regularly and what environmental impact the production of those products has?
Hey Permanent you obviously were not here when we finished logging the shit out of Northern California!!!! I was and started off 7 years in the mills before getting smart and setting chokers for a summer then getting smarter and buying a logged over destroyed parcel and joining the ganja bizness like my wild hippie neighbors!!!
I will be digging up random cable’s and stray hunks of steel for the rest of my life!! Not to mention all the 30 gallon hydraulic fluid barrels. My parcel was a landing and cant mill so it was worse than steeper parcels but the pot growers (not the homesteaders)) didn’t fuck it up anywhere close to the loggers.
Just sayin
yep they (vinards dwn south) hv bn taking 85-90%+ of Our Beloved Eel River and i 1st read about this since the late 80s. so we have never even bn growing weed with A QUARTER of our “actual water”. instead of permit fees we should be helping the “save the eel” activists with major lawyers like those vinards do.
‘2) California and other states need to cap the amount of permitted square footage grown in each state.’
Yes, let’s artificially drive up the cost of a commodity, at the consumer’s expense, so that YOU can make a living. We could do that with food, lumber (gasoline-FJB). It would be great…..for some people.
Let me guess: you’re a liberal, who cares deeply about the average person (the consumer), and you hate the corporations who manipulate our government to create laws that favor said corporations ( all while suggesting the benevolent gov manipulate laws to favor you over the evil corporations)?
Liberalism is a mental disorder!
I love cheap tasty organic weed, I always feel like going into a dispensery is like shopping for covid. However when I can buy a fat ass dime bag in a park from some mom and pop that truly needs the money to support their family. I get a warm tingly feeling, plus I feel like family. The dispensery vibe is actually scary and environmentally lame, plus I feel dirty when I leave and the herb always looks expired. Just saying from a dead heads view.
the weed at dispensaries is usually brown its weird
Shopping for covid? You’re such a woke dead head.
Sounds good. I don’t see a disagreement.
Right on, brother! Support your neighbors, not the already-wealthy. It’s like buying a kind veggie burrito in the lot instead of eating at Chevy’s ha ha ha
This letter is scary. The things desperate people are saying out loud…the infighting is only going to get worse.
Amen. Just a reminder of how stressful the situation is getting locally. Check in on the people you care about!
i agree! and a non local at that!! (no idea. ready to gouge and take dwn neighbors) very scary f that
lgb!??
Just like conservatism, capitalism, communism, socialism or whatever ideology people choose to argue about..
Except communism and socialism have brought forth the greatest atrocities and mass killings of our time whereas capitalism has brought more people out of poverty and provided more freedom than any form of government in human history.
Can’t really lump those together as they are vastly different
Except for ongoing Indigenous genocide and yeah black slavery and Israeli capitalism apartheid and oh yeah South African capitalism apartheid
Ever been to the Phillipines? Indonesia? Brazil? Or how about Oakland CA my former hometown???? All capitalism and they are definitely Not bringing people out of poverty. Like I already said.
You Are repeating good advertising from capitalism!!
Give me an alternative instead of just talking crap. I’m obviously a capitalist. So are you saying these systems killed as many people as Stalin starved to death in the name of communism? Or Mao wiped off the face of the planet with his Red Guard? Those were hundreds of millions of people.
Black slavery is still going on in many parts of the world, and why is it black slavery that’s a problem? All slavery is a problem dude! Usually genocides have to do with the moral compass of the people committing it, not the monetary system that they participate in.
I love capitalism! This is America! Greatest country on earth, headed downhill fast though. Let’s go Brandon!
Business, coercing government to make laws to benefit itself is not capitalism, it’s fascism, a form of socialism, a step away from communism. The average idiot cannot understand this because he was educated in a government school (socialism). Same idiots are incapable (or unwilling) of thinking for themselves in order to understand that Hitler and Mussolini were both socialists. If they admit that, they must face a fascist pig in the mirror. Much easier to engage in doublethink, conflate everything and yell FASCIST at everyone else.
Liberalism is a mental disorder!
Yeah buddy! I would upvote this if I were logged in! Useful idiots abound and are always the first to be tossed in the gulag!
Been in SoHum for 40 years. The only reason prices were good for the growers was due to the supply/demand situation. Now the supply, and yes the legal supply is likely three times more than the demand. Simple economics.
Almost every legal farmer I know, in fact likely every legal farmer I know, still plays in the illegal market. Financially they are forced to. One of the ways the State could help is to require every jurisdiction, City and County, to allow retail sales of cannabis. A whopping 68 percent of California cities ban cannabis retail, including wide swaths of the Central Valley. Other areas have imposed strict caps on the number of available licenses, limiting market growth. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/23/california-legal-illicit-weed-market-516868 Of course this just perpetuates the illegal market.
Legal cannabis cultivation is playing out just the way the original proponents wanted it to. Squeeze out the legacy farmers and open the door for large indoor and climate controlled mixed-light farms ran by oligopolies. I’m told sales of indoor and climate controlled mixed-light grown cannabis outpaces the sale of sun grown outdoor by about three to one. In addition, indoor and climate controlled mixed-light grown cannabis growers can pull off 4-6 runs a year.
The Emerald Triangle is no more.
True that, ought to be a weed store on every corner alongside beer
I’ll agree with you on store front retail. There needs to be more. Trinity finally passed a proposed retail ordinance thru PC this week. It will still take months to become law if it doesn’t get hung up by haters. What a trainwreck.
You are still ignoring the drought there Hayforker.
Not sure what you mean? I’m gonna hit up some fresh powpow in tahoe this week. Spring skiing at its best!
I don’t grow, but I know a bunch a people on wells still going strong. Are you suggesting everyone stop growing because it didn’t rain much this year?
the huge grows control the politics of who owns the stores dwn south?
Just an observation:
I was tricked into buying some Santa Barbara herb at a local dispensary. I was told the herb was grown in Mendocino. I got home and realized it was from a mega grow. The strain is Super Silver Haze. There is a limited supply of sativa on the dispensary shelves even though there is waaay to much herb out there. So, there’s a niche. Grow more sativa strains this year if you want an edge on the market. 90+% of cannabis being sold is indica or an indica hybrid. Of that 90+% it seems at least 75% of those strains have some sort of cookie genetics ?. So, another edge is DON’T grow anything that has cookies in it. Gelato’s and all the cakes ? and all that homogeneous stuff out there will not sell well. Waaay too much competition for those genetics. You want to move your bud grow the strains that are in low supply, but high demand. Sativa is the savior. If you grew only sativa strains you would separate your farm from 90% of the farms in California. Don’t grow what everyone else is growing this year.
Back to the GMO Santa Barbara 100+ acre farm bud. It’s got no soul! Sure it looks kind of good with the density, trichomes and tight trim, but once you smoke it you realize it’s not Humboldt. The terps just aren’t there and the high isn’t that soaring sativa high. It’s still pretty decent for the price, but I would never buy weed from this farm again. This cannabis is equivalent to Budweiser. This weed is corporate weed. No soul.
The other strain I bought was the Green Lantern by Ridgeline Farms. Now this is what Humboldt cannabis is all about. They waited to package it until this year and stored the herb properly. No oxidation, still has vibrant color and the terpenes are still intact. The gas ⛽ hits you when open the jar revealing the OG genetics. The taste is superb and the high is really nice. If you’re a Humboldt OG smoker then you would really appreciate the work Ridgeline Farms is doing. I’ve been growing in Humboldt for 30 years and Ridgeline is the closest I’ve found to herb that tastes like herb I grow and has that same positive Humboldt high. Farms like Ridgeline are going to make it because they are doing it right. They are Humboldt. They’re cannabis is OUR future as a community. If your farm can’t grow Ridgeline type herb then you will likely fail.
Imo Ridgeline Farms is the Craft Beer & Glass House Farms is the Budweiser. There will always be market share for premium products. If you want to survive being a “legal” cannabis farmer then you need a premium product that differentiates your farm from the mega corporate Farms. The market dictates what you should grow and you should always look at the supply and demand for the strains you will be growing this upcoming season. You have to have an edge to move product this year……be sure to grow some “GOOD” Sativa strains……..
i agree that cakes has bn overflooded for yrs and ridgeline is top shelf, but ive experienced the oppposite in that despenceries have seemed to be flooded with sativa Alot which I hate because sativa makes me paranoid and I’m a huge dabber but sativa sucks and please don’t grow too much sativa because that’s the reason nobody grows it because it sucks!!!
and ill tell you another thing, alot of ppl bk east ive met dont tbink that they like weed at all bcus all thev tried is higher percentage sativa (not like og but the high percentage) and ive actually had to show them the difference myself!! (ding ding ding unsellable weed hurts your market) (not that there Is a market, but if you were pussing elsewhere somehow) straight sativa? try it b4 growing it
Thanks Ridgeline shill!!
If I grow legally my farm is going to be called Sativa Farms….everything has some sativa genetics. With less than 10% of cannabis supply having sativa genetics I think I would sell the whole harvest easily. Every dispensary is lacking sativa genetics. They all need Sativa Farms Humboldt grown Organic cannabis……..
Please use only one name for each post.
I’m trying to plant ? some seeds in our local Cannabis farmers minds to help them succeed this year. I’ve been in the cannabis game for 35 years…….Sativa….
Sativa will sell if it is grown well…has to be good genetics. This is a market supply and demand strategy. With the right marketing and right sativa strains an empire could be built. Sativa takes longer to flower. People will appreciate ? the effort and will reward the farmer by buying their product for a fair price. There’s no haggling when you have no competition. Everyone else is trying to sell the same cookie ? indica crap and you could be unloaded tons of sativa……
Meh. I think it’s the West Coast genetics that are the ones. These new strains smoke like air. My buddy has a nice IBL of Tom Hill’s Deep Chunk that people seem to love. He’s been working it for awhile now. Anyway, when I light up a doobie of that on the River bar when I’m steelhead fishing at the hatchery, you can smell that thing all the way down at the Blue Lake bridge. If I ever decided to start growing weed on a commercial scale, those are the strains I would focus on.
#1 the buyers dont appreaciate sh**
#2 sativa sucks haha every1 grow it Right.
This is coming from Bill & Hsueh-mei who some years ago had one of the largest grows with a gigantic water bladder sucking water from the Eel River, all black market, and certainly contributing to an over saturated market, and lower pot prices.The photo of from the bust of that enormous water bladder on RRBB was shocking, even to the big grow bros.The hypocrisy of these two is absurd.They need to check themelves and maybe not feel compelled to share their suggestions of what they are guilty of. Or, at least admit to doing exactly what they’re complaining about in this egregious letter. Essentially, more of the same lack of transparency, accountability and hypocrisy, but not a surprise.
Uh oh…
they are admitted commie turncoat narcs ?
This persons opinion is an embarrassment to licensed and unlicensed farmers alike. They are clueless to the inner workings of the cannabis industry. How they could be a legacy farmer is suspect to me.
Enforcement has never stopped anything.
This person should just quit.
obvs not true legacy ?
Yes I am a legal farmer now, or was. The market is flooded and will not change anytime soon. For 30+ years I was able to make a living off of simple supply and demand economics. This phase, I lose, I can’t compete and that is the way
Of the world. I am not calling for more cops, a return to CAMP and heavy raiding, that didn’t work them and won’t work now. The corporate and states that allow true farming will wipe everyone else out. My family has survived the Timber booms, Fishing, RailRoad building, Green Rush. This is simple economics, and Humboldt Counties History. It’s over. Calling for a return to Heavh enforcement will just hurt people who are going to lose anyway. Sorry Bill, your farm will never compete.
I’d up vote this if I was logged in.
same
A few observations
1) “our perspective on the devastating crash of California’s cannabis market.” Replace devastating with ‘inevitable’ or ‘predictable’.
2) You are correct in identifying oversupply as the problem, although you fail to mention one of the main reasons: this is a plant that is extremely easy to grow. Any moron can do it, and we all know a few.The fact that so many legacy growers have viewed themselves as some kind of new age Luther Burbank for planting and watering a vigorous weed is part of their downfall.
3) You say “CAMP in the 215 era”. Lol this outs you as a relative newbie. 215 passed in 1996. You think CAMP was a thing in the 90’s? You shoulda been here in the 80’s when there were often 2 or 3 copters overhead, you
HAD to plant in the shade, and camos were required apparel.
4) You think more enforcement will fix this? They tried. They lost.
5) Interstate legalization will only make things worse. Add to what we have now federal tax.
6) Bubbles burst.
7) Capitalism favors big biz gobbling up the little guy. Ask your (former) corner grocer.
8) I wish there was some reason for optimism, I don’t see it. Corporate is eating the market like PacMan.
The letter author is so clearly misunderstanding things.
Tell us life long tax paying citizens again why it’s our responsibility to go to work and pay taxes to be thrown at your wild ideas to make sure that your business makes a profit? When you were running illegal and tax free you fought for legalization and de-criminalization. Now that you got what you wanted, your not so happy with the supply & demand along with the cost of legalization driving your profits down. What did you think would happen? You now have a small farming business. That’s it. Your business plan isn’t working out, your not making profits, close up shop like a lot of other small businesses. Us tax payers never guaranteed you any set amount of profits or price per pound. You don’t see the garlic farmers in Gilroy demanding billions of taxpayer money be spent to guarantee them certain profits. That’s all that you are now that you got what you want; a farmer of a plant. If your business plan isn’t working out don’t expect us hardworking taxpaying citizens to pay for your crappy business choice. Marijuana is not a drug remember? Our law enforcement have real crime to combat to protect the safety of the citizens and not the safety of your weed profits. Your problem is not OUR problem. Deal with your poor life choices and leave us taxpayers out of it.
typical beginning of communism, for ppl to tryn side with the regulators, such entitlement, until they are the 1st target to be regulated! duh!!
Funny how everyone pushing for these communist style regulations seems to think they’ll be on the “in” crowd when the chips fall. With all these people thinking they will be on the “in” crowd, it must be pretty big, and in communism, nepotism, and oligarchies the “in” crowd is small.
What that means is there are a lot of useful idiots running around who are going to get the hammer.
1st off oversupply isn’t killing Humboldt.
2nd increased enforcement is never a good call.
3rd raw material is worthless
If you don’t create a brand you are toast. The game is over.
Someone else said it. We grow weed.
It’s not rocket science. We actually grow a weed.
I will say we grow better weed here in Humboldt than anywhere in the world.
Now why don’t we have any market space in the new legal market?????
Go ask all the VC funded vertically integrated businesses down south.
They don’t want our weed to out preform their costly indoor grown.
Increased enforcement has never changed anything.
The most dangerous part of enjoying weed is being caught by the police other than that it is a harmless plant.
Never support increased enforcement.
This is a product beyond controls.
Remember, there are no standards, and all this talk about how “great” your weed is, is ridiculous!
High is high, and it’s just a matter of how long till you come down…
Shitty Mexican gets you high, you just need a little more… If you can tell the difference between cartel weed, mega-greenhouse weed, and Legallettuce’s weed, then you are delusional and you smoke too much…
The more produced, the lower the price: Econ 101…
If you can’t compete, do something else.
Ok if that’s what you believe then go for it.
Everything can get you high today. So true. You must be high right now. I didn’t reference anything about who’s weed is best. I said you need to brand a product. Oversupply is not killing the market one bit. Weed is consumed daily. From the worst shwag to the nicest nugs.
Again how much have you smoked already today?
People pay for branded goods.
Brand a product and watch it sell.
Oversupply is not the problem.
What’s gonna happen when Big Pharma gets ahold of it and puts a few Poppy genes in.
Be the best in town.
haha you cant tell the difference ??? between gormet n tacohell??
Your gest is correct, in context.
But, “The more produced, the lower the price: Econ 101…”
suggests that production controls the market.
I would say that demand controls the market.
Cheers!
One hit and I guarantee you’ll know the difference. One hit and you’ll be a lifelong happy customer at a price that won’t hurt your bank account. I just got done proving this to an OG who been listening to the corporate spew. Right out front of a cookies dispensary. Didn’t even take 10 seconds!!
The Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative sets limits on new cultivation permits, expansions and total acres. It limits new cultivation permits to 10,000 sq.ft. The intent is to reduce industrial development in rural areas, make the County less attractive to large corporate farms, to protect our water resources, and perhaps revive the cannabis market.
Look for the petition signature-gathers to get this on the ballot
“Industrial Development”? Really? Humboldt County is not attractive to large corporate farms, in fact Humboldt County is not attractive to small local farmers. Many local farmers have headed to Monterey, Lake County, Calaveras County, Santa Barbara County and Oregon. Obviously, you have not gone through Humboldt’s permit process. It’s a freaking nightmare!
The northcoast watersheds are the most heavily regulated watersheds in the State and CDFW makes sure of that. To specify dates for forbearance is absolutely ridiculous. Forbearance should be based on rainfall totals and stream flows. How about a little science?
For the most part, Humboldt’s largest farms (8+/- acres) are on located on prime ag soils. That’s exactly where they should be, whether it’s grapes, olives, almonds, hops or cannabis. Why should a landowner with hundreds or evens tens of acres of flat, prime ag land, easy access, abundant water and available power if needed be limited to 10,000 square of any type of crop production? I for one would rather see, for example, many of the farms in the hinterlands be relocated to the Southern Humboldt Community Park, the Mitchell Ranch, Shively, Redcrest, Holmes, Larabee Valley, etc. I bet just the Sohum CP alone could accommodate 100+/-, 10,000 square foot lease farms. On-site cooperative processing, packing and distribution facilities could be established as well.
The Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative was created in a vacuum without valuable input from the stakeholders and community. The existing regulations were based on hundreds of hours of community meetings and outreach. Although they may not be perfect, they were crafted in an open, public process. The Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative was created by a few folks to attempt to destroy the local cannabis industry. NIMBYism at it’s best!
Get LOST Betsy!
Betsy, I heard you’re appearance on kmud and I’ve got to say that it only served to affirm my impression that you are detached from the reality of the industry you are desiring to impede.
The meat and grain industries produce a much larger portion of the problems you are pointing to than cannabis, and if we found some way to encourage the implementation of truly sustainable meat and grain production in our region we could do more for the climate issue than any other process.
Cannabis has the potential to be more climate positive than most other crops. Stop fighting for some misguided moral panic and let’s actually solve these land use problems
oh God not this again. no. ???
Well, between the article and the comments, it’s all here.
You have the farmers wanting the government to protect them from the changes that basically every business world has to deal with.
You have the consultants and peddlers of wares still selling vapor ware/ideas to the gullible.
You have the folks tell us all would be well if only the right strains were grown.
We’ve got the usual finger pointing between the legal market and traditional market as to who’s to blame.
We’re told both how easy it is to grow good weed large scale commercially (from people who’ve never grown even bad weed large scale commercial) and how it’s actually impossible to grow good weed large scale commercially (from folks who have never even tried).
We read that indoor can’t compete with outdoor and also that outdoor is dead and can’t keep up with indoor.
“Make the farms smaller” — “No, make them bigger.” “Artifically support prices.” — “No, maked them go even lower.”
“There’s an oversupply” — “No there’s not”.
Change is hard.
JB
Change is hard and competition brings out the best in every industry, as long as it’s allowed to happen in a free market. Some people are up to muster and others aren’t. You need a combination of branding, advertising, low overhead, and a quality product to be successful. There are a number of ways to skin that cat. It’s a glorious day for everyone to step out of their boxes and try something different, grow your knowledge and skills, and get to it already! Or people can just complain about it.
One thing I know for a fact is this: The people who are sitting here complaining instead of investing that time into revamping their gardens and techniques are going to be crushed by the ones who are putting their heads down and gettin it.
To the ones who have already found success in this new age, good on ya.
The letter author reminds me of a Sinclair quote:
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”
^^^^ This.
//Change is hard.//
Is it change brother or is it money tryin to grasp on notoriety they never had. Cause what I saw over the last month is the latter with my own eyes. I have respect for your words but what i witnessed is a failed system easily exploited.
You can argue any reason you wish as a cause for the change, but arguing that change hasn’t happened is simple madness.
Point taken. Blessings!
Appreciate your thoughtful posts on this topic every time.
What do you think the impact of national/international legalization does to this local dynamic? Sure seems like field scale biomass is going to become dominant in most places. I wonder what this will do to the prospects of flower produced in these field scale areas
Thanks for the kind words.
As far as national/international legalization, I’m not much good at predictions that far in advance (still years away IMO) and it will likely be as chaotic as the 64 was in CA, but it doesn’t take much to predict that low cost production will dominate as it has with most agriculture.
Biomass at scale is already over in the Triangle (before it started) and even large farms in SB county are pausing production this year because of falling prices – some biggies are planting zero because of falling prices. It’s simply too easy to grow biomass for much of the market to survive. A few big players will own that market in CA and then will move to other pastures when allowed.
Boutique Triangle legal growers? Not 1 in 100 will survive the next few years. Thing will get worse for their business model, not better. Love those folk but it’s just over.
With the right setup, there are a few places in CA where top shelf indoor can be grown cheaper than even in Mexico. Even though indoor is a growing segment of the legal market (because the outdoor market has been trashed), I fear that if one is not in those tiny areas, even that model is in for deep trouble.
I make no claim as Savant. I could be very wrong in the above, but I don’t think I am.
My question was more about the impact that biomass production will have on prospective flower producers in the biomass areas. I have a number of friends in SW Michigan and they are all reporting that you cannot grow seedless flower that you harvest after July because of the pollen present from the fields of hemp biomass.
I imagine this will become as issue for other places that open up to field scale cultivation (like OK and possibly parts of the central valley), and will be made even worse as the market and infrastructure for hemp seed and fiber grows in this country.
I know you’re really keen on indoor (and you’ve presented some compelling arguments in its favor), but I’m not convinced it’s viable in places that have more extreme weather than we enjoy on the west coast, just due to the increased demands of climate control. So it leads me back to seeing the west coast as the long term home of high end seedless flower production, with some operations in/around any major metro area as well of course.
//” I’m not convinced it’s viable in places that have more extreme weather than we enjoy on the west coast …So it leads me back to seeing the west coast as the long term home of high end seedless flower production, “//
Humidity is the financial killer in the indoor arena. It hasn’t been widely figured out yet, but when possible legally, essentially all indoor will move to the regions with the driest air for purely financial reasons.
There’s only one strip of land in California (10 miles wide and 100 miles long) and one or two in Oregon which will qualify as the most economical in all of North/Central America.
As far as pollen issues, I also understand it’s a problem in certain places. Thankfully, the best places to grow outdoor hemp/cannabis are far from the best places to grow indoor so it’s not something I have to worry about.
Btw, I enjoy your comments. Level headed.
Legacy my ass. Nothing about calling for more serious law enforcement intervention on your competition is a part of the legacy culture of emerald triangle cannabis.
Snitching is the new way to show you “care” about the community
The snake eats its own tail for sure
go com muni sim!! jk ??????
???
True words spoken!!! Blessings.
Bob, the motomart gas station near me in illinois is always hiring! Maybe they’ll feel sorry for you and pay you $4800 a week!
Sounds like these folks have more in common with Reagan’s CAMP than they knew.
I hope when the feds legalize it. They drop the schedule 1 so we can import it from Mexico legally. This should really drive the price down more since other countries will not have the same requirements for dope growers.
So you want to import weed from mass murdering cartels that are importing meth and fentanyl and poisoning our society and youth? You want to enrich the biggest meth dealers on the planet over a local farm that is probably producing food too? Your moral compass might be broken John.
?
Seems like the shady industry of dope growing has brought the Cartels to our area already. Their is no moral compass with this industry and our youth are already being poisoned by the weed and life choices to be a dope grower rather than anything productive.
So your solution is just accelerating a problem? Like I said, your moral compass is broken John
Corporate America and gun control laws are going to fix the morality questions for you 1911. Update your grey matter.
Seems as though your grey matter hasn’t been updated in 40 years my friend. You realize it’s 2022 not 1980, right? What you mean my successful tax-paying corporation? And my legally bought and registered firearms? How is Brandon going to fix that? Tax and inflate everything beyond the point that money is worth anything? How will that work out for you bud?
I’m an Alpha Male in his peak physical prime that has taken great care of his body and mind. I can hunt, fish, grow my own food, and I have endless amounts of energy. I have the world by the balls and I’m swingin it around. Explain to me how the societal collapse that Brandon is ushering in is going to affect me more negatively than you? Or affect me negatively at all? This pitbull eats competition and weaker humans for breakfast daily. In fact, I thrive under duress. Ruff??
It’s privileged folk producing and moving a drug, that can grow in a ditch, but classified (State & local) as a high-end crop. What could go wrong.
High end cannabis flower is one of the most complex plant based products produced in our world. People saying it can “grow in a ditch” and/or that it’s simply “a drug” haven’t actually put much thought into the issue
Norte Americanos are new kidz on the block. Put some thought into that. Passing thru villages in the Himalaya, noticed again and again the seeping outhouse structures into adjacent ditches, awesome colas everywhere downstream, nary a bag of soil, fancy fertilizer, sign of tillage or over-tending. Fine high quality green, seen it, smoked it. Best of all, it’s Free.
The herb: it’s not rocket science. But those who create and sell product and products, of all kinds, have folk believing otherwise. Herb growing itself is really not the gig. The gig is “the industry” trying to maximize profits in an overcrowded “market”, a market they sold the public on. And there-in lies the real problem. The key to herb success is taking the money and all the hoopla out of it. Money has ruined … the ditch weed.
And please go collect some of that Himalayan ditch weed, or some Thai stick, or some mexi bricks, or some kush mountain hash plants and try to bring it to the modern market. It’s not what the want.
The growing is far from the trickiest part, it’s the post harvest processing and handling that makes or breaks it.
Missing it. Point is, screw the “market”.
Problem is the “market” is the access point for the vast majority of consumers. That’s not likely to change anytime soon
//”Point is, screw the “market”.”//
Fine for you to say — go back to the Himalayas and smoke the great ditch weed (seriously, knock yourself out).
Pharma is the cartel that knows how to do it right.
When a “legacy” grower supports cops I just laugh them off my radar. Good luck with your whatever bro. Turncoat.
True!
ha! thats what i said!! “turncoat” (but obvs never legacy and never owned a camo coat?)
turncoat commies
Here’s quick tldr of the letter :
I’M A LeGaCy gRoWeR, lEtS BrInG BaCk cAmP PlEaSe
-bill
There are no legal and illegal farmers, only documented and undocumented farmers. Please think before you use derogatory terms like that. You wouldnt think this would still be a problem in the year 2022.
No person is illegal!
Bill is a racist
I dont know if hes a racist but hes definitely a farmeracist? Farmacist?
Hmm… No car thieves- only undocumented drivers. No squatters- only undocumented home owners. No drug dealers- only undocumented pharmacists. Guess it matters who you think has what civil rights.
Im glad we are on the same page. You are a true hero.
This article and others that have appeared lately have me feeling enthusiastic about home grow! With my six plants (at a time), I can grow more than enough for myself for a year and be able to gift some to friends! I’ll be able to avoid both the permitted and the traditional markets! I can grow my plants outdoors under the sun, which is how I like it. I suppose that if I want a second harvest, I can set up my old grow tent for that. I can use my sous vide machine to make extracts. I can make my own edibles and topicals. I can even water my plants with water I save from the shower or otherwise reclaim! With the money I am saving not buying flower, I can buy more fruit trees, roses, and other plants for my garden. Winning!
Sounds like a call to narc your neighbor
It just seems crazy that mega grows are even allowed when our local enforcement will take ya to the cleaners for anything over 6 plants. Who gives the mega grow permits is that legal? Geez this new weed scene sucks. Really sucks
Huh?! But it’s “legalized”!! We should all be celebrating! For now, finally we are truly “safe” and “free”!!! And those theoretical weed-slingin’ black kids down in South Central are now too!!! We made them Free and Safe! We did it- Yay for us!!!!!!!
Didnt you hear about the Mendo Sheriff and Senator Mc Guire savior plan.Mendo got 600k from Senator Mc Guire to solve illegal cannabis.Hooray, watch the sh.. show again.