Industrial cannabis gears up in South Dakota as New York growers abandon it

According to Katie Sieverding a few people will try to grow industrial cannabis in the chemical toilet that is South Dakota but reminds interested parties they must apply through the newly created Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Industrial cannabis (hemp) seeds with decent cannabidiol (CBD) producing genetics are a buck apiece costing about $50,000 to sow 20 acres. One grower gets $5 a seed, a pretty spendy investment for any farmer but putting any cannabis industry into the hands of a few oligarchs is stupid policy. 

This crop is not the benign introduced species it’s cracked up to be and stray pollen from the hemp industry can wreak havoc on producers of therapeutic and “recreational” cannabis. Medicine and a potential revenue source are being put at risk by an experiment that makes Jerusalem artichokes and Belgian endive look like safe investments.

Before planting just one and a half acres Minnesota grower Phil Reed hired Luis "Lulu Magoo" Hummel as a consultant whose own crop tested above the .3% THC threshold which led to criminal charges so attorney's fees keep the industry a gamble. 

But in New York growers are leaving hemp and eager to take part in the state's legal adult cannabis market. Last month, New York became the second-largest state to legalize for all adults after California with retail sales expected to begin as early as next year.

Half of the licenses are supposed to go to “social and economic equity” applicants, which would include financially distressed farms. But the five-member board governing the new Office of Cannabis Management has yet to be appointed. [Farm Forum]

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