Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
The thing about traveling frequently in wine country is that you hear rumors, about everything from people and jobs to prices and deals that may or may not pass the smell test.
You learn to take them all with a grain of salt.
But one of the most persistent murmurs I've heard this year — about marijuana in Sonoma and Napa — has been brought into the spotlight this week by California voters' approval on Tuesday of Proposition 64, which legalizes the recreational use of marijuana. California is now the most populous state in the country to approve such a measure, thereby creating the largest market in the U.S. for marijuana products.
All of which leads me to revisit the rumors and take them from off the record to on it. Like whether vineyard management companies will actually transition from growing grapes to growing pot. And exactly how high the profit margins are for growing marijuana versus making wine. And when that marketing strategy for cannabis tourism will in fact go into effect. And so on.
Two themes became clear during the course of my research. First, that the thinking and the conversation about marijuana in Sonoma and Napa is significantly farther along than most of us outside the region or the industry realize. And second, that these are still early days and, although strategic planning at the local business and government levels is advanced, we don't yet know how the market will react.
Today's post begins a two-part series on the question of how Proposition 64 will impact the wine industry in Sonoma and Napa. The focus today is residents, growers, and small businesses; tomorrow we'll examine the different perspectives of local governments.
For all of the attention that the passage of Prop 64 has received this week, cannabis cultivation in Sonoma County is itself nearly invisible.
Partly that's been because of marijuana's position on the black market, and partly it's because of the surprisingly small amount of land it requires — the size of a typical plot is one acre or, in practice, normally one half of an acre or even smaller. The minimal canopy size is especially surprising when you consider yield in relation to value.
"Seven out of ten people who live here have never seen cannabis growing, yet it's six times the production value of our local wine grapes," said Terry Garrett, a member of the Sonoma County Economic Development Board and an advocate for the economic development of the cannabis sector in northern California.
Of the 586,000 acres of agricultural land in Sonoma County, Garrett estimates that cannabis cultivation needs about 500 acres of them, or 0.00085% of the total. Those acres are worth approximately $3.5 billion, while Sonoma's 60,000 acres of wine grapes are worth about $500 million.
To drill down further: according to 2015 crop reports, the yield per acre in Sonoma County for wine grapes is approximately $8,500 per acre, and the yield per acre for vegetables is $24,000. The estimated yield for cannabis is $8,200,000, or two orders of magnitude greater than wine grapes.
Cannabis production may be invisible to the eye, and plenty of growers would like to keep it that way. But the financial impact is far from invisible to the local economy.
The impact is expected in areas such as tourism and the manufacture of local products; careful growth in both areas can help to aggregate more high-quality brands with a common wine country origin.
Erin Gore represents new entrepreneurial initiatives with cannabis as a significant driver. Her company, Garden Society, launches on December 10. Garden Society is a low dose cannabis confection brand made from organic ingredients, locally sourced produce, and responsibly farmed, appellated, and strain specific cannabis.
"The passage of Prop 64 provides a platform from which we, as a brand, may help further the momentum of the cannabis community into greater social acceptance," Gore said. "While we highlight the therapeutic properties of cannabis, as a business we hope to demonstrate that our growth will be synonymous with positive community impact in tax revenue, job creation and social responsibility."
Those are each important avenues to monitor as this movement continues to grow and evolve.
Yet in some ways, and for some growers, Tuesday's vote on Prop 64 didn't change anything.
"People who have been growing pot are still gonna be growing pot. People who have been growing grapes are still gonna be growing grapes," said Phil Coturri, lifelong farmer and early pioneer of organic and biodynamic farming in California. "At least now we can do it under the somewhat veil of respectability."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Marijuana In Wine Country - A Closer Look At The Black Market, Prop 64, And Pot Appellations
Author: Cathy Huyghe
Contact: Forbes
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Website: Forbes
You learn to take them all with a grain of salt.
But one of the most persistent murmurs I've heard this year — about marijuana in Sonoma and Napa — has been brought into the spotlight this week by California voters' approval on Tuesday of Proposition 64, which legalizes the recreational use of marijuana. California is now the most populous state in the country to approve such a measure, thereby creating the largest market in the U.S. for marijuana products.
All of which leads me to revisit the rumors and take them from off the record to on it. Like whether vineyard management companies will actually transition from growing grapes to growing pot. And exactly how high the profit margins are for growing marijuana versus making wine. And when that marketing strategy for cannabis tourism will in fact go into effect. And so on.
Two themes became clear during the course of my research. First, that the thinking and the conversation about marijuana in Sonoma and Napa is significantly farther along than most of us outside the region or the industry realize. And second, that these are still early days and, although strategic planning at the local business and government levels is advanced, we don't yet know how the market will react.
Today's post begins a two-part series on the question of how Proposition 64 will impact the wine industry in Sonoma and Napa. The focus today is residents, growers, and small businesses; tomorrow we'll examine the different perspectives of local governments.
For all of the attention that the passage of Prop 64 has received this week, cannabis cultivation in Sonoma County is itself nearly invisible.
Partly that's been because of marijuana's position on the black market, and partly it's because of the surprisingly small amount of land it requires — the size of a typical plot is one acre or, in practice, normally one half of an acre or even smaller. The minimal canopy size is especially surprising when you consider yield in relation to value.
"Seven out of ten people who live here have never seen cannabis growing, yet it's six times the production value of our local wine grapes," said Terry Garrett, a member of the Sonoma County Economic Development Board and an advocate for the economic development of the cannabis sector in northern California.
Of the 586,000 acres of agricultural land in Sonoma County, Garrett estimates that cannabis cultivation needs about 500 acres of them, or 0.00085% of the total. Those acres are worth approximately $3.5 billion, while Sonoma's 60,000 acres of wine grapes are worth about $500 million.
To drill down further: according to 2015 crop reports, the yield per acre in Sonoma County for wine grapes is approximately $8,500 per acre, and the yield per acre for vegetables is $24,000. The estimated yield for cannabis is $8,200,000, or two orders of magnitude greater than wine grapes.
Cannabis production may be invisible to the eye, and plenty of growers would like to keep it that way. But the financial impact is far from invisible to the local economy.
The impact is expected in areas such as tourism and the manufacture of local products; careful growth in both areas can help to aggregate more high-quality brands with a common wine country origin.
Erin Gore represents new entrepreneurial initiatives with cannabis as a significant driver. Her company, Garden Society, launches on December 10. Garden Society is a low dose cannabis confection brand made from organic ingredients, locally sourced produce, and responsibly farmed, appellated, and strain specific cannabis.
"The passage of Prop 64 provides a platform from which we, as a brand, may help further the momentum of the cannabis community into greater social acceptance," Gore said. "While we highlight the therapeutic properties of cannabis, as a business we hope to demonstrate that our growth will be synonymous with positive community impact in tax revenue, job creation and social responsibility."
Those are each important avenues to monitor as this movement continues to grow and evolve.
Yet in some ways, and for some growers, Tuesday's vote on Prop 64 didn't change anything.
"People who have been growing pot are still gonna be growing pot. People who have been growing grapes are still gonna be growing grapes," said Phil Coturri, lifelong farmer and early pioneer of organic and biodynamic farming in California. "At least now we can do it under the somewhat veil of respectability."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Marijuana In Wine Country - A Closer Look At The Black Market, Prop 64, And Pot Appellations
Author: Cathy Huyghe
Contact: Forbes
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Website: Forbes
