The wildfires raging across Northern California are not only jeopardizing its lucrative wine industry. Marijuana farmers throughout the Emerald Triangle and Sonoma County are now sitting with crops burnt in the fires, as well. This October’s wildfires have wreaked havoc on hundreds of thousands of acres, destroying thousands of private homes, acres of valuable vineyards, and California’s most precious commodity, fields of cannabis.
The fires, which have killed 41 people, burnt down 5,700 structures, and destroyed well over 231,000 acres, or 86,198 hectares, of land, have been blazing trails through the Emerald Triangle, as well, which includes Trinity, Humboldt, and Mendocino counties, all areas where most cannabis in the United States grows. Last year, voters in California approved the recreational use of marijuana by adults.
Sales are set to start in January, with estimates predicting that it could be the first in a projected $5 billion market. The majority of farmers who chose to invest in the new, federally insecure industry have injected their life savings into creating small-scale farms. The Redwood Valley Fire alone burned well over 38,500 acres, or 15,580 hectares, in Mendocino County on its own.
For weed growers, this is particularly dire news. November is harvesting season for marijuana plants. Most are still in the fields, and although in different phases of growth, the majority is already flowering. Despite it being difficult to determine exactly how many cultivators the fire affected, estimations put the number of cannabis farms harmed in Sonoma County alone at between 3,000 and 9,000 farms, and that figure does not even consider unlicensed and undocumented growers.
Ahren Osterbrink, an impacted farmer, told the Cannabist that, “This time of year, everyone is harvesting. And now, the annual paycheck that we have been working all year to earn may have been burnt to a crisp, or will soon dry out due to lack of water.” As if matters were not complicated enough, the federal government still considers marijuana an illegal drug.
Because of federal prohibition, cannabis cultivators must conduct business exclusively in cash. Insurance companies are hesitant to sell policies to pot firms, and banking institutions are reluctant to provide them with financial services. Furthermore, most growers have already spent thousands of dollars on compliance, ensuring their businesses adhere to the state’s marijuana laws.
Just getting their operations legal and of regulatory standard cost vast dollars, including all permit, licensing, forms, and application fees. However, farmers are unable to write these expenses and others related to their business operations off on their taxes to the federal government. They are unable to acquire any federal crop insurance due to the illegal status of cannabis.
Heather Manzano, acting administrator of the Risk Management Agency at the United States Department of Agriculture, which oversees insurance for crops, explained in a statement, “Since hemp is classified as a prohibited substance under federal law, it is not eligible for federal crop insurance.” Although the cannabis cultivating industry is a fledgling one, it promises great profits.
ArcView Market Research recently predicted that the pot market in California would exceed $6.5 billion by 2020, a notable increase from the $2.76 billion it generated in 2015. Tragically, however, even those fields that do escape the wildfires are unlikely to be salvageable in any way, as fallout from the smoke may contaminate what does not burn.
Smoke can poison plants with a large array of toxins, making them wholly unusable for manufacturing or personal consumption. The exact financial impact of the wildfires will only become apparent once the fires die out. California shares the most liberal marijuana laws with Massachusetts, Nevada, Maine, and the District of Columbia.
In California, any legal adult, which is someone 21-years or older, may carry up to an ounce on his or her person and grow up to six plants in his or her home. At this time, 29 states and the District of Columbia have laws in place to legalize marijuana either for medical use or for recreational purposes. Some even permit both. Residents hope that California will still be able to supply the demands of its consumers.
