Denver – North Carolina wants to know whether marijuana could one day replace tobacco as a cash crop. Louisiana is wondering how pot holds up in high humidity. And Washington state has questions about water supplies for weed.
This past week Colorado agriculture officials briefed officials from about a dozen states some that have legalized weed, others that joked their states will legalize pot when hell freezes over on the basics of marijuana farming and swapped stories about regulating a crop that the federal government still considers illegal.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture is also working on the worlds first government-produced guidelines on growing marijuana. Theres no shortage of how-to books catering to pot growers both in and out of the black market, but Colorados forthcoming guidebook aims to apply established agronomy practices to the production of marijuana.
When you start with no knowledge at all, its rough, said Mitch Yergert, head of Colorados Division of Plant Industry, an agency within the Agriculture Department that regulates marijuana production.
Yergert conceded that Colorado agriculture officials ignored marijuana entirely for more than a dozen years, from the time voters in the state approved medical use of the plant in 2000 until recreational pot shops started opening in 2014.
Nobody in our agency ever grew marijuana, so how are we supposed to develop best practices? he said.
But marijuanas commercial popularity, coupled with increasing concern about pesticides and unsafe growing conditions, forced the department to stop considering marijuana a running joke and start seeing it as a commercial crop in need of regulation.
Colorado sold about a billion dollars worth of marijuana last year, making it a cash crop, the same as many others.
Now, the agriculture department is sharing what it has learned about weed with other agencies.
Speaking at a recent soil-conservation conference in Denver, Yergert briefed other state agriculture officials on how to inspect marijuana and hemp growers and, just as important, how to regulate a plant thats illegal under federal law.
You kinda gotta get your mind around it, Yergert said.
The visiting agriculture officials toured a large Denver pot-growing warehouse, where a grower showed them the plants entire cycle, starting as clones in one room before getting transplanted to bigger tubs.
The grower, Tim Cullen, also showed the officials how the plant is trimmed and its psychoactive buds dried for smoking. Finally, the farm regulators saw how marijuana waste errant leaves and such is rendered unusable before being thrown away.
This is blowing my mind right now, said Erica Pangelinan of the Northern Guam Soil and Water Conservation District, who was using her cellphone to snap photos of wooden frames used to hold drying marijuana.
Guam allows medical marijuana, but many states on the tour dont. Still, the visiting agriculture officials say they need to be prepared in case laws change to allow pot-growing at home.
Were just looking to see whats ahead, said Pat Harris, director of North Carolinas Division of Soil & Water Conservation.
Some states on the tour plan to grow pot themselves.
Were getting in the marijuana business in Louisiana, so we need to know what were doing, said Brad Spicer of the states Office of Soil & Water Conservation, where the Legislature has authorized two universities to grow the plant for medical use and research.
Yergert warned the agriculture officials that regulating weed still isnt easy and that they should be prepared for pushback from their own staffs.
Our guys were saying, I cant pick my kids up from school because I smell like pot, Yergert said.
Another problem: stony silence from federal agencies to which agriculture offices usually turn for help.
It hasnt gotten a lot more warm and fuzzy, Yergert said. I think they look at us as, What an annoyance! I mean, they deal with drug smugglers and international cartels, and heres the Colorado Department of Ag coming wanting a permit for something.
Cullen, the pot grower, urged the agriculture officials to look past the hurdles and see pot growers as farmers thirsty for guidance on growing healthy, profitable crops.
We want your help. Wed rather not rely on the 19-year-old at the grow shop, said Cullen, who is one of Colorados largest pot growers and is advising the Agriculture Department on its forthcoming pot guidelines.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Colorado Agency Shares Pot Know-How With NC
Author: Kristen Wyatt
Contact: news@citizen-times.com
Photo Credit: Kristen Wyatt
Website: Citizen-Times
