I don’t trust police in stories like this. They contrive this into a story to help their confiscation of private property and scare the ignorant. The value is pumped up the damage to environment inflated.
Northern Wisconsin? That seems like a pretty short growing season.
Have they developed a new cold hardy variety of weed? Here’s the tough question: Would the anti GMO people still smoke it, or would they boycott the newly developed cheap and plentiful cannabis?