Posted on 05/11/2017 9:58:32 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
The grapevines that line rolling hillsides and sweeping valleys in Northern California’s wine country have become iconic – a symbol of the region’s rustic charm that helped California earn its reputation as a world-class wine and food destination.
But winegrapes have new competition: weed.
California’s legalization of recreational marijuana has led to the beginning of a major transformation of wine country. It’s been just seven months, but already investors are snapping up property where wine was once produced. Vineyard operators are developing expertise in cannabis cultivation. New, specialty marijuana businesses are sprouting up in Sonoma and Mendocino counties. And farmers who have long made a good living by growing and harvesting winegrapes are expressing interest in diversifying with marijuana.
“As a sustainable farmer, you have to be willing to change with the market, and with crops that are profitable,” said Steve Dutton, president of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau.
Farmers, outside investors and cannabis entrepreneurs see the landscape of California’s North Coast changing before their eyes. Their opportunities are particularly ripe in the fertile soils of rural Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity counties.
“I think that cannabis and wine have amazing potential for a symbiotic relationship, and the reason this region is used for that production is the soil and the air and the unbelievable ecological qualities that we have up here in Northern California that are unique to the world,” said Amanda Reiman, community manager for Flow Kana, which recently bought the flagship Fetzer Vineyards winery property where the label got its start.
Poseidon Asset Management, a San Francisco-based hedge fund specializing in cannabis, was the lead investor for the $3.5 million purchase.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Capitalism & freedom in action.
Marijuana has to be a lot easier and cheaper to grow than grapes. Likely it uses far less water too. However, I don’t think the hillsides are going to look quite as pretty as they do with the grapevines.
LOL
Here in southern Oregon, we see six foot fences and lots of hard eyed farmers; come harvest time next year, you’d be well advised to stay out of rural areas and/or be well armed. Gon’na get nasty
Here’s how to put a lot of the cannabis growers out of business: impose USDA regulations on growing the plant and FDA regulations on THC levels per gram. Let’s see how many are still around when that happens.
Exactly
Can’t imagine a trip to wine country would still have that sense of class and charm.
Yes, that is my elitist-wannabe attitude. Some of us with Italian ancestry grew up with wine being served at the table, not for the purpose of getting drunk but enjoyed with a good meal. As an adult, I love a good wine (prefer Cabernet) but I’m not drinking it to get falling down drunk. Seems a very different case for weed. Just not interested in it, have lost a lot friends over the years to drugs. Do believe States should decide, people should decide.
We visited the Mondave winery quite a few years ago and we noticed some folks picking grapes that did not look like a typical picker. The guide explained that winery does not use grapes from new plants that are less than 7 years old so they allow the mom and poppers to pick them for their own use. That’s a long time to invest money without any expectation of return.
Outdoor weed on the other hand can be harvested every 6 months in the proper climate and promises a much larger return per plant than wine grapes.
Recreational wine doesn’t improve anyone’s life...either.
Because the mexican drug cartels that rule california make more money from pot than they do wine.
When is california going to pull out all of the vineyards, plow under all of their crop lands, and replace them with poppy, weed, and coca fields under the control of the mexican drug cartels.
Gov moonbeam and the mexifornistan government seem hellbent on turning california into a narco-terrorist state.,
I’ll disagree there. There are many people who abuse alcohol, but a lot of people benefit from drinking in moderation. Not to mention drinking is a major reason why our population hasn’t dropped even more.
So why hasn't that happened in CO and WA?
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I am heading north thru Calif toward Oregon and Washington for the summer.
When I was listening to a local TV station a few months ago, a local area sheriff was complaining that yes private people can grow Marijuana but the problem comes when the crop is harvasted, $hundreds of thousands sits in the garage. The criminals know when it is harvested and it is too easy of a hit to resist.
Its much more profitable and easier than robbing a bank. Why not other states? It's coming to a morgue near you soon.
“Here in southern Oregon, we see six foot fences and lots of hard eyed farmers; come harvest time next year, you’d be well advised to stay out of rural areas and/or be well armed. Gon’na get nasty”
Spot on. Grew up out east of Emigrant Lake in the Rogue Valley. Saw it all the time starting in the early 80’s while bowhunting in Aug/September. NF and BLM land from Pilot Rock and the Big A to Butler peak and the Gingko basin.
Be careful and slip silently.
Look for the Cartels to be heavily involved in it.
Dealers in tobacco and alcohol don't engage in violence, because their products are legal - and so legitimate businessmen are able to enter the markets and outcompete criminals, and because nonviolent means of conflict resolution are therefore available.
It's not the substance that leads to violence, but the illegality. (Alcohol dealers were violent when that drug was illegal.)
I look for the criminal element to be outcompeted by legitimate businessmen, just as happened when Prohibition was ended.
Either way, there’ll be some serious ‘weed wars’ for dominance.
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