Growing cannabis — clean in the tropics, dirty in the north

The term “Cannabis crops” generally conjures up images of fragrant fields of hemp plants growing outdoors. People also usually associate growing cannabis with getting more “in tune with nature”, and indeed there are many areas of the world where this is absolutely true.

However, in harsher climates, this is often a completely different story.

The truth of the matter is, cannabis can be an extremely efficient, low-footprint crop, and it can even be a sort of Mecca for ESG investors the world over, if it’s done right. However, by “done right”, we need to start with the right environment for growing high-quality cannabis without tons of human intervention.

North America is a costly place to grow cannabis

It’s no secret that much of the US and Canada doesn’t have exactly ideal climates for growing cannabis, but surprisingly, even the obviously much milder climates of the West Coast don’t cut it when it comes to meeting consumer demand with anything but highly-curated indoor growing.

According to this article by Oil Price, energy use in places like Oregon have spiked due to cannabis production since its legalization. In fact, in some places, the demand has been so high it has caused widespread power outages!

Of course, there is another side to this coin. The good news is that it’s a big planet out there, and there are some places in the world where the energy cost to produce quality cannabis is next to zero, due to ideal growing conditions:

Colombia, the cannabis paradise

Colombia is a country where, aside from a few snow peaks, the growing season is all year long, 12 months of the year. Combine this with the fact that much of the country gets just enough rain annually for crops to thrive with little to no additional water whatsoever.

The 12-month growing season also allows for nice tricks like advanced crop rotation techniques impossible in 4-season climates, or things like rolling harvests to ensure a steady supply with increased quality control.

The world is taking notice

Many US and Canadian companies have already shifted their production, in whole or in part, to Colombian soil. Other companies are quickly striking strategic agreements with companies already experienced at growing in Colombia in order to take advantage.

In addition, many Colombian companies have found that they can grow outdoors perfectly well, with a bare minimum of extra lighting to finish the crop right before harvest. This means that not only are they cutting production costs by more than an order of magnitude, they are doing so in a way that immensely reduces the company’s carbon footprint.