West coast fires could burn cannabis plants – and drive prices up

For some Californians, the first days of September were shrouded in an eerie orange smog caused by a record-breaking fire season. Forest fires in 2020 burned over 10 million hectares across the country, and nearly half of it in California. Thousands were evacuated, many lost their homes and some even perished.

California is also the largest cannabis market in the country, with thousands and thousands of acres in the legal and black markets growing it each year. Cannabis growers have like winemakers Dealing with crop failures due to fireHas been for years, but the sheer magnitude of the 2020 fire season saw the contamination of crops miles from burns exposed by smoke and debris.

Photo by Sanath Kumar via Unsplash

Unfortunately, the 2021 fire season looks even worse. Oregon and Washington State are already on The hectares burned 20 times last yearwhen many operators in California predicted a big hit to the market. Despite MJBizDailyreporting in early 2021 that Many in the industry felt that the 2020 fire season wasn’t as influential as they predicted, there was no telling that fires would start earlier and burn longer in 2021.

October, also called Croptober, traditionally the biggest harvest season for outdoor cannabis growers, indicates how cannabis prices will fall in the coming year. Already in October 2020, Sheet reported that the average total price per pound was the highest in three years, due to a combination of increased demand and a legal wholesale pound of up to $ 3,400.

RELATED: Fire Season Is Coming – Here’s What It Means for Canna Companies

These kind of numbers are great for the growers dealing with fire and pandemic restrictions, but the real after-tax and regulatory costs are borne by the consumer. In the past, the effects of forest fires have increased the cost of cannabis by 10-20%, and every acre burned could potentially add to one extra hike.

It is too early to know what yields this year will bring farmers, but it is not promising. Many cannabis farmers also do not have access to other forms of economic aid, like PPP loans, and the cost of damage could be included in the asking price.

Cannabis use, forest fires and the pandemic are not slowing down as predicted, and it is only a matter of time before we see the real costs of both climate change and the costly regulations surrounding a billion dollar plant.