I visited a newly licensed marijuana farm in New York, and was shocked by how far there is to go before legal sales begin

Ben GilbertMay 21, 2022, 19:40 IST

The front of the main office building at Hudson Hemp, one of the first farms in New York State to receive a license to grow high-THC cannabis for recreational sales beginning in late 2022.Ben Gilbert/Insider

Legal sales of recreational marijuana are set to begin in New York City in late 2022.
The first legal growers were granted licenses in April so that they could have harvests ready for sale.

Sometime later this year — no one seems to know exactly when — New York City will legally allow recreational marijuana to be sold, opening what's expected to be one of the most lucrative legal cannabis markets in the world.

And right now, in preparation for the feeding frenzy, dozens of farmers are growing the marijuana that will become New York's first legal crop.

Last Friday, I visited one such farm two hours north of New York City in rural, idyllic Hudson, New York — and saw just how far there is to go before sales open.

Hudson Hemp, in Hudson, New York, is among the first few dozen farms to receive a license from New York to legally cultivate marijuana.

The view of the farm from the office, which is set inside a gorgeous old farmhouse.Ben Gilbert/Insider

Two hours north of New York City, on a 2,700 acre farm property owned by John D. Rockefeller's granddaughter, Hudson Hemp is producing one of New York state's first-ever legal marijuana crops.

Don't let the name fool you: Hudson Hemp is officially, as of this season, a full-time marijuana farm.

The difference between hemp and marijuana is simple: They're both cannabis plants, but hemp has less than 0.3% THC — the psychoactive constituent that is most directly responsible for feeling high.

Beyond being used for textiles and manufacturing, hemp can be used to extract CBD oil. For the last several years, Hudson Hemp has been doing just that.

But no longer.

Two hours north of New York City, on a 2,700 acre farm property owned by John D. Rockefeller's granddaughter, Hudson Hemp is producing one of New York state's first-ever legal marijuana crops.

Don't let the name fool you: Hudson Hemp is officially, as of this season, a full-time marijuana farm.

The difference between hemp and marijuana is simple: They're both cannabis plants, but hemp has less than 0.3% THC — the psychoactive constituent that is most directly responsible for feeling high.

Beyond being used for textiles and manufacturing, hemp can be used to extract CBD oil. For the last several years, Hudson Hemp has been doing just that.

But no longer.

The farm's first crops will be grown outdoors, both in open air and in a greenhouse.

Chief Cultivation Officer Brandon Curtin and Cultivation Manager Adam Smith surveying the farmland that will house Hudson Hemp's first legal marijuana crop.Ben Gilbert/Insider

Hudson Hemp is one of the first 88 farms that was granted a license to produce marijuana by the newly-created New York State Office of Cannabis Management. That number has since swelled to 146 in total.

By approving farms like Hudson Hemp first — thus giving farmers time to grow, dry, cure, and process marijuana for sale — the state is hoping to adequately prepare for when legal sales begin at an unspecified date later this year.

But even for the first licensed farms, the process is just barely getting started.

The greenhouse will enable the farm to more carefully control the environment of its first legal marijuana crop.

The new greenhouse was just being finalized when I visited in mid-May. Hudson Hemp had started construction a few weeks before, despite not knowing if the state was going to grant its application to grow — one of many unknowns that businesses entering the cannabis market face.Ben Gilbert/Insider

"This is where we're gonna be prepping our beds in the next 48 hours and planting ASAP," Hudson Hemp CEO Melany Dobson told me, referring to the newly constructed greenhouse.

Before getting marijuana plants in the ground directly, Hudson Hemp is starting in the greenhouse with raised beds.

"We're gonna build raised beds in here," Chief Cultivation Officer Brandon Curtin explained. "There's gonna be five of them, on a span of a hundred feet."

Those raised beds, full of soil from the farm, will grow four or five different strains of high-THC cannabis intended for the first legal sales later this year.

This is where we're gonna be prepping our beds in the next 48 hours and planting ASAP, Hudson Hemp CEO Melany Dobson told me, referring to the newly constructed greenhouse.

Before getting marijuana plants in the ground directly, Hudson Hemp is starting in the greenhouse with raised beds.

We're gonna build raised beds in here, Chief Cultivation Officer Brandon Curtin explained. There's gonna be five of them, on a span of a hundred feet.

Those raised beds, full of soil from the farm, will grow four or five different strains of high-THC cannabis intended for the first legal sales later this year.

With just seven months of 2022 left to go, Hudson Hemp — like the rest of the legal cannabis industry in New York state — is starting from zero.

Ben Gilbert/Insider

As of mid-May 2022, the legal marijuana growers of New York state are still months away from harvest.

It takes anywhere from three to eight months to grow a cannabis plant to maturity, depending on a wide number of variables, and another several weeks to cure the product after that.

Yet, when legal marijuana sales open later this year, the only product that will be legally allowed for sale is product grown and processed in New York state. Moreover, there are limitations on how much can be grown by one cultivation licenseholder: 43,560 square feet of "flowering canopy" is allowed, Dobson said.

"That restriction creates a lot of variables in how much someone could potentially produce this year," she added. That's because you could technically have a subsequent crop growing and, as long as it isn't in the flowering stage, it doesn't count against your total canopy allotment.

"Had we had our greenhouse already up," she said, "we could have run two cycles."

As of mid-May 2022, the legal marijuana growers of New York state are still months away from harvest.

It takes anywhere from three to eight months to grow a cannabis plant to maturity, depending on a wide number of variables, and another several weeks to cure the product after that.

That restriction creates a lot of variables in how much someone could potentially produce this year, she added. That's because you could technically have a subsequent crop growing and, as long as it isn't in the flowering stage, it doesn't count against your total canopy allotment.

Had we had our greenhouse already up, she said, we could have run two cycles.

There are still major unknowns going into the opening of legal sales later this year. Hudson Hemp doesn't even know how its marijuana will be sold.

Ben Gilbert/Insider

How does a business produce goods for a market that doesn't exist yet?

That question quietly hovers over every step of the operation at Hudson Hemp. Do consumers want pre-rolled joints, or whole packaged flower? What stores will even be able to sell marijuana when legal sales open up later this year?

"At this moment in time, I do not know where we will transact our first sales," Dobson told me. "Right now that is one of the largest uncertainties," she said. "We're putting a ton of money into our cultivation, our harvesting, our curing, our trimming — the whole packaging line."

New York's Office of Cannabis Management has yet to open the application process for retail licenses, and it's unclear when the process will begin, though educational workshops for applicants have begun.

Nationwide, delays between between legalization and recreational sales have become extremely common.

Dobson suspects that the first licensed retailers will be existing medical dispensaries, which are all owned by so-called "multi-state operators" — national or international cannabis companies like Curaleaf that are backed by private equity and venture capital — despite New York's marijuana legislation explicitly including social equity mandates.

How does a business produce goods for a market that doesn't exist yet?

At this moment in time, I do not know where we will transact our first sales, Dobson told me. Right now that is one of the largest uncertainties, she said. We're putting a ton of money into our cultivation, our harvesting, our curing, our trimming — the whole packaging line.

Nationwide, delays between between legalization and recreational sales have become extremely common.

Dobson suspects that the first licensed retailers will be existing medical dispensaries, which are all owned by so-called multi-state operators — national or international cannabis companies like Curaleaf that are backed by private equity and venture capital — despite New York's marijuana legislation explicitly including social equity mandates.

In the meantime, marijuana producers like Hudson Hemp are attempting to maximize their first harvests while dealing with a vegetative product that doesn't have an infinite shelf life.

Like the garlic and banana peels in Hudson Hemp's compost pile, cannabis is an organic product that breaks down over time.Ben Gilbert/Insider

When you get home from the dispensary later this year and open up an eighth of New York City Diesel, it will already be degrading.

Like produce and cut flowers, marijuana is organic material that breaks down over time. So when Hudson Hemp harvests its first crop later this year, the clock begins ticking on the quality of that product.

There are industrial processes that slow down the process, of course — if packaged in an oxygen-free container and kept in a cool, dry, dark place, marijuana can last "for like a year," Dobson said, "but that's very expensive packaging."

Hudson Hemp plans to get around this issue by only offering pre-rolled joints in its first year of sales, "so that it smokes beautifully and consistently," Dobson said, "and also resealable so that you can maintain the freshness of the pre-rolls for longer."

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In the meantime, marijuana producers like Hudson Hemp are attempting to maximize their first harvests while dealing with a vegetative product that doesn't have an infinite shelf life.

When you get home from the dispensary later this year and open up an eighth of New York City Diesel, it will already be degrading.

There are industrial processes that slow down the process, of course — if packaged in an oxygen-free container and kept in a cool, dry, dark place, marijuana can last for like a year, Dobson said, but that's very expensive packaging.

Hudson Hemp plans to get around this issue by only offering pre-rolled joints in its first year of sales, so that it smokes beautifully and consistently, Dobson said, and also resealable so that you can maintain the freshness of the pre-rolls for longer.

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I visited a newly licensed marijuana farm in New York, and was shocked by how far there is to go before legal sales begin

Hudson Hemp, in Hudson, New York, is among the first few dozen farms to receive a license from New York to legally cultivate marijuana.

The farm's first crops will be grown outdoors, both in open air and in a greenhouse.

The greenhouse will enable the farm to more carefully control the environment of its first legal marijuana crop.

With just seven months of 2022 left to go, Hudson Hemp — like the rest of the legal cannabis industry in New York state — is starting from zero.

There are still major unknowns going into the opening of legal sales later this year. Hudson Hemp doesn't even know how its marijuana will be sold.

In the meantime, marijuana producers like Hudson Hemp are attempting to maximize their first harvests while dealing with a vegetative product that doesn't have an infinite shelf life.