California: fires threaten cannabis harvest

More than a dozen wildfires have swept through Northern California in recent days, burning more than 40,000 hectares of land and destroying more than 1,500 homes, businesses and other buildings.

The fires threaten not only Napa and Sonoma vineyards, but also cannabis crops, which are very present in this Emerald Triangle region.

California now produces almost half of the cannabis consumed in the United States. According to the latest Sonoma County Crop Report, between 3,000 and 9,000 cannabis gardens are located in Sonoma County, where approximately 200 people missing. 4/5ths of Californian production is exported outside the state.

The California Growers Association, whose 6 out of 18 representatives were evacuated, expects there to be a huge amount of damage. «As the damage multiplies, it's going to be impressive on all fronts, and our members have been directly affected,» said Hezekiah Allen at his weekly meeting last Monday.

Many businesses and clinics closed and ordered their employees to stay at home, or move to their offices in the city if they couldn't.

The timing of these fires couldn't be worse for cannabis growers, with plants currently in full bloom, almost ready to be harvested. Some growers harvested their plants hastily, in an attempt to save part of their crop.

«Especially when it's mature, and I tell you from experience, fires give cannabis a smoky aroma, like wine,» explains Kristin Nevedal, executive director of the’International Cannabis Farmers Association, based in Garberville, Humboldt County. She added that sometimes this cannabis makes its way to the black market, where it's sold cheaply under unappealing names like beef jerky (beef jerky) or hickory kush (hazelnut kush), where it will be sold as distillate or edible barbecue flavor rather than flowers.

A little further south, in Sonoma County, numerous medical dispensaries, and coming soon, In addition, personal farms and cannabis-related service businesses were established. To get an idea of the financial impact, 1 acre of plantation (0.4 hectares) has an estimated value of $1.7 million.

On the Mendocino side, the fires are also far from being extinguished, as Frenchy shows.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Frenchy Cannoli (@frenchycannoli)

The full extent of the damage to cannabis growers will only be known after the harvest, which continues throughout October.