The great adventure into the Marijuana world has been stronger in Colorado than almost anywhere on earth. With a Medical system that has already produced more than 10 million dollars into medical marijuana research, which includes studies on the endocannabinoid system. Colorado does not announce until Colorado who will receive the grants, but there is worldwide competition for the grant money in a sparse funding environment.

With the money already mounting, and the state taking a fair share a well, marijuana stand to become one of the highest grossing cash crops in the state. As it stands, corn is clearly the king with more than a billion dollars of that crop is grown per year in Colorado. In 2012, farmers in Colorado produced 121,002,552 bushes of corn, whose price per bushel is usually between $5 and $6. Marijuana, which will likely close out the year with just $30,000,000 in sales, is still dwarfed by the $7,000,000,000 corn will bring to farmers, plus all downstream profits.

A Bigger Picture

It seems that Marijuana represents mere drops in the ocean in the agricultural world, but many hope that industrial hemp will help restore cannabis as America’s greatest cash crop. Things are not looking good for the inaugural harvest, with as few as 200 acres of the product expected to be grown this year because of government bans on the seeds crossing state lines. They could use an import from Green House Seed Co.

Some farmers, new to the plant reported low germination, resulting in low crop density which can allow weeds to rob the remaining hemp of water and nutrients. It will take some time, and downstream companies to continue increasing the demand for hemp for this once ubiquitous plant to slowly reclaim its predominance as a cash crop. Some farmers will likely choose to grow patches of hemp since it helps return nutrients to the soil, making the plant perfect for a long term crop rotation scheme.

The next step in the movement is federal action, or continued inaction as states have taken the issue into their own hands. Hopefully logic will prevail and Industrial hemp and cannabis will be allowed in all states to promote proper growth and control of the economy created by this remarkable plant. While that happens, smart states like Colorado and California with strong agricultural centers will continue to laugh their ways to the bank on the tax revenue that they have generated.