Copperstate Farms is focused on bringing best practices from big agriculture, consumer packaged goods, and pharmaceutical industries to cannabis production. Its location in Snowflake, AZ, about three hours from Phoenix, is positioned ideally atop the Colorado Plateau at 5,600 feet above sea level. In 2016, Copperstate Farms acquired the Snowflake assets from NatureSweet. Since then, it has been on a rapid growth plan, which has actually helped the company lower its production by maximizing efficiency and improving its return on investment. “We believe with the right infrastructure, the right processes, and the right beneficial ingredients paired with a strong Integrated Pest Management Program, we can create greenhouse grows equal to fully controlled-environment indoor production,” says Copperstate CEO Pankaj Talwar. “Long term, we believe growing in this fashion is more sustainable, and that the sun is the best light source to allow the plant to express its fullest potential.”

Los Suenos Farms in Pueblo, CO, touts itself as a family owned, local business. The company owns farmland and greenhouses (36 acres outdoor and 36,000 square feet of controlled-environment production) that it leases to four Colorado-licensed retailers. Los Suenos uses beneficial insects to manage pests, and emphasizes this strategy in its marketing tools. It openly provides production tips on how to achieve a high-quality crop. During outdoor harvest, Los Suenos yields around 5 to 6 tons of crop that is processed at a drying barn.

Village Farms is a relatively new player in cannabis production. The company made an official announcement of a new joint venture agreement with Emerald Health Therapeutics last year, converting an initial 25 acres of its Ladner, BC, greenhouse facility into a state-of-the-art greenhouse for production of medical and recreational cannabis. The launch of the joint venture was a transformational opportunity to grow a substantially more profitable agricultural product. “Based on our conservative market pricing forecasts and yield projections, conversion of our Canadian greenhouse facilities to cannabis production could generate revenue of 10 to 15 times that of our current Canadian vegetable production, with margins potentially expanding to more than 50% compared with our current Canadian vegetable margins,” says Village Farms CEO Mike DeGiglio. BC-based Emerald Health Therapeutics holds a license to cultivate and sell medical cannabis flower and oils out of its facility located in Victoria. By teaming up with Village Farms, the joint venture aims to become the lowest-cost, highest-quality cannabis producer in Canada.

In April 2014, Canopy Growth became the first cannabis company in North America to be publicly traded. It followed that by diversifying its platform to include both greenhouse and indoor growing, acquiring a major competitor, and getting listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company’s commitment to education has and always will be unwavering, and it was one of the first Canadian cannabis companies to offer Mainpro-M1 accredited continuing medical education programs to Canadian physicians, and to launch in-person assistance through its Tweed Main Street locations. The company is not afraid to make difficult decisions. Last year, recognizing the Canadian recreational market was growing slower than anticipated, it closed some facilities in British Columbia and nixed a plan to add a greenhouse in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.

Glass House Farms produces cannabis in state-of-the-art, pristine-clean, controlled-climate greenhouses. It was the first grower to run the regulatory gauntlet to become a licensed greenhouse cultivator in Santa Barbara County, an achievement that came after no small amount of patience and persistence from owner Graham Farrar. In business for five years now, the growing operation is already one of the three largest cultivators in California, now that its second 350,000-acre facility is operational. Glass House Farms is on a continual harvest cycle with the help of photoperiod lights and light deprivation. The greenhouses are divided into sections. With the continual cycle, there is always a section that workers are cleaning, one where they are planting, another filled with growing plants, and a section being harvested. All this enables Farrar to employ a full-time staff of 122 people year-round. The growing operation realized a little more than three harvests last year and is on track for four in 2020. The new facility will handle six harvests a year, and the staff will increase to nearly 250 once it is online.

Flower One is the largest cannabis cultivator, producer, and full-service brand fulfillment partner in Nevada. With more than 20 years of greenhouse experience, the company offers consistent and scalable fulfillment to a growing number of industry-leading cannabis brands. Flower One’s flagship 400,000 square-foot greenhouse and 55,000 square-foot production facility is used for large scale cannabis cultivation, processing, and manufacturing. It also owns and operates a second production facility in Las Vegas, with 25,000 square-feet of indoor cultivation and a commercial kitchen. Flower One is capable of producing 100,000 to 110,000 pounds of dry flower per annual production capacity. Flower One produces a wide range of products ranging from wholesale flower, full-spectrum oils, and distillates to finished consumer packaged goods including flower, pre-rolls, concentrates, edibles, beverages, and topicals for the top-performing brands in cannabis.

The team at Solaris knows that a high-quality crop starts at the beginning, which is why the company has developed top genetics and adapted them to the desert environment with hybrid greenhouses that use a technology-oriented and data-driven growing approach. The result is indoor quality at outdoor prices and at scale. Temperature controls in the greenhouse are adapted to desert extremes, and a three-level shading system combined with sensors and data management help ensure crop quality. Automated fertigation and controls help monitor the greenhouse environment at all times, Solaris is on a path to vertical integration. It is in the midst of an expansion, with a greenhouse design adjusted for a variety of different plant outcomes and cost parameters. Initial investment commitments have kicked off the funding process. Solaris also intends to provide a large production hosting facility, complementing the Solaris brand with partners covering the spectrum of consumer products.