Grasshopper Farms founder and CEO Will Bowden grew up in Santa Cruz, Calif., where cannabis was part of the Northern California surfer culture.
After graduating from high school, Bowden avoided cannabis while serving in the military on active and reserve duty and working as a police officer on a SWAT team.
By the time he retired nearly a decade ago, medical cannabis was legal in California and other states were coming on line. Bowden went to work for a cannabis company in Delaware.
Along the way, he learned the cannabis business and also got to know the wine country of southwestern Michigan. He launched his own cannabis cultivation business in 2020 in Paw Paw, Mich., with financial backing from family and friends.
Now, Grasshopper Farms grows cannabis on 40 of its 160 acres. The farm has been managing 5,000 plants that produce an average of 15,000 pounds of flower per year. Strains grown on the farm include Hellcat, Redpop, Grasshopper Glue and Sunny D.
“From the sky, it looks like a Christmas tree farm,” Bowden said. “The plants get between 8 feet and 14 feet tall. We use chainsaws to cut them down.”
Bowden is planning for the 2023 outdoor growing season, though like other cannabis cultivators around the country, he faces some headwinds.
While cultivators have been squeezed by lower wholesale prices, the overall market continues to expand as adult-use cannabis programs spring up around the U.S.
New Jersey, Maryland, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Missouri and other states are ramping up supply efforts for their nascent adult-use programs.
Each state must contain cultivation within its borders, because cannabis remains illegal under federal law and therefore cannot be shipped across state lines. That means the agriculture sector has been ramping up to grow pot in states where it is legal.
On the downside, prices have dropped for producers because of supply competition from both legal and illegal growers. The volume-weighted average spot price of U.S. cannabis for the week ending Feb. 24 fell 20% from the year-ago period to $968 per pound, according to data from TD Cowen.
Only 31% of wholesale cannabis cultivators were profitable in a 2021, down from 46% in 2020, according to data from MJBiz. In another data point reflecting more challenging times, 54% of wholesale cannabis cultivators were profitable or broke even in 2021, down from 67% in 2020.
The cost of setting up a cannabis farm is also high, with estimates of between $3 million and $7 million. Amy Hepworth and Gail Hepworth of Milton, N.Y.-based Hepworth Farms recently told the New York Times they spent about $8 million setting up a cannabis operation on 10 of their 500 acres. At last check, New York State has awarded 242 cultivation licenses as its adult-use market ramps up.
All told, legal and illegal cannabis cultivators produced 48.8 million pounds in 2022, according to the National Cannabis Industry Association. The trade group estimates legal U.S. cannabis sales will increase to $81.6 billion by 2030, from about $29.3 billion in 2022.
Grasshopper Farms employs 45 people full time and brings on an additional 120 seasonal workers during harvest.
Bowden chose the name Grasshopper Farms partly because grasshoppers represent the joy of learning, he said.
Grasshoppers also reflect the annual planting cycle of cannabis. Unlike blueberries or grapes, which grow on the same bush or vine every year, cannabis starts every year with new plants — like a grasshopper jumping from season to season, Bowden said.
Despite the obstacles of cost and competition, Bowden is planning to grow more pot plants in 2023, although he said that will depend on market conditions. He’s also planting in New Jersey for the first time this year.
While premium sun-grown flower costs 10% to 30% more at wholesale, depending on strain and quantity, the growing process uses less electricity and other resources than indoor operations.
Some consumers prefer outdoor-grown cannabis, just as some people decide to pay more for organic vegetables at the supermarket, Bowden said.
“The correct balance of outdoor, greenhouse and indoor has not been realized,” he said. “There will be demand for all three.”
Bowden was partly inspired by an article he read that said indoor farming accounted for 1% of the power produced by the U.S. grid in 2011, which he considers unsustainable.
“If you have a farm with relative humidity and good wind, you’re in good shape,” Bowden said. “If grapes, blueberries or tomatoes do well, you’re in the right area to grow cannabis.”
Bowden has learned that cannabis farming is particularly challenging because of the constant care the plants need. He describes himself a competent farmer, but the actual growing at Grasshopper Farms is led by Aaron Hart, the company’s director of cultivation.
Looking ahead, Bowden sees an opportunity to grow Grasshopper Farms cannabis in about seven U.S. states that offer favorable regulatory regimes.
“We’re not aspiring to have a leadership team in one location telling each farm what do to,” Bowden said. “I want to set up a network with farms supporting each other, with a focus on cultivation and wholesaling.”
He’s also looking to change the perception that cannabis consumers use the plant purely for its intoxicating effects.
“The majority of people are using it because they want better-quality sleep — that’s glossed over,” Bowden said. “Helping someone to sleep better is a medical use, but we don’t always talk about it like that.”
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