Farm Girl Greens launched in Auburn, New York in late 2019 as a vertical hydroponic leafy greens operation supplying restaurants and farmers markets. The business remained profitable due to changing sales channels, fluctuating grant funding and rising energy costs, but the financial model was becoming increasingly difficult to predict.

When New York legalized adult cannabis and implemented a micro-business licensing structure, the regulatory landscape changed. The subsequent pivot was not sudden, according to co-owner Abby Lepak, but rather the activation of a long-considered opportunity. “When we decided to start our hydroponic farm, we were always open to growing cannabis,” he explains. “At the time, cannabis wasn’t legal in New York state, so our initial business plan was focused on leafy greens.”

© Green farm girls
Farm Girl Greens grow room showing off ZipGrow mobile tower trellis under LED lighting

Market volatility and margin pressure
The farm planted the first seeds in November 2019. By March 2020, the restaurant and farmers market channels had either closed or switched to takeout. “Running a business in the early 2020s was a challenge for any small business owner,” says Lepak. “We were successful in the beginning because of the grocery store supply chain and consumers wanting to buy directly from farmers.”

Farm Girl Greens focused on weekly home deliveries through a distributor as well as its own logistics. As restaurants reopened, sales shifted to food service accounts, reducing margins compared to direct-to-consumer channels. “It was profitable but not so predictable,” says Lepa about the green phase.

An additional outlet was operated by a non-profit nonprofit that supplied food pantries at retail prices by paying subsidies rather than consumers. “The food was free to the consumer, but the funding was unpredictable and then dwindled.”
Utility costs added further pressure. Rising energy bills prompted the farm to build a grant-funded solar installation. The system remains in effect today. “New York state is seeing energy costs double from one month to the next right now,” Lepak says. “Not just for companies.” Profitable but subject to fluctuating demand, unstable funding streams and rising operating costs, the green model became more difficult to plan.

© Green farm girls

A microenterprise license changes the model
Legalization introduced another option. Farm Girl Greens obtained a Micro Business License from the Office of Cannabis Management, New York’s governing body for adult cannabis. “The emerging market of adult-use cannabis cultivation has a bright future,” says Lepak. “The Bureau of Cannabis Management has taken steps to prevent large growers from flooding the market. Because we are a small grower and a predominantly female-owned business, we have been able to take advantage of training and fees at reduced prices and sometimes at no cost.”

The license allows cultivation, processing, distribution and retailing under one structure. For now, the farm is cultivating and shaking the flowers, using a third-party processor to extract them, and selling wholesale to pharmacies. As an indoor micro-business, the production covers 3,500 square feet of space and processes 1,700 pounds of cannabis per year.

Different crop, different system
Change required new infrastructure. The ZipGrow tower system used for leafy greens has been replaced with a high-pressure aeroponic recirculation system designed by Current Culture, along with a vertical rack from Pipp Horticulture.

“The leafy greens in our ZipGrow system didn’t require as much space and had a shorter seed-to-harvest cycle,” says Lepak. At peak production, the farm harvested the equivalent of 1,500 heads of lettuce per week while planting another 1,500 seeds.

Indoor cannabis works on a longer cycle, usually between 90 and 100 days. With a flower room currently in operation, the farm expects five harvests a year at full production. A second flower room is planned. Once built, a staggered planting schedule would allow ten harvests per year.

© Green farm girls

Higher margins, higher limits
Per square foot, cannabis offers stronger margins than leafy greens, Lepak says. But regulatory costs and add-ons dampen this advantage. “We expect margins to increase as cannabis legalization and additional fees decrease. These fees are very close to being cost prohibitive.”

Compliance-related packaging requirements and limited access to banking continue to weigh on profitability. Job applications have also changed. Leafy greens required a steady weekly workforce to manage the cycles and distribution of perishable crops. Growing cannabis involves less daily handling, but requires more concentrated work during the harvest and processing periods.

© Green farm girls
A member of the Farm Girl Greens team transplants seedlings (left) and inside a Matrix Media ZipGrow tower channel (right)

Looking back
Despite the transition, Lepa says he would still start with green leaves. “I enjoyed learning the process of indoor growing and selling at farmers markets,” she says. “Being a grower that delivers product directly to a consumer was a joy for me.”

Farm Girl Greens is selling its ZipGrow tower inventory as it consolidates its cannabis growing operations. “We have a total of 630 towers and associated lights and are willing to sell 450 towers, 180 towers or all 630 together,” says Lepak. “The eight-foot towers are mounted in 21 racks of 30 units. Complete system purchase of all 630 towers includes additional climate control equipment at no additional cost: CO2 generator and vertical V-Flow fans.”

Those interested in buying towers can go directly to Lepak (email protected).

A video tour of the Farm Girl Greens farm setup

© Green farm girls
Complete design of the ZipGrow tower system inside the farm

For more information:
Green Farm Girls
Abby Lepak, co-owner
(email protected)
www.instagram.com/farmgirlgreens

Colorado lawmakers have rejected a bill that would have put a measure on the state’s November ballot that would have asked voters. increase taxes on marijuana and alcohol to support mental health treatment.

Following the recommendation of the bicameral Capital Development Committee (CDC) last week, members of the House Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday defeated the legislation in a 7-6 vote by Senators Bob Marshall (D) and Judy Amabile (D).

“We’ve made our criminal system the default mental health system for people over 18. It’s been a travesty,” Marshall said Wednesday before the panel’s vote to reject his bill. “It’s been a known plague for years and years and years, and yet nothing is happening to fix the problem.

“At the end of the day, this is something that has to be done,” the sponsor said of HB 1301, which would raise taxes on substances and raise additional revenue to create a mental health fund overseen by the state Department of Human Services (DHS). “And if we don’t do it now, the problem will only get worse.”

If it had advanced in the Legislature, voters across the state would have decided to raise the state’s retail marijuana sales and excise tax by 0.42 percentage points on the November ballot. Taxes on alcohol would also rise for the first time in more than 30 years, at varying levels depending on the type of product.

“The bill requires the treasurer to transfer to the hospital support account created in the capital building fund an amount equal to the tax revenue obtained as a result of the bill,” the summary summarizes. measure he said DHS would be able to spend the funds “in order of priority,” starting with establishing a mental health institute in Aurora, then going toward the institute’s operational costs and a “long-term civil commitment facility” in Mesa County.

Under the amendments passed in committee on Wednesday, the tax increase on alcohol would be reduced slightly, but not for cannabis. The bill’s title was also revised in response to input from the state attorney general, and a fiscal note was added to the $14,000 in programmatic costs, which the sponsor said would come out of the general fund.

At last week’s CDC meeting, Rep. Tammy Story (D), the panel’s vice chairwoman, asked Marshall’s House bill sponsor how the proposal to raise marijuana taxes reconciles the fact that the state has seen a decline in cannabis sales and resulting revenue in recent years. Marshall said he appreciated the concerns, but had no plans to decriminalize cannabis.

“In looking back maybe a the sales the tax maybe be be better,” Marshall admitted Wednesday. “But is in the year has the title now—‘the tax good harmful substances’—and we put marijuana in the year there in has the suggestion of a couple of has sheriffs, simply to share it has pain, so to talk.”

Marijuana industry representatives have it criticize The bill’s marijuana tax provision is partly because the state already imposes significant taxes on cannabis sales compared to other states and products. Making it more expensive for consumers to buy marijuana from licensed dealers could also hurt efforts to stamp out the illegal market by drawing buyers to unlicensed sources that won’t generate tax dollars for the state.

In the meantime the state is expected to exceed $1 billion in marijuana sales by 2025, a milestone the governor announced in December.—tax revenue from cannabis sales has steadily declined over the past five years as more states have implemented legalization and intoxicating hemp products have grown in popularity. However, cannabis brings in more tax dollars than alcohol or cigarettes.

Adult marijuana is currently taxed at three levels in Colorado: a 15 percent excise tax, a 15 percent excise tax, and a general state sales tax of 2.9 percent. As one of the first states to legalize recreational marijuana, Colorado’s revenue from such sales “grew steadily over the first eight years of legalization to $424.4 million by 2020-21,” according to a state report released last month.

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Meanwhile, the Colorado House of Representatives sent a bill to the governor last week allow terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana in healthcare facilities such as hospitals. Advocates have been critical of the changes made throughout the legislative process; for example, arguing that hospitals would be right to do so. option– than mandate—The use of medical cannabis in their facilities fundamentally undermines the intention of the reform.

Gov. Jared Polis (D) also said last month his state did not have to join a lawsuit supporting a federal ban on the possession of guns by people who use marijuana that recently went before the US Supreme Court, and he personally opposes the state attorney general’s “legal position on this.”

user photo Brian Shamblen.

Tilray Brands has signed an asset purchase agreement to acquire some of BrewDog’s strategic assets in the United States, including a brewery, pub and hotel in Columbus, Ohio, as well as New Albany, Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio and Las Vegas, Nevada. As one of Ohio’s largest craft beer brands, this acquisition aligns with Tilray’s regional jewelry strategy.

Irwin D. Simon, President and CEO of Tilray Brands, said: “The acquisition of BrewDog’s key US assets strengthens our US beverage platform and advances our regional craft beer strategy in North America. BrewDog has built a strong following and established a highly visible presence in Las Vegas, including a Las Vegas flagship pub model, creating destination spaces that deepen consumer engagement, offering new opportunities to introduce and sell a broader portfolio of Tilray beverage brands.” meanwhile”.

Mr. Simon continued: “This transaction reinforces Tilray’s acquisition of BrewDog’s operational assets, building on previously announced deals in the UK, Ireland and Australia. Tilray now owns the BrewDog brand and its intellectual property worldwide. This positions us to lead the next chapter of the brand with a highly integrated North American footprint and a long-term publishing strategy designed for joint growth and brand strength.”

Under the asset purchase agreement, Tilray will acquire BrewDog’s US manufacturing and brewing operation in Columbus, Ohio, three Ohio pubs (Columbus, New Albany and Cleveland), a hotel in Columbus, Ohio, and a BrewDog franchise location in Las Vegas, Nevada, and a licensed BrewDog airport location in Denver, Colorado. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, pending customary regulatory approvals.