NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WBEN) – A North Tonawanda greenhouse is hoping to benefit in the coming months and years thanks to the state's legalization of adult-use of recreational marijuana.
Wheatfield Gardens, which uses 37 acres of land to mass produce vegetables you buy at local grocery stores, plans to grow marijuana once regulation details are released by the state.
"We're excited by it," Paal Elfrstrum, Founder and CEO of Wheatfield Gardens, told WBEN. "We have experience in a number of crops and we see it as just another crop we can grow here. I know there is a lot of regulation around it and stuff but we're used to that regulated environment. We've been growing food for Western New York for years and have to adhere to strict regulations."
The company is no stranger to marijuana because they currently produce hemp plants. The cannabidiol, commonly known as CBD, extracted from their hemp plants can be found in local grocery stores. Elfstrum said many of the ingredients derived from the hemp manufacturing are supplied to brands that want a supply that is a grown indoors.
"We've been doing a lot of research with Cornell and Niagara County Community College on the hemp part," Elfstrum said. "It's not very different to grow cannabis that has THC in it. It's just a lot more lucrative because it's a lot more regulated."
Elfstrum and other investors took over the site on Shawnee Road in 2015. While they do stand to benefit financially by growing adult use marijuana, he said they also hope to serve as an incubator of sorts for others looking to get into the hemp and marijuana industry. They do this by taking in interns from Cornell and NCCC.
"We would like to participate as a social-equity incubator right here in Western New York where people can come here that have these aspirations of starting a micro-business in this newly-legalized space and they can learn how to do it here and go out on their own and take advantage of the setup that the legislature and governor came to," he said. "That would really help those disaffected by the silly war on drugs we had for so many years here."
Details about the licensing of companies to sell adult-use marijuana have yet to be unveiled by New York State's Office of Cannabis Management. According to OCM's website, they will promote social and economic equity applicants who were previously harmed by the prohibition of cannabis for adult-use licenses. New York wants to award 50% of licenses to those applicants before offering to others.
"We'll get a better idea around, I think, around August about what the actual process will be to do it," Elfstrum said. "We want to be in the market as a premium cultivator and also extract the cannabinoids if they're in there for research opportunities on the pharmaceutical side. They really have helped a number of people as evidenced by every medical program in the country."
Wheatfield Gardens will continue to grow fruits and vegetables in addition to their expanded growth. Because many leafy greens we eat are grown out of the west coast, Elfstrum said they'll continue to mass produce things like lettuce for Buffalo Public School's farm-to-school program.
"If schools are able to source 30% of their dairy, fruits, and vegetables from local farms in New York, then they'll get an extra subsidy from Albany," Elfstrum said. "It's been an outstanding program for the Buffalo City School District."
Crops grown at Wheatfield Gardens. April 21, 2021WBEN/Mike Baggerman
Though Wheatfield Gardens sits on 37 acres, the actual greenhouse only takes up ten acres. Elfstrum said they can grow 11 crops per year onto one acre, something that normally takes up 15 acres because they have horticultural lighting which allows them to scientifically grow a crop to a regulated standard year-round.
"That's what we're really passionate about here," Elfstrum said. "Providing food and medicine for our friends and neighbors and employing people year-round with these sustainable jobs which will be the jobs of the future."
While much of the focus in the public eye will be on marijuana because of its intoxicating effect thanks to THC, Elfstrum is excited as the possibilities of future research of CBD.
"There's over 140 cannabinoids that are in this plant that bind with your endo-cannabinoid system in some way," he said. "The opportunities for research on different ailments – we're seeing just anecdotal evidence right now. But we're just scratching the surface of what I believe is a cannabis revolution that this plant has medicinal values way beyond what we've seen with CBD."
"We're just scratching the surface on the potential of this," he said.
Vegetables being produced at Wheatfield Gardens in North Tonawanda. April 21, 2021WBEN/Mike Baggerman
