Chatham-Kent company to grow cannabis outside in the field

Since marijuana was legalized in Canada in2018, Windsor-Essex has seen an influx of cannabis growers in the area, most raising crops in a highly controlled environment, such as under greenhouseglass and wild bright lights,designed for year-round farming.

But 7 Farms Down, a company in Merlin, Ont.in theChatham-Kentregionis going the old fashioned route it will grow their crops outsidein the field.

Jason Guttridge, one of the owners of the company, said after four years of bouncing around the idea with his brotherand trying to make it a reality, they finally received their cultivation license on Friday.

"I can't say it was easy because it definitely wasn't, but I think it would be worth it in the long run to bring a different product onto the shelf," he said.

Guttridge said he and his team come from an agricultural family and are already familiar with traditional agricultural practices, and will apply those harvestingtechniques to grow "small-batch, handcrafted outdoor cannabis."

"There's a lot of proven agricultural techniques that are already kind of readily available to us. I don't really have to go reinventing the wheel," he said.

He said growing outdoors has many benefits comparedto growing in a greenhouse, including reduced costs, and "free sun and rain."

Pests also becomes less of an issue when growing outside because he says "there's going to be beneficial insects around."

"For every insect that's out there, there's an equal and opposite insect that wants to take care of itself," he said. "We grow well and we're adaptable. So, you know, whatever Mother Nature wants to throw at us, we're pretty confident that we can, you know, contend with it."

'New, growing industry,'says company owner

When asked about how his neighbours feel about him growing cannabis, Guttridge told CBC News that he's justtrying to give "a little bit of success to a small community."

"There's a lot of opinions, but what I'm trying to do here, you know, is 100 per cent by the books. We jump through every hoopto get through Health Canada. I'm trying to build something positive for my local community where I was born and raised. And we can bring some economic activity here," he said.

"At the end of the day, this is a new, growing industry."

Small-batch, handcrafted outdoor cannabis

Guttridge said the company expects to grow less than five acres of marijuana this spring.

"It isn't so much about how much can we plant and how much can I put out like from a production level, but how high of a quality can I put out? So, you know, we might be able to fit a thousand plants in an acre, might even be able to fit 1,500 plants in an acre at the end of the day. Thatisn't my main concern," he said.

"My main concern is, you know, how much high quality product came out of that acre. So that number will change."

He hopes his company's products will be hitting shelves by late summer or fall of next year.