Bud Farming Backlash: Rural America’s Uneasy Embrace of Cannabis Farming

PAUL ROBERTS

When Seattle entrepreneur Roy Arms went looking for a place to grow recreational cannabis a few years ago, few spots looked as promising as the Wenatchee Valley. Straddling the banks of the Columbia River, three hours east of Seattle, the valley had everything Arms needed for hisSeven Hills Farms greenhouse operation: abundant sunshine, ample irrigation water, and hydroelectric power sixty percent cheaper than Seattle’s. And Chelan County officials seemed to genuinely embrace legal weed. “Back then, they just said, ‘Look, it’s agriculture – just come in and farm,’” recalls Arms, taking a break from harvesting what he describes as a “monster crop” on his acreage a few miles from Wenatchee. “And I thought that was great.”

Bud Farming Backlash: Rural America’s Uneasy Embrace of Cannabis Farming