According to the 2022 Leafly Cannabis Harvest Report cannabis is the sixth-most valuable crop grown in the U.S. The report estimates that cannabis grown in the U.S. is worth $5 billion a year and constitutes a larger agricultural footprint than potatoes or rice.
The second annual harvest report from Leafly found that adult-use cannabis producers grew 2,834 metric tons this year, up 554 metric tons from last year, which according to federal use reports is only one-quarter of the country’s demand. The report estimates that the actual demand for cannabis in the U.S. is between 12 million and 15 million metric tons. Despite the seemingly low supply, cannabis wholesale prices dropped last year, especially in Western states, the report says.
Leafly found producers in western states, such as Oregon, Colorado, and the world’s largest cannabis market, California, grew too much cannabis, while Midwest and Eastern producers did not grow enough. The report notes that due to federal prohibition, farmers cannot sell cannabis over state lines, and the illicit market hurt farmers in the West and increased prices for Midwest and Eastern customers in 2022.
Jason Gellman of Ridgeline Farms, a Humboldt County Emerald Cup winner, told Leafly, “The prices this year are at an all-time low and honestly pretty tragic for all the craft farmers. Lots of people will not be able to afford to keep their farms going. Our community as a whole is in a bad financial place.”
Dusty Shoyer, President and COO of Revolution in Illinois and Missouri, though, said 2022 was a “great year” for his company.
“We finally finished two expansion projects and brought 10 more small batch cultivation rooms online in Illinois and a high-tech mini-grow in Missouri,” he said in a statement to Leafly. “Both are harvesting and producing amazing results.”
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