MJBiz - July/August 2024 - 42

SUSTAINABLE IS ATTAINABLE
Closed-loop farming is the most sustainable form
of cultivation, and more growers are trying it.
Photo by stock.adobe.com/
CLOSING THE LOOP
Michigan caregivers use local inputs to make cannabis growing
more affordable
By Kate Robertson
N
ick and Shannon Risden left
their home state of Kentucky,
which only recently passed
medical marijuana legalization, for
Michigan, where they could grow
cannabis for medical purposes.
But they're not licensed cultivators
in Michigan's regulated market.
Instead, Lyme Rising Farm-Lyme
being one of 13 parasites Nick Risden
contracted from a tick bite seven
years ago-is a closed-loop farm that
grows marijuana for six patients,
including Risden himself.
As a caregiver, Shannon Risden
currently grows 72 plants, which is
the legal limit under Michigan law.
But wholesale cannabis prices in
Michigan have fallen significantly
in recent years, hitting an average
of $915 per pound in March 2024,
according to cannabis wholesale
data company LeafLink.
Low wholesale prices mean
Shannon Risden has had to cut costs
by asking friends to help during
trimming season and reusing
cultivation materials such as tomato
cages, which support the plants'
structure, rather than buying new
ones each season.
" We are a regenerative farm; our
inputs and our costs are low, " Nick
Risden said, adding that he acts as a
consultant to Lyme Rising because
he is still so ill.
" In what we do, there's still
obviously a cost, but we build our
own compost. We do things of that
nature. That does help. "
42 July-August 2024 | MJBizMagazine
EMPHASIS ON SUSTAINABILITY
The Risdens chose the closedloop
route, which involves using
materials for growing that are
sourced on-site or from nearby
farms rather than bringing in
outside cultivation materials, for a
few reasons.
Shannon Risden is committed to
clean living, and the family doesn't
use nonorganic materials in any
aspect of their lives, from laundry
detergent to peanut butter. Nick, for
his part, was inspired by a 2017 visit
to the Emerald Cup in Santa Rosa,
California, to explore genetics and
learn more about the medicine that
had been instrumental in his path to
healing. He also met growers there
who inspired him to grow naturally.

http://stock.adobe.com/

MJBiz - July/August 2024

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