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Colorado marijuana prices see huge drop, drug cartels reeling

satva

Member
Veteran
With Marijuana Price Down 70%, Colombia Growers Are Bailing

On a drug farm miles from anywhere in the central Andean mountains of Colombia, workers are digging up marijuana bushes and replacing them with avocados.

They’ll get no subsidies from a government crop substitution program since the state barely exists in these remote mountains in Cauca province, 30 miles south of Cali. They’re responding instead to a 70 percent crash in prices over the last year after farmers here planted so much marijuana that they saturated the market.

“It’s barely profitable anymore because everyone’s growing it,” said a farmer, who asked not to be named. “I’m getting out of it.”
The price of a pound of the potent “creepy” strain of marijuana grown in Cauca has plunged to $15 from $50 per pound a year ago, according to local growers. That’s aggravating poverty in a region where some laborers earn as little as $3 per day, according to Vladimir Bueno, a community leader.

Wholesale marijuana prices in the U.S. vary from $300 to more than $4,000 per pound, depending on the quality and region, Special Agent Eduardo Chavez of the Drug Enforcement Administration said in a phone interview. Most Colombian marijuana is consumed domestically.

In the mountains near the town of Caloto, low-tech farming methods and the high cost of transport along winding dirt tracks have made legal crops barely profitable. That has led many farmers to take advantage of the virtual absence of the state to grow marijuana, and coca, the raw material for making cocaine.

The government’s presence is so weak that buyers weigh sacks of drugs openly by the side of the highway, and load them onto trucks, safe in the knowledge that government forces seldom travel along these roads for fear of coming under fire from the Marxist rebels who control the area.

The guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, have held talks with the government since 2012, seeking a peace deal to end the conflict. The FARC last week announced a one-month unilateral cease-fire, starting July 20.
(An earlier version of this story corrected the name of the Drug Enforcement Administration in the fifth paragraph.)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...rs-are-bailing
 
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SooperSmurph

“It’s barely profitable anymore because everyone’s growing it,” said a farmer, who asked not to be named. “I’m getting out of it.”
The price of a pound of the potent “creepy” strain of marijuana grown in Cauca has plunged to $15 from $50 per pound a year ago, according to local growers. That’s aggravating poverty in a region where some laborers earn as little as $3 per day, according to Vladimir Bueno, a community leader.

In the mountains near the town of Caloto, low-tech farming methods and the high cost of transport along winding dirt tracks have made legal crops barely profitable.
This is where total de-regulation takes you.

A controlled market is a sustainable one. Regulating the number of large growers and how much they're allowed to produce is how Colorado can avoid a crash like this one.
 

Donald Mallard

el duck
Veteran
Do you think the average restaurant is sustainable? Those that don't skimp on ingredients or cheat their employees out of a fair wage operate on this very basic, and time tested formula.

1/3 staff costs, 1/3 food costs, 1/3 gross profit, if you want to open a McDonalds, your food and staff costs will be much lower, and your profit will be much higher, but i'm never smoking McDonalds weed.

I love the farmer type growers who think everything just magically appears out of the dirt for free.

Im aware of how restaurants run ,
i own a business ,
im not just guessing , i have grown a couple of plants before ,
yes things can magically appear out of the ground for free , ive seen it many times .... (volunteers often appear in large grow areas up to years later , i figure them to be freebies)
picture.php
 
S

SooperSmurph

And i'm sure the Marlboro fields will look similar, just fuller, but i'm never smoking it.
 

Donald Mallard

el duck
Veteran
Not enough dollars spend per lb makes the pot crappy ???
I dont think thats the case ,
good genetics , good location = good pot ....

thailand used to do a lot of commercial pot ,
i doubt it cost them more than a dollar a plant if that,
we are still talking about that stuff today ....
 

Sam_Skunkman

"RESIN BREEDER"
Moderator
Veteran
The difference is you have done it, you have seen it, so have I.
He has not and has little idea how easy it can be.
PM me about a duckfoot leaf for my DNA project....
-SamS



Not enough dollars spend per lb makes the pot crappy ???
I dont think thats the case ,
good genetics , good location = good pot ....

thailand used to do a lot of commercial pot ,
i doubt it cost them more than a dollar a plant if that,
we are still talking about that stuff today ....
 
S

SooperSmurph

Cities limit the number of liquor licenses they sell, states limit the number of distilleries they'll license, it's no different with Cannabis.

People talking about amazing things many years ago all seem to have one thing in common... they can't find those things now.

High quality outdoor has been harvested in large amounts for years in the pacific rim, both in the east and the west, the price varies with times, the economy, and the mood of the government, this is just another curve in the trend.

Loving this sentiment that only large land owners should be able to make a living growing cannabis, as if cannabis really were like corn or wheat, something to be thrown in a field and picked through by machines. I don't care if someone smuggles some of my personal genetics to Marlboro, i'm still not smoking that.
 
Is everyone happy a out the lower prices? The fact the majority of us here are growers im not sure i like the prices so low. Now when i visited Colorado i loved the fact i could find ounces of top shelf for $100-150. But alot of growers here in Florida rely upon the higher prices to pay bills and things for the family.
I personally believe that's one of the reasons Cali didnt make it fully legal a couple years ago. Could you imagine what would happwn to the economy in the emerald triangle if it were legal and prices dropped? I'll probably get flamed for this but i might be more in favor of decrim as opposed to full legalization. But either way i love to grow its a passion. So no matter how low the prices grow im still gonna grow that flame. :)
 

Yes4Prop215

Active member
Veteran
talked to some CO growers who said top shelf indoor is still around 25 wholesale. the guys popping new strains of all the trendy crosses while at the same pumping tried and trues like OG are still makin it!
 
S

SooperSmurph

talked to some CO growers who said top shelf indoor is still around 25 wholesale. the guys popping new strains of all the trendy crosses while at the same pumping tried and trues like OG are still makin it!
Cutting yourself off socially leads to lower prices for your product, I experienced this first hand, one month, panic, next, reassurance.
 

Donald Mallard

el duck
Veteran
People talking about amazing things many years ago all seem to have one thing in common... they can't find those things now.

I don't care if someone smuggles some of my personal genetics to Marlboro, i'm still not smoking that.

Well yea we dont get thai stick anymore ,
and im pretty sure your aware of why ..
im sure that stuff used to put food on a lot of poor families tables back in the day ...

Your personal genetics sounds pretty special , where did you get those??
Why would they be better than something else ?
Isnt it just cannabis ?
 
S

SooperSmurph

Well yea we dont get thai stick anymore ,
and im pretty sure your aware of why ..
im sure that stuff used to put food on a lot of poor families tables back in the day ...

Your personal genetics sounds pretty special , where did you get those??
Why would they be better than something else ?
Isnt it just cannabis ?
Are truffles just mushrooms?

Are cows raised on Kobe farms just cattle?

Is In-&-Out Burger just another McDonald's clone?

Every year or two a new "premium" burger comes from one of the major national chains, and every time it's a pile of shit compared to a classic double double from I&O.

Will there be a year or two of dollar menu weed? Sure, but eventually, that stuff is just gonna be for the people who can't afford anything else.
 

Jhhnn

Active member
Veteran
In an open market scenario, commercial cannabis would end up like wine- everything from Ripple to very high end varietals. Concentrates would range from cheap vodka to excellent cognac. We'd see brand name blended dry sift like scotch whiskey. They'd have cured bud at farmers' markets, fresh spears in season.

Gardeners would be able to buy seeds, clones & seedlings at the garden center, like tomatoes, peppers & eggplant.

Indoor? Surely you jest. Only the fact that it's been illegal has ever made that profitable.
 

Yes4Prop215

Active member
Veteran
already happening with the super high end branding. some guys are charging 100-180 a gram for dry sift lol, or packs of seeds for 6-700. but they dont have a huge market share its mostly niche.
 

shredGnar

Member
. So they have to harvest it at their local Cannabis tree farm? So they have to dry and manicure the plant? Most will be happy to.
-SamS

I won't argue that quality cannabis can be grown multi acre outdoor for few dollars. I've never done it, you have and I believe you. I just really don't think I see the pot tree farm being the way of the future.

How many people really area going to drive out to a pot farm to chop down a tree, haul it home, dry and manicure, when they just want to smoke a bowl?

A proper environment is critical to the dry, are folks really going to be setting up drying rooms in their home for their take home pot tree?

Sure Christmas tree farms are a success, however people like to make a family tradition once a year to go chop down their tree. It doesn't seem as feasible for a commodity that many use frequently, even multiple times a day.

You can go to a farm and pick strawberries for a discount, but how many people do that compared to buying them harvested, cleaned and packaged at the store?

As many have pointed out, you can buy loose bulk tobacco for a few bucks a pound, but millions still pay $6+ for a half an ounce of shitty machine processed machine rolled cigarettes.

People pay for convenience, they don't want to learn a new trick. They want to go to the store and pick up a product ready to use.

I have no doubt, if possible, that Sam the skunk man's farm would be a success, just don't see that being the norm.

Also, you said earlier you can plant 10,000 large plants on an acre? Is that accurate? I was reading on Christmas tree farms after I read your post. They claim a 6'x6' footprint allows for approx 1200 trees per acre. $12k an acre is much better than most large monocrop farms.

Additionally, what would you do about the harvest window? Christmas trees can be cut down anytime. But at your pot farm wouldn't you need to sell every plant within a week or so to ensure they are harvested at their premium?
 

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