The West Coast’s most destructive wildfire season on record raged this fall, in the midst of the country’s most pervasive drought since 2013. More than five million acres of land have burned, and many farms, cannabis and otherwise, have had to evacuate.
While most crop farms are covered by insurance in the event of environmental destruction, insurers (including big banks) remain wary of cannabis farms. As of May 2020, a mere six companies nationwide offered insurance to farms that grow cannabis that contains more than 0.3 percent THC, the main psychoactive compound of the plant.
Hemp, defined as cannabis that contains 0.3 percent THC or less, qualified for federal crop insurance only starting this planting year. Many marijuana crops are uninsured, which means in the wake of a fire, farmers can face financial ruin.
Jeff Nordahl, 47, runs Jade Nectar, a small family-run cannabis business in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Wildfires came within a mile of his farm this fall, and Mr. Nordahl and his employees had to evacuate for nearly a month. “Three weeks of not being able to water cannabis during the 90-to-100-degree days will kill cannabis within three to four days,” he said.
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