As of August 2022, Bragg Canna of Mississippi, LLC is approved by the state of Mississippi as a licensee for the cultivation, processing, and dispensing of medical cannabis. Bragg Canna will cultivate and process medical cannabis in Canton, Mississippi and announce two initial dispensary locations in Tupelo and Pearl. The Pearl location is just across the river from the state capital of Jackson, MS, and other dispensary locations are expected to be announced in the upcoming months.
Dennis Bragg of Bragg Farms is the leader of Bragg Canna. Dennis, alongside his family, cultivates more than 10,000 acres in Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana. Bragg Farms is synonymous in the South with the finest crops of cotton, wheat, soybeans, and corn. Mr. Bragg is highly regarded in the agricultural community throughout the Southeastern United States for his innovations in irrigation and other agricultural advancements, as well as his civic and community service.
Mr. Bragg describes the personal value of this opportunity to help patients across the state of Mississippi: "What this license does is it allows me to come in direct contact with patients and caregivers just like myself that I wouldn't have the chance to serve otherwise. I have had people help my family and me in the past, and now I will be able to help others. I'm grateful to have this opportunity."
Mr. Bragg attended Auburn University and received a Building Science degree from the School of Architecture before returning home to North Alabama to focus on operating and managing Bragg Farms. With his vision and support from his family, Mr. Bragg designed and built the largest irrigation systems in the southeast. The most recent irrigation system project won Alabama's 2017 BuildSouth Award. The successfully consistent irrigated crops, robust supply chain, and years of experience have allowed Bragg Farms to supply numerous Fortune 500 companies with agricultural products necessary to make their businesses thrive.
In 2019, Mr. Bragg began growing and processing over 3,000,000 CBD-rich hemp plants through Alabama's pilot program to introduce the use of cannabis to those seeking a way to ease their suffering. Through a generational reputation of integrity and agricultural success, Mr. Bragg has built Bragg Canna to bring consistent, high-quality, medical-grade cannabis to comfort patients in need of relief.
Mr. Bragg sees the similarities between the newer cannabis crops and the more traditional crops his family has been growing for generations: "As a farm family, we have spent generations teaching ourselves how to grow food to build and sustain our bodies. Now we will take that knowledge and grow medicine to heal and comfort our bodies."
Mr. Bragg is joined by Lewis Swarts (COO), who brings extensive large-scale agricultural, process control, and cannabis industry experience to Bragg Canna to provide high-quality medical cannabis to patients in the state of Mississippi. Mr. Swarts has spent time as the National Directory of Operational Excellence and Vice President of Operations of the largest value-added produce/vegetable company in the world, servicing various Fortune 20 companies. Mr. Swarts has leveraged his agricultural business expertise within the cannabis and hemp industry with numerous executive roles and board positions for market-leading public cannabis operators and private global leaders in industrial hemp. His proficiency from cultivation to dispensing has added value and standardized growth to the dynamic cannabis sector, and has a track record of success in new ventures. While utilizing his experience in operating large-scale operations: he is focused on building medical cannabis companies that are patient-focused, local, and of the highest standards.
While Bragg Canna's collective business and industry leadership experience is extensive, perhaps more robust is their goal to deliver a patient experience that is second-to-none and tailored to patient and healthcare provider needs.
When initially founding Bragg Canna, the goal from the outset was clear: communicate to patients and healthcare providers that a highly-professional and well-qualified agricultural team (with additional background in cannabis cultivation and production operations) is responsible for growing and processing their medical cannabis from seed to sale. Bragg Canna's leadership and collective experience helps ensure the highest quality products, as well as the most welcoming and educational experience, will be provided to new and experienced medical cannabis patients. Bragg Canna's leadership recognizes the importance of providing consistent, safe, and effective medication on which patients and healthcare providers can rely.
"We believe there are clear advantages in having farmers with a deep well of experience in safely and effectively growing a food supply to shift into growing medical cannabis. The attention to detail necessary to ensure the medication patients put into their bodies is safe, clean, and beneficial is an area we are confident we are able to excel in because we have already done so in a similar manner for generations with food," Mr. Bragg says.
Bragg Canna's initial cultivation and warehouse space is designed and built in an effort to ensure they can effectively service patients across the state of Mississippi.
Bragg Canna's logo depicts the Caladrius, a mythical bird derived from Roman mythology that is said to draw a person's sickness or suffering into itself and fly it up into the sun.
Mr. Bragg defines the importance of selecting a brand image that portrays more to patients than simply a cannabis leaf: "In choosing Caladrius to represent Bragg Canna, it was more about what cannabis does than what it is. Everyone has their thought about what cannabis is, but what it does is more singular. When I saw an image of this mythical bird standing on the chest of a child, drawing out their sickness with its stare, I knew at that moment that it was a clear allegory of what cannabis does and that we needed such an image to help patients understand how we view their medical journey: a journey of healing and restoration."
For more information:
Brag Canna 
www.braggcanna.com