Missourians for a New Approach’s 2020 ballot initiative to pass adult-use cannabis legalization in the state ended because of the coronavirus pandemic that has swept the nation. Now, the group is looking ahead to the 2022 ballot.

Dan Viets is an attorney who chairs the group’s advisory board and is both secretary of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and that organization’s state coordinator for Missouri.

Viets noted a recent Gallup poll showed that 70% of Americans consider smoking cannabis to be morally acceptable. “By November of 2022, I think—I'll just speak for myself on this point—but I think we will probably be approaching the same support we had for medical in 2018, and that was 66%," he said.

He contributes that prediction to the following: “It's partly the aging of the population, but it’s also the fact that across the nation, obviously, cannabis is now much more accepted.”

Viets said the task of gathering signatures from 8% of voters in six out of Missouri’s eight congressional districts, as governed by state law, required numerous resources but was feasible until the pandemic struck.

Other groups gathering signatures for separate initiatives were able to continue to do so, but Missourians for a New Approach still had a ways to go to reach the signature requirement, which, according to the Springfield News-Leader, is around 160,000.

A following attempt by the group to convince the state to allow electronic signatures was unsuccessful, Viets said.

“I think it's all but certain that we will be launching another campaign for a similar measure, maybe not exactly the same, but [a] very similar measure,” he said. “And we will probably launch that effort shortly after the November election.”

The group believes it is people’s right to grow their own cannabis, he said, and is also proposing the creation of “a healthy and consumer-friendly, regulated and taxed commercial cannabis industry.”

Viets was one of the authors of Amendment 2 in Missouri’s 2018 general election, which legalized medical cannabis and is now Article 14, Section 1 of the state constitution.

One of the things he said he and his co-authors of the medical initiative aimed to ensure was the sale of clones and seedlings in medical dispensaries. The language wasn’t clear enough, though, so he strives to explicitly push to legalize those products’ sale.

Also, on the medical side, Viets is looking to address patient access, as the state requires them to renew their prescription/card/application each year. He said: “It does seem an unnecessary burden to make patients go back to the doctor every year.”

Regardless of where you are on your hemp farming journey, financial planning is as important as your cultivation strategy. Launching a new business comes with a significant degree of risk: About 20% of startups with employees fail within their first year and 50% fail within 5 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics. The biggest risk factor? “Running out of money …,” according to Investopedia.

Proper budgeting, therefore, is key to survival. In that vein, staff at The Pennsylvania State University’s (PSU) College of Agricultural Sciences Extension—including research, horticulture and agricultural economics experts—created sample production budgets to help hemp farmers project expenses and income to estimate the profitability of their farming operations. While the budget models were developed in 2018 and 2019, Jeffrey S. Graybill, agronomy education at Penn State Extension, noted them as helpful resources for hemp growers during his presentation at the recent Cannabis Conference Virtual Conference Series’ Hemp Virtual Conference. Hemp Grower followed up with Graybill to learn more.

Production Output Budgets

Penn State experts developed three models:

• Industrial Hemp CBD Production Budget
• Industrial Hemp Grain Production Budget, and
• Industrial Hemp Fiber Production Budget.

The sample budgets allows farmers to fill in their variable costs, such as soil tests and other testing fees, fertilizer/soil amendments, seed, hand labor, grain or bale hauling, drying CBD biomass, diesel fuel for tractors, and more. Farmers also can fill in the quantity and the price they expect to garner for their CBD biomass, grain or fiber.

“I have worked through the spreadsheets myself to get a feel for them and how real-world they are. I think they can be a big help when both considering growing hemp and when planning and budgeting for the crop you have in the ground,” says Graybill.

However, Graybill suggests farmers should overestimate certain items, which can help avoid the cashflow problem some startups face.

“For the CBD budget, I think people need to consider the cost of harvest labor and possibly make it larger than the example ($750/acre),” says Graybill. “I think a lot of new growers have no idea how much labor will be needed and what the cost of it is.”

While labor costs should be considered for any farming operation, Lynn Kime, Ph.D., senior extension associate with expertise in agriculture economy, who was involved in creating the model production budgets, agrees that is it particularly important when growing for cannabinoids, such as CBD. “Grain and fiber production is done with equipment as a grain crop would be. CBD is more aligned with a horticultural crop which requires more hand labor,” says Kime. “The CBD budget includes much more labor costs than the grain or fiber production.”

The expected sale price for hemp products (whether biomass, fiber or grain) is another area that farmers should not only research upfront, but also monitor for changes over time, Graybill suggests. “We have had prices drop significantly, and the spreadsheet allows [farmers] to quickly see how the market can really affect their income potential.”

Additional information and guidelines for using the sample budgets can be found here for grain and fiber production, and here for CBD production.

Green Therapeutics LLC and Meridian Companies LLC have filed a lawsuit against Australis Capital Inc. in Nevada’s Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County— against which Australis announced it plans to “vigorously defend” itself. An Australis investor has also publicly criticized the defendant.

The plaintiffs’ complaint, which has been heavily redacted, states that “… Australis stole … from Plaintiffs under false pretenses, has breached the contracts, and has acted in a manner inconsistent with the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” Alleged damages have exceeded $15,000.

The plaintiffs declined comment to Cannabis Business Times. The defendants could not be reached for comment.

In a press release, Green Therapeutics, a Nevada cultivator, manufacturer and processor, alleges it and Meridian transferred to Australis nearly 9 acres of land in North Las Vegas, in addition to brands, licenses “and other intellectual property, assets, and rights” in exchange for Australis shares “and other promises and rights.” An Australis press release from May 2019 announced the news, citing plans to build a “400,000 square foot cultivation and production facility which will be built to the industry recognized Aurora Cannabis standard.” (Canada-based Aurora has since fallen from grace, with plunging stock, the departure of founder Terry Booth and mass layoffs.)

Green Therapeutics and Meridian state that Australis no longer plans to construct the 400,000-square-foot facility. Instead, it outlined plans to sell the property “and use the proceeds to purchase Passport Technology Inc. (or alternatively transfer the property in connection with such transaction), a company majority owned and controlled by a director of Australis.”

A July 3 Australis press release said: “the Plaintiffs' complaint of breach of contract is without merit and is an opportunistic ploy to reverse two separate and legitimate, closed deals in which Green Therapeutics sold to Australis certain cannabis licenses, brands, and other assets in exchange for common shares of Australis, and Meridian sold to Australis certain real property.

"It is noteworthy that, with respect to the asset purchase agreement, the State of Nevada has placed a moratorium on cannabis license transfers since October of 2019, which has adversely impacted Australis' ability to realize any investment returns and for which Australis has not sought remuneration or relief from Plaintiffs.”

Australis isn’t just facing opposition from Green Therapeutics for its decision to pivot from cannabis cultivation and processing.

In a press release dated June 26, Roger Sykes, “Concerned Shareholder of Australis Capital Inc.,” alleges the purchase would “further dilut[e] the Company's shareholders at a time when the Company's shares are trading at a price that is less than 10% of their price at the time of listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange [in September 2018].” He alleges Scott Dowty, executive chairman of Australis and executive chairman of Passport, stands to gain millions of dollars from the acquisition regardless of if it succeeds, while other shareholders are being asked to pay for the purchase without due explanation.