Farmers wary of growing marijuana in Colorado and Washington

[Jenna]

Too many unanswered questions remain about the new law, from how the state will regulate it, to whether entrepreneurs or large corporations should lead the way. And the biggest question: the federal government's role going forward.Marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Many states have approved it for medical use, but only Washington and Colorado have legalized it for recreational use.The Justice Department has not said whether it will try to block the two states from implementing their new laws, passed late last year. For that reason, key land-grant universities that typically aid the agriculture industry by researching such things as pest control and crop yields — but rely on federal funding to do so — are avoiding the marijuana industry altogether.In addition, marijuana is a crop that can't be insured, and federal drug law bars banks from knowingly serving the industry.Any combination of those factors makes farmers leery of planting marijuana in the near term, said Bob Young, chief economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Pot seen as risky gamble by Colo. and Wash. farmers

[Ducky]

I should think they'd be pretty worried about crop poaching as well.

[ChesCopPodz]

The bank thing has been a big thing for the medical marijuana businesses here. Cash start up only. No bank loans from any bank with FDIC insurance. Every. Last. One. of those places have been burglarized at least once, some up to a dozen times.

I know of one grow business that was put out of business from a burg. Two guys dumped their life savings into renting the building, buying products, and paying the enormous electric and water bills for months while the first round of plants grew. They expected $1000 per plant.

About 2 weeks before they were ready to "harvest", they got burged and all of the plants taken. They had to go out of business because they could not afford to wait for another round of plants to grow.

[ChesCopPodz]

I also wonder how it would work for farmers who decide to add marijuana to their crop rotation, because just about every farm out there gets fed subsidy money.