By many accounts, 2020 wasn’t a good year. Especially for the west coast states of Washington, Oregon, and California, who saw some of the worst fires in history. California alone saw more than 2.2 million acres burned by the beginning of September of 2020. This is an increase of almost 2,000% percent from 2019, according to Cal Fire. In amongst the acres burned were hemp producers.

Luckily, many hemp growers and producers were spared the worst that the fires offered. Unfortunately, there were some farms and production areas lost. However, many saw themselves saved from what has become the worst fire season in history. 2020 was determined to be one of the worst years in recent history it seemed.

Now the concern turns to the overall health of the cannabis plant. There were spot tests taken during the initial fire season. This happened to make sure that the plant was safe for production and consumption. California is known for having one of the strictest tests to make sure that all cannabis consumption, whether in actual cannabis form or in the form of hemp, is safe for humans.

Hemp Industry

What producers found was surprising. Many of their plants, even though exposed to smoke and lack of sunlight for an extended period of time, there isn’t much change to the plant structure itself. Many plants saw absolutely no change, meaning that the hardy cannabis plant can thrive even in slightly stressful situations. One research study showed that cannabis plants can grow within 8 miles of a fire and not be affected by the smoke and ash in the air.

Now that the fire season has passed, many producers are harvesting their growths to start production of various products. There hasn’t been any data that has shown a negative effect on the cannabis plant yet, but not many have reported in. Results remain to be seen at this time.

Furthermore, some companies could possibly see a loss of as much as $4.5 million. That reduces profit from an estimated $14 million down to $9.5-11 million. Producers, while disappointed about the loss, are still looking at the positives of the situation. Many fields of cannabis were spared from the fire, and the crop has continued to thrive despite less than ideal conditions. 

Future Outlook

This has opened the eyes of many companies on how to handle situations like this in the future. More fires are inevitably going to break out. So knowing what the industry is going to do compared to this year’s scrambling is another positive to come out of this situation. Any further impact on the industry remains to be seen.

Make sure to check back for more cannabis and hemp news.