NIAGARA COUNTY, N.Y. — 2 On Your Side got an inside look at one of the state's largest indoor growing facilities on Tuesday that is hoping to be able to supply recreational marijuana to retailers by this time next year.
Wheatfield Gardens in Niagara County also uses less energy than a typical greenhouse of its size.
As far as any timeline for a decision about the licenses to grow recreational marijuana goes, it all hinges on what the state decides to do. If the state issues cultivation licenses in the first quarter of next year, cannabis grown at Wheatfield Gardens would be in stores a year from now.
They've been part of the hemp research program since 2017 and have everything set up and ready to go. They grow it without pesticides and it's all enclosed, so there's no chance of contamination from animals. There's no guarantee they'll get a state license to grow cannabis for adult-use, but they like their chances.
"A lot of states have been out there, so we've got some guardrails already in other states that we think New York's going to use. They want to pattern a lot of the regulations after the craft beer industry. They have a large number of micro licenses that allow for social equity and participation in the category, and our hope would be to be medical-use and adult-use," says Steve Leous with Wheatfield Gardens.
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Wheatfield Gardens also has a special air system in the buildings that controls the heating, cooling, humidity and CO2 which is estimated to cut energy usage by 30-percent from a typical kind of greenhouse.