Medical marijuana: a growing industry | Local News

In 2020, 60.6% of Butte County voters were in favor of Initiated Measure 26, which legalized medical marijuana, but only 36% of Butte County voters were in favor of IM 27, which would have legalized recreational marijuana.

The Black Hills Pioneer recently visited with a Butte County cultivation and dispensary operation.

Located near the Belle Fourche Reservoir — enclosed by a nine-foot, metal security fence — is the Dakota Green Terp Ranch, home to a 3,000 square foot greenhouse full of cannabis plants.

“We wanted to be out in the middle of nowhere because we didn’t want to be too abrasive to Butte County. We first spoke to all the surrounding owners, and they were all fine with it,” said Nevada Ellison, the chief operations officer of Dakota Green.

They also took into account the direction of the prevailing wind to lower the impact of the facility’s odor and the travel of pollen.

The parent company, Dakota Green, owns two cultivation facilities, the Dakota Green Terp Ranch in Butte County, and an indoor facility in Pennington County; two dispensaries, Redwater Cannabis Care in Belle Fourche, and another in Fort Pierre; and they are in the process of getting a manufacturing license in Pennington County.

Brandon Manger, the lead cultivator at the Terp Ranch, is a fourth-generation farmer in the Dakotas, and Ellison is a fifth-generation rancher from South Dakota.

“We’re the local players in this newly evolving industry,” said Manger.

Both said they tried marijuana for the first time while in college, but their desire to work in the industry comes from very similar and personal reasons.

“My mom had cancer, and Brandon’s mom had cancer,” said Ellison. “When you’re taking chemo, you don’t have an appetite. You’re taking massive amounts of opioids, and you can’t go to the bathroom. You can’t sleep, and one of the things that helped my mom was cannabis.”

“My mom was anti-cannabis her whole life. About three months before she passed away, she called me and said she needed something else. She couldn’t get out of her chair, and she was taking 300 mg of oxycodone a day,” Ellison continued. “A friend from Colorado brought her gummies, and she said she was able to be out in the garden (that day). It gave her three months of her life, spending time with my 12-year-old sister.”

“Cannabis was the only thing that allowed my mom to have a decent life towards the end of her run,” Manger said with tears in his eyes. “I’m fourth-generation agriculture, and my dad’s side of the family is all law enforcement. We were extremely anti-cannabis growing up, and it shifted my dad’s views 180 degrees when he had a loved one that was sick.”

“He saw what marijuana actually did for my mom. It allowed her quality of life to be something towards the end. She was able to eat and sleep and spend time with her family,” Manger added.

“Each member (of the company) got into this because we had a family member who had to break the law to receive help at the end of their lives. We’re not here to make a fortune. We’re here to help people,” Ellison added.

Dakota Green has 10 strains of cannabis in their greenhouse, with plans of expanding as demand increases.

Those strains were specifically selected, not for their THC level, but rather for the different terpenes, the beneficial components of cannabis.

This is where the ranch gets its name. Terp is short for terpenes. For this reason, the plants are lower in THC (around 20% THC) but higher in terpenes. On the other hand, their hydroponics indoor facility in Pennington County focuses more on a higher THC level (around 30% THC), which will be more commonly used for cancer patients, Ellison and Manger said. THC, tetrahydrocannabinol, is the major component in marijuana that gives the high.

Ellison said their current greenhouse is one of the more advanced ones in the state, kept at around 75 degrees fahrenheit.

“We run LED lights, so we can cut our power usage in half by using better technology,” said Manger. “There’s a light sensor, so when the sun is not bright enough, the lights will come on, and when it is bright enough, they go off.”

The greenhouse also has a specific humidity level, and the plants use around 6,000 gallons of water each month.

Water usage is one aspect that a group opposed to the industry has repeatedly brought up to county commissioners.

“Annually, our one greenhouse will use the same amount of water as about 50 head of cattle,” said Manger. “We will use less water than a 300-head cattle operation when we have all six of our greenhouses open. We’re just a speck of dust when it comes to water usage.”

Ellison added that marijuana plants and tomato plants require a very similar amount of water and nutrients.

The plants are potted in 30-gallon fabric pots with living organic soil.

“We are organic and California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) certified with everything we use,” said Manger.

In order to start growing a full greenhouse of cannabis, Manger began by growing multiple seeds of each of the 10 strains. As they grew into mature plants, he chose the best plant out of each strain. He calls each chosen plant the “mother plant.”

“The mother plant can stay the mother plant for upwards of two years. It’s a long vetting process to become a mother plant,” said Manger.

“We want a lot of uniformity. If you grow from seeds, it’s like brothers and sisters. If we take from a mother plant, it’s more like clones,” Ellison added.

The clones are made by taking clippings directly from the mother plant.

The plants grow for around five months before being cut off at the stem and harvested. The next step in the process is to dry the plants, where they shrink by about 70%.

“We have to log weights with our metric system. Every plant has its own tag number, and that tag number gets registered. We take a wet harvest weight, and then the plant is hung, and we take a dry harvest weight,” said Manger. “I do like that the state implemented the metric system, because it’s given us time to work with the program.”

The drying process, just like the growing process, is very specific.

“You have to have super regulated temperature and humidity when you are drying the plant. You don’t want to dry it too fast because you will dry out all of your terpenes, which gives the smell, flavor, and medicinal benefits,” said Manger. “Terpenes are found in everything — like the smell of a flower, the smell of a tree, the taste of an orange — it’s all categorized plant oil.”

“There’s thousands of different strains of cannabis, and each one produces just a little bit different terpene profile. Whether you’re going for anti-anxiety or anti-inflammatory, certain medicinal benefits can be found more in certain strains,” said Manger. “That’s why we try to diversify what we grow, to offer a broader spectrum (of medical benefits).”

“Right now the state does not test for the terpenes, but I think they will start testing for it soon,” said Manger. “Once they do start testing, we will be able to show the percent of CBD and THC, and we will also be able to list the terpenes in the concentration. It’ll help the patients hone in on what they are trying to get out of the plant.”

“After the flowers are dry enough, they get bucked off of their main stems, placed into totes, and then the testing company comes, and they gather the test,” said Manger.  “I support that, too, that way a grower doesn’t have a chance to handpick their own test. It’s an independent lab.”

Manger explained that the tester, provided by the state, randomly selects flowers to test from each batch.

“After you pass your microbial, fungus, bacteria testing, then the THC content is analyzed, and then you have a marketable product,” said Manger.

“Especially when you’re dealing with immunocompromised patients, the product has to be clean,” said Manger. “There should be no other option, and that’s the glory of being able to sell cannabis in South Dakota. Now we can ensure that it’s a premium product and safe for consumption.”

At this point, the flower can be sold in a dispensary and smoked by cardholders, but for other products like oils and edibles, the flower needs to be manufactured.

“They (the manufacturer) extract the cannabinoid off of the leaf matter, and that’s what they make tinctures with, and oils, vape pens, ointments, all that stuff,” said Ellison.

Redwater Cannabis Care on Highway 85 is currently open, and these products are available for purchase by cardholders.

This dispensary is where most of Dakota Green’s products will be sold, but it can also be found in other dispensaries across the state.

“We want to focus on wellness and physical fitness with our dispensary. We don’t want to just be a ‘pot shop,’” said Ellison.

Along with these health and wellness efforts, Ellison said that they hope to help local schools educate children on the dangers of drug and alcohol usage.

“We would love to help schools with education,” said Ellison. “I am 100% opposed to anyone under 21 using cannabis, because it can be detrimental to their development, just like alcohol or any other substance.”

For South Dakota legislators, law enforcement, and other city officials, the Dakota Green Terp Ranch has an open door policy.

“We want to show people that this is safe and secure. This is not a cartel run operation, and we will not be infiltrated by the cartel,” said Ellison.

Ellison explained that they will eventually have six greenhouses but are starting with just one so that they don’t flood the market. He explained that legalizing medical marijuana without legalizing recreational marijuana is better for the market.

“Usually what happens when recreational passes is the big players will grow and produce it (marijuana) for so cheap, and it kind of washes us out,” said Ellison. “For it to just remain medical for a while will be good for the patient because they will get a higher quality product. It’s good for us mom-and-pop shops, too, and the money will stay local.”

“With recreational not going through, it’s kind of a silver lining. We can make sure we are doing a good job instead of just racing to produce a bunch of cannabis,” said Manger. “That’s our direction — to start slow, to do it the right way, to do a good job, to provide good and safe products, and then slowly ease up into six greenhouses.”

The second part of this series, which explores the certification of medical marijuana cardholders, will be in Tuesday’s Black Hills Pioneer.

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