Warning to pot farmers: Feds won’t irrigate that crop

Federally-managed irrigation water cannot be used on marijuana crops. It’s just the latest cannabis conflict among the states and the federal government.

Farmers requested a ruling and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation made it clear with the irrigation ruling Tuesday that the federal government will continue to control the production and sale of marijuana where it can.

North of Pasco, Alan Schreiber has applied for a license to grow marijuana on his farm, where you’ll find many different crops.

“I grow everything on my farm from artichoke to zucchini, literally A to Z. I have over 100 different items that grow on my farm,” explained Schreiber. “I would still be able to receive water but they are going to try and not allow the water that comes on to my farm to be used for that particular crop.”

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has said it doesn’t know how it will manage that, according to Schreiber. The Bureau provides irrigation water in 17 states, including Washington and Colorado. Schreiber considers the decision on irrigation an irritation for pot farmers, who might have to pay a little more for another source.

“You can buy water from someone who has a well, there are thousands and thousands of wells, you put up a big tank. Accessing non-Bureau water is just going to be a cost of doing business,” said Schreiber.

And what a business it could be. In time, Schreiber thinks marijuana could be 400 times more valuable than blueberries, currently the most valuable crop per acre in Washington.

“I think this could be an immensely valuable crop and so there’s going to be a lot of pressure to grow it,” said Schreiber.

He sees the irrigation ruling as a sign of a larger issue.

“This is not the first and it’s not going to be the last where there’s a conflict between the state and federal law and until there’s some national consensus, there’s going to be a number of these kinds of issues,” Schreiber predicted. Such as taxes, banking, business expenses, even pesticide testing. Schreiber is a PhD and professor at Washington State University and wants to farm cannabis for research purposes.

“It is basically against the law for a university to do research on cannabis so Washington State University cannot do any research, cannot do any extension work, the USDA can’t do any work on cannabis, it’s against the law to register a pesticide on cannabis,” explained Schreiber.

He predicts a “day of reckoning” when it comes to cannabis pest management. He hopes that his research will help solve some of those problems – if the feds will ever let him plant a research crop of cannabis.