Michael and Ashley Laca, Owners, Desert Hemp
Michael- Agronomy consulting, greenhouse, growing, genetics, sales
Ashley- CBD retail manager and customer relations
What makes your greenhouse grow/farm special? Had you worked with cannabis or as a farmer prior?
Michael began his career in row crop agriculture in 2003. He has a bachelor’s in biology (University of Nevada, Reno) and a master’s in plants, soils, and climate (Utah State University). He worked as a salesman for two different ag retail locations before creating his own consulting business in 2017, Northern Nevada Ag Consulting. His consulting expertise expanded into hemp that same year as there were more and more of his clients starting to grow in Nevada and other western regions. To date, Michael has worked with/consulted on approximately 15,000 acres of hemp across Nevada, Washington, Idaho, Utah, California, Wisconsin, Texas and Oklahoma.
Our personal hemp business, Desert Hemp, is in the small town of Fallon, Nevada. Our farm is special because we farm at high elevation (4500 feet) in the high desert with an early potential for freeze. We pride ourselves now in doing things on a small scale (2-3 acres) but doing them well. Over the years we have learned how difficult it can be to be successful and profitable in the hemp industry. We have grown large acreage (73) and had to leave much of it in the field to be harvested for biomass. Michael has been able to see firsthand most hemp operations come and go because of his consulting career. This has given us firsthand insight as to what can make or break a hemp operation. Most of the hemp operations that are still in operation are running on fumes.
As far as our retail CBD business goes, we are proud to say our products are offered at the Saint Mary’s Medical Group in Reno, Nevada. We know there are many people who appreciate knowing where their products are sourced and enjoy supporting local and family businesses. It is great that we can have a direct connection with many of our customers and answer questions or concerns they may have about CBD and hemp, from the original genetics to what’s in the bottle.
What does your farm produce? Favorite strain?
In the past we have produced large-scale, low-testing biomass and machine-trimmed smokable grade flower. There was a market for this at that time. We now specialize in hand trimmed outdoor/indoor CBD and CBG flowers, as well as high-testing, smaller scale, hand-dried and hand-shucked CBG/CBD biomass. Our favorite strains to grow have been White CBG, Sour Space Candy, and our in-house cross Greenwave, which is acclimated for our soils and climate. Oregon CBD varieties are great to grow in our climate because of the mid-September/early October flowering times.
In your opinion, what makes greenhouse cultivation special?
Greenhouse cultivation is special because it is much more intensive than outdoor cultivation and insect pests must be monitored very closely. We have learned the hard way about russet mites early in indoor cultivation.
What are some of your favorite technological advancements in greenhouse cultivation you have seen in the industry?
The lighting efficiency has improved drastically in efficiency and power consumption.
Any good stories of obstacles you have had to overcome in the greenhouse/outdoors?
Cannabis is very sensitive to correct pH and nutrient availability. Whether you are growing indoors or outdoors, a well-balanced soil with pH 5.5-6.7 will drastically increase your yield and nutrient uptake efficiency. If starting plants indoors, make sure you know what your soil nutrient load and pH is before going large scale. Before you do an expensive large run, try a small scale indoor trial. I once had a client doing 1 million seed starts who was not pHing water from a well that grew great alfalfa. The starts germinated, then would get tip-back and die. Once the water was tested we found the pH was 8 and salts were very high. Using Dosatrons, a cheap acid program, and some soil remediation, we had successful germination - from less than 10% to well over 90%.
I have seen many cannabis plants die from overwatering, yet none that have died from drought or underwatering. If it is your first time farming under plastic, be very careful. Cover crops are much easier to deal with. Drought stress and overwatering look very similar, with one important exception. Once you get root rot the plant is dead for certain; however, if underwatered, the plant will bounce right back after irrigating. Someone once told me that cannabis likes to get drunk, sober up, and get drunk again. This theory holds true when irrigating the plant.
If possible, pick soils that are sandy loam, as they drain well and are much more forgiving than heavy soils when it comes to irrigating.
Do you have any advice for anyone entering the industry? Where do you think the industry is headed?
Before entering the industry please do your research on the potential buyers’ market and please buy from reputable seed/start companies. I guarantee the cheapest part of your operation will be the purchasing of good genetics. Too often I see seed brokered multiple times from the originator to farmer. Buy direct, it is that simple.
Also, please be well versed on how to scout for male plants at initiation of sex determination in the fall. One male plant can drastically change the outcome of your grow and make your field less profitable and very hard to sale if seeded.
I believe the industry will continue to see many farms, whether large or small, come and go based on people getting into the industry with no end user. Once all states adopt the USDA laws, high test smokable CBD flower will fade until genetic improvements catch up with those laws.
And finally, if there are any people that you’d like to recognize from your farm or the industry in general that have helped get the company to where it is now?
I would like to recognize anyone out there who is doing their own farm research as well as plant breeding to keep the industry moving forward during ever-changing regulation. Too often I have seen people take credit for what others have done and steal their genetics, renaming them as their own. It takes years of research to select varieties.
I would also like to thank Oregon CBD for developing early flower genetics, which give farmers yield potential over autoflowers while fully finishing plants in September. We have grown CBD seeds out from all over the United States now, and Oregon CBD seed has been the most consistent, with 3 true males and 4 hermies this year out of 10,000 plants.