Is weed taking over precious vineyard soil?

By / Wine + Drinks / November 15th, 2017 / 7

In October, a rumour started floating around the vast digital space we know as the internet. It stated that the world-leading cannabis company Canopy Growth’s brand, Tweed, had purchased St. David’s winery, Coyote’s Run.

As with all rumours, the source is hard to pinpoint. And it was pretty much entirely false. Coyote’s Run did not sell its land to its Concession 5 Road neighbour.

We wondered at the reaction to this rumour, as it did spark some interesting responses and discussions in the industry about the availability of viable soil and farmland.

There were questions about weed production taking over viable farmland – where will the wineries go, oh no! Comments to the effect of “get off my lawn” only said in a bit less of a grouchy old man voice. For the most part though, there was just confusion.

Jordan Sinclair, Director of Communications and Media for Canopy Growth, shared Tweed’s mission and goals when it comes purchasing agricultural space: “As we expand we look for a variety of things to ensure we can run a successful site but soil quality isn’t high on that list. We look for greenhouses or indoor grows and always supply our own media for the plants so what a winemaker would call prime land wouldn’t necessarily meet all of our criteria. If you look at Smiths Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Yorkton, and elsewhere with Canopy Growth locations, our driving mission is to create jobs and economic prosperity for the communities where we operate.”

We reached out to vineyards and wineries in the area to see what they thought about the rumours and Tweed; unfortunately, none chose to comment.

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