Louisiana’s largest medical marijuana producer is doubling its cannabis growing space in 2023, citing projections for higher demand and new laws it believes have streamlined regulations.
Good Day Farm, the private partner of the LSU AgCenter, is adding 40,000 square feet of cultivation capacity at its 225,000-square-foot mega facility in Ruston.
“With the significant improvements made to the medical marijuana program by the Legislature, Good Day Farm Louisiana anticipated patient count and demand would eventually increase, so we expanded into a 225,000-square-foot facility in Ruston (in 2021) with over 220 employees,” said David Kirsch, Good Day Farm’s vice president of Ruston operations, in a statement to USA Today Network.
“Planning for the highest forecasted patient needs, we have over 40,000 square feet of operational indoor gardens with over 40,000 square feet of additional indoor gardens expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2023,” Kirsch said.
The LSU AgCenter and Southern AgCenter and their private partners are the only growers who can legally cultivate cannabis in Louisiana’s medical marijuana program.
MJBizDaily, an online publication devoted to the cannabis industry, projects Louisiana’s medical marijuana sales to rise as high as $400 million by 2025.
Last month Ruston’s City Council approved a reduced electricity rate for Good Day Farm to help offset the cost of new transformers required to fuel the expansion.
“We’re absolutely pleased with their growth and job creation,” Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker said. “They’ve been an incredibly good corporate partner.”
Good Day also operates a smaller growing facility in Baton Rouge that includes an LSU AgCenter research lab.
The company invested more than $50 million in its Louisiana operations in 2022 and produced about 17,000 pounds of marijuana, according to a new report from the LSU AgCenter.
Good Day paid the LSU AgCenter $1,368,500 in 2022 as well as a $100,000 reimbursement of the annual license fee and a $500,000 performance bond.
Among the new laws enacted in 2022 that Good Day and LSU said were favorable to expansion: eliminated to ensure a reliable, adequate, and uninterrupted supply of products to patients: more labs authorized to conduct final tests of all products; regulatory oversight transferred from the Louisiana Department of Agriculture to the Louisiana Department of Health; reinforced availability of telemedicine; nurse practitioners and psychologists authorized to make recommendations; and mandated delivery to patients.
