Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Peter and Naomi Miller are blazing a new trail in agriculture.
The entrepreneurs founded and operate Agripharm, a facility to grow medical marijuana.
It was purchased by Mettrum Health Corp. in June 2014 and received a licence from Health Canada in December.
Now the couple wants to build an electricity-generating bio-gas plant using farm animal manure as a separate business on the 100-acre property. The Miller family has been in the agricultural business in the Cashtown Corners area since the 1850s.
Peter’s uncle, John Miller, owns Miller’s Dairy. But the couple grew up in downtown Toronto. Peter pursued post-secondary education in marketing and film, and Naomi is working toward her master’s degree in business administration. New technologies are creating new opportunities in agriculture and that’s what has attracted them back to the land. They have a long-term goal of creating green energy and sustainable farming practices.
The Millers employ six people at Agripharm (with another six from Mettrum at harvest time) and will employ more people at the bio-gas facility when it opens.
Postmedia sat down with the couple to learn more.
How and why did you get into the medical marijuana business?
Peter Miller: It seemed like an interesting way to take advantage of a changing regulatory landscape and leverage our history in agriculture and technology. On our radar was the activity in the States in 2012. There was a federal election and two ballot initiatives in Colorado and Washington State were on the ticket.
The outcome resulted in marijuana being legalized for recreational purposes. We looked at the regulations in Canada and coincidentally it went from a cultivate-for-yourself model to a commercial, highly-regulated environment. So, we really dug into the research and looked at the feasibility of doing this and we were lucky enough to be in an accommodating area where support was strong. Before we knew it, we were full tilt, moving toward licensing.
What has been the most challenging part of the medical marijuana business?
PM: Finding authoritative information about what works and what doesn’t. Indoor farming has been around for a long time but for this particular product it’s only been legal in a few parts of the world, Colorado, and for not that long. So you take things that make sense from an engineering standpoint, from the greenhouse industry and traditional agriculture and you bring it all together.
And you are really running with a big experiment. It’s all very new.
What is the most surprising part of the business?
PM: The biggest surprise was the initial support. When we were first exploring this, there was a lot of headline risk. We talked to the former mayor Ken Ferguson and even just telling our relatives about it made us nervous. There was a stigma. Now you want to expand with a provincial Feed In Tariff (FIT) proposal to build an on-farm anaerobic digester facility.
Why do you want to do that?
PM: Renewable energy. It’s something that’s been around for a long time but we are in a time and place where there is a lot of excitement and renewed interest. There are programs that are trying to stimulate investment and activity in these areas. I think there’s a sense that, if we don’t come up with more sustainable ways to produce our energy we are going to have environmental problems as a society. The need for some kind of renewable offset became clear when we started to see the power bill and the energy consumption a facility like this (Agripharm) takes.
In the longer term we want to make our farming activities as sustainable as possible and bio-gas is a big experiment in what can be done when you recycle on farm materials and use technology to generate another input that we need which is electricity.
Why have you chosen the bio-gas technology?
PM: We applied for a solar contract as well in FIT 3 and we received an offer letter, so we are actively moving toward connecting to the grid with a 100-kilowatt solar system. But we need between 500 to 1,000 kilowatts. With bio-gas, should it be successful, we would discover how much continuous electricity we can generate. The input mix whether it’s manure from Miller’s Dairy, other farmers in the area, corn silage or waste from Agripharm, will generate different outcomes. It’s pretty exciting and promising technology.
What steps are necessary to build the bio-gas facility?
Naomi Miller: The stage we are at is engaging the community to make sure we are addressing any concerns about noise, traffic, odour, the impact on the landscape. Our next step is to hopefully secure a resolution from Clearview council endorsing the FIT application. We’ve engaged the company PlanET Biogas (Solutions Inc.) which will lead the construction. You need one or two digesters and the larger part of the construction is the storage tank.
In terms of construction we are at least six months from beginning construction. We are not taking any steps until we receive a response to the (provincial) application. We are on the IESO (Independent Electricity System Operator) FIT timeline.
How important are partnerships to your business?
PM: Without strong partnerships it’s really hard to do anything. We knew nothing about medical marijuana production. We learned a lot from people in Colorado and from the greenhouse industry. With the renewable side, since we don’t know much technically how it goes together, we see it more as part of this larger, long-term goal we have of sustainable energy and farming practices. Naomi and I connected with this group PlanET who has a lot of experience in Ontario and in Europe. In Germany, there is over 1,000 of these anaerobic digesters. We are tapping that expertise.
How important are these new technologies to the future of farming?
PM: This technology has brought our efforts back to this area. Where young people might have thought the excitement is elsewhere, bringing new technologies on farm creates a whole other opportunity for people who didn’t think agriculture work is interesting or exciting. We are trying to do something creative to make our way.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Growing a medical marijuana business | Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin
Author: Gisele Winton Sarvis
Contact: Contact us form | Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin
Photo Credit: Postmedia Network
Website: Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin
Now the couple wants to build an electricity-generating bio-gas plant using farm animal manure as a separate business on the 100-acre property. The Miller family has been in the agricultural business in the Cashtown Corners area since the 1850s.
Peter’s uncle, John Miller, owns Miller’s Dairy. But the couple grew up in downtown Toronto. Peter pursued post-secondary education in marketing and film, and Naomi is working toward her master’s degree in business administration. New technologies are creating new opportunities in agriculture and that’s what has attracted them back to the land. They have a long-term goal of creating green energy and sustainable farming practices.
The Millers employ six people at Agripharm (with another six from Mettrum at harvest time) and will employ more people at the bio-gas facility when it opens.
Postmedia sat down with the couple to learn more.
How and why did you get into the medical marijuana business?
Peter Miller: It seemed like an interesting way to take advantage of a changing regulatory landscape and leverage our history in agriculture and technology. On our radar was the activity in the States in 2012. There was a federal election and two ballot initiatives in Colorado and Washington State were on the ticket.
The outcome resulted in marijuana being legalized for recreational purposes. We looked at the regulations in Canada and coincidentally it went from a cultivate-for-yourself model to a commercial, highly-regulated environment. So, we really dug into the research and looked at the feasibility of doing this and we were lucky enough to be in an accommodating area where support was strong. Before we knew it, we were full tilt, moving toward licensing.
What has been the most challenging part of the medical marijuana business?
PM: Finding authoritative information about what works and what doesn’t. Indoor farming has been around for a long time but for this particular product it’s only been legal in a few parts of the world, Colorado, and for not that long. So you take things that make sense from an engineering standpoint, from the greenhouse industry and traditional agriculture and you bring it all together.
And you are really running with a big experiment. It’s all very new.
What is the most surprising part of the business?
PM: The biggest surprise was the initial support. When we were first exploring this, there was a lot of headline risk. We talked to the former mayor Ken Ferguson and even just telling our relatives about it made us nervous. There was a stigma. Now you want to expand with a provincial Feed In Tariff (FIT) proposal to build an on-farm anaerobic digester facility.
Why do you want to do that?
PM: Renewable energy. It’s something that’s been around for a long time but we are in a time and place where there is a lot of excitement and renewed interest. There are programs that are trying to stimulate investment and activity in these areas. I think there’s a sense that, if we don’t come up with more sustainable ways to produce our energy we are going to have environmental problems as a society. The need for some kind of renewable offset became clear when we started to see the power bill and the energy consumption a facility like this (Agripharm) takes.
In the longer term we want to make our farming activities as sustainable as possible and bio-gas is a big experiment in what can be done when you recycle on farm materials and use technology to generate another input that we need which is electricity.
Why have you chosen the bio-gas technology?
PM: We applied for a solar contract as well in FIT 3 and we received an offer letter, so we are actively moving toward connecting to the grid with a 100-kilowatt solar system. But we need between 500 to 1,000 kilowatts. With bio-gas, should it be successful, we would discover how much continuous electricity we can generate. The input mix whether it’s manure from Miller’s Dairy, other farmers in the area, corn silage or waste from Agripharm, will generate different outcomes. It’s pretty exciting and promising technology.
What steps are necessary to build the bio-gas facility?
Naomi Miller: The stage we are at is engaging the community to make sure we are addressing any concerns about noise, traffic, odour, the impact on the landscape. Our next step is to hopefully secure a resolution from Clearview council endorsing the FIT application. We’ve engaged the company PlanET Biogas (Solutions Inc.) which will lead the construction. You need one or two digesters and the larger part of the construction is the storage tank.
In terms of construction we are at least six months from beginning construction. We are not taking any steps until we receive a response to the (provincial) application. We are on the IESO (Independent Electricity System Operator) FIT timeline.
How important are partnerships to your business?
PM: Without strong partnerships it’s really hard to do anything. We knew nothing about medical marijuana production. We learned a lot from people in Colorado and from the greenhouse industry. With the renewable side, since we don’t know much technically how it goes together, we see it more as part of this larger, long-term goal we have of sustainable energy and farming practices. Naomi and I connected with this group PlanET who has a lot of experience in Ontario and in Europe. In Germany, there is over 1,000 of these anaerobic digesters. We are tapping that expertise.
How important are these new technologies to the future of farming?
PM: This technology has brought our efforts back to this area. Where young people might have thought the excitement is elsewhere, bringing new technologies on farm creates a whole other opportunity for people who didn’t think agriculture work is interesting or exciting. We are trying to do something creative to make our way.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Growing a medical marijuana business | Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin
Author: Gisele Winton Sarvis
Contact: Contact us form | Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin
Photo Credit: Postmedia Network
Website: Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin
