Episode
EP 206: The Real Cost of Running a Small Cannabis Farm (Two Operators Get Honest)
- Published
- Apr 29, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2883
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Summary
In this episode of the Cannabis Accounting Podcast, host Raymond Guns sits down with Amanda Metzler, owner-operator of Bigsby Farms in Oregon, and Matt Kennicott, Executive Director of the Cannabis Association of New Mexico. Amanda has one simple belief — if you don't control your costs, the market will control you. Matt knows another truth — bad policy kills more businesses than bad operators. Amanda has been farming since 2016 and built the largest solar installation on any farm in Oregon. Matt runs a micro-cultivation farm and leads the Cannabis Association of New Mexico. They have both seen the industry go from gold rush to grown-up business. And they keep seeing the same mistakes destroy farms over and over again. They talk about: 🚨 The border seizure problem nobody warns you about: Border Patrol has seized over $1M in legal cannabis at New Mexico checkpoints. Operators now vacuum seal and wipe down product like smugglers just to move inventory they're legally allowed to sell. 💸 Why consignment killed Oregon farmers: One farm started giving product to wholesalers on consignment and the whole state copied them. Now farmers front all the money and get paid last — if they get paid at all. ⚡ Amanda's $125K solar investment that changed everything: She powers her entire seed-to-sale operation for under $200 a month with just two people and only grows what's already sold. The days of growing all the weed and asking "will you buy my weed?" are over. 📦 The packaging war and child-attractive labeling fight: New Mexico proposed forcing brands into plain black-and-white packaging with sans-serif font "to protect kids." Matt built a public education campaign over one weekend that got the state health department and poison control center on board instead. 📉…