The first farm, comprising 1,474 acres, will be primarily used for growing organic hemp, with the second 36-acre plot used for a research and development facility as well as land for organic hemp cultivation, the company said.
“Green Gorilla will be one of only a few nationally distributed brands offering consumers organic seed to shelf products,” said Steven Saxton, founder and CEO of Green Gorilla.
Green Gorilla was founded in 2013 and sells full-spectrum CBD products in 1,500 retail locations in the US and online.
“We are establishing a scalable operation that will enable us to increase CBD production based on manufacturing needs to bring consumers superior CBD products. Being vertically integrated, the company will be in control of the genetics and biomass, ensuring the absolute highest quality USDA Certified Organic seed to shelf CBD products.”
Focus on sustainability
Gorilla FarmCo will be employing sustainable agricultural practices benefiting the environment by maintaining soil quality without the use of chemical fertilizers, reducing soil degradation and erosion through cover crops and saving water by increasing soil organic matter.
Water conservation is also a focus for the company as the farmland sits on a large aquifer. "Efforts to conserve water will be through the capturing of rainfall via holding ponds as well as through the use of compost teas which help increase the water-holding capacity of soils and effluent use in its farming operations," the company said.
“We plan to be the very best land stewards with water conservation being one of our primary goals,” said Kemper Burt, president of Gorilla FarmCo and a biologist who specializes in organic growing, plant genetics, organic soil and nutrient science as well as irrigation control systems.