Howdy yall,
With Ohio legalizing recreational cannabis, ive been tossing around the idea of starting a little, boutique, breeding and genetics business. Its looking like there will already be some canna farmers markets setting up this coming spring and i already see tons of chuckers coming out of the woodworks, trying to cash in.
I already have a decent paying job in the environmental field, and have a pretty successful side business doing mitigation work for residential real estate, so id like to do this more as a fun side project to combine all of my passions into 1 and see where it goes.
Like many of you, i feel like with all of the hybridization, and constant crossing of genetics, cannabis has been watered down and has lost its uniqueness. Almost everything you see has been infested with cookies / cakes / gelatos etc etc… if thats your thing, thats fine, but ive smoked soo much weed over the last few years that is hella potent and frosted to the gills, but the flavor and high is just bland. My goal, like many on here, would be to bring back and preserve the funky, tasty bud of yesteryear that we have all been longing. I miss the weed that used to make you paronoid just by walking around with it in fear of getting busted.
Being from the generation that grew up with the start of social media and online marketing, I’ve really learnt over the last few years how important branding your product is and coming up with unique ways of marketing your product. Its sad to say, but it seems like the younger generation almost prefers the branding over a quality product.
Obviously if i start this thing, the genetics are, and will always be the #1 most important factor, but I dont want to ruffle any feathers, but a lot of cannabis branding I see is mediocre at best. If i start this thing, itll probably be a few years out, but ive got some killer ideas brewing that i think are different from what anyone else is doing. Obviously the legalization in Ohio is still in a infantile stage so that has me concerend with how the laws and regulations will change in the next few years.
Sorry for the rant, but i guess my main question for anyone that has already started a legal, established breeding business, how did you register your business within your state ( llc, dba, etc ) and what types of legality issues have you faced before, and, or after starting? Im just trying to get ahead of any roadblocks before i start investing a lot of money into this little, stinky dream of mine. Thanks for any help, information, or advice yall can give.
My 2 cents, as someone who’s purchased or received freebies from “boutique breeders” who came up thru the forums. … These guys are easily doing a decade’s worth of work or more and giveaways to establish themselves. Matter of fact take some time if you haven’t already, go to, let’s say North Atlantic Seed & also DC Seed Exchange, two seedbanks well known for carrying gear from reputable forum breeders/chuckers. . . Select thru the breeders and read their profiles, you’ll see, “so & so worked genetics for 10+ years before establishing “xyz seed company””
I wish you the ABSOLUTE BEST of luck, and personally, I think there’s decent money to be made in seeds & it’s totally legit! Even in illegal states, you should still be able to sell seeds there as “souvenirs”
I’ve learned to take everything with a grain of salt until I’ve actually tried it myself.
From my experience most breeders are pollen chuckers, they’ll keep making fake F1s or true F1s till they get a winner an then say they worked it for 10-15 years, not all are breeders are like that but you get the idea.
I don’t wana split too many hairs on the whole breeder/chucker thing
My opinion. … breeders do ACTUAL WORK to their lines and have ACTUAL INFO regarding them. *This doesn’t mean breeders aren’t allowed to make F1’s I mean cmon
Chuckers, for the most part, are just people learning to do ACTUAL breeding. We all have to start somewhere, right? These are people doing the work for free, for trade or “unprofessionally” most of the time.
it will and i have just begun the process in wv. sort of. i have a unique idea, well not so much anymore, and hope to have some good crosses in about five years of breeding and selecting. the side you’re asking questions about is more the business if i read right. it’s all illegal in wv so probably doesn’t transfer, but i have an llc and am registering the hemp farm as a dba off of it. had to get hemp licenses, one to grow it and one to process it (hang and dry it to collect seeds).
it’s pretty new over there with the legality of recreational but i would approach it from the hemp side and contact your local ag extension office. that way if they screw around with the recreational laws four years into your five year venture and suddenly it’s illegal, you’re covered anyway by the license for the hemp. something to look at anyway. good luck with it.
I’m not familiar with the situation in Ohio, but it sounds like they’re in the very early stages of setting up their legal market? If I’m right, if it were me I think I’d take a wait and see approach until things become clearer. Is there going to be a nursery license? If no, what are the fees for a low level cultivation license going to look like, and what are the associated costs (until it’s federally legal the insurance costs are bonkers). Don’t announce your existence to the state until it’s required.
That doesn’t mean you can’t start doing low-level breeding work on the DL.
In terms of selling seeds, if there’re plant counts I would keep in mind that a lot of people are going to want feminized seeds (commercial cultivators too). Also, if you think about it… you’re going to want to go into the legal market with a slate of products ready to go, so maybe consider building a stockpile of seeds to keep in the fridge till the time is right.
Hey @douggyfresh420 it looks like there are a lot of great responses here already. I don’t have experience with the business side of things, but it does seem like Ohio’s laws (and their likely changes later this year) are designed to discourage small businesses in the cannabis space. I like the idea of a “wait and see” approach since the real trailblazers are also likely to be the ones facing the first legal challenges to what they’re trying to do - which is fine if you budget for it, but I’d hate to see someone get started in their passion and end up mired in legal fees and bogged down by attorneys.
Keep in mind that OH will have a plant limit per person & household. Commercial hemp licenses are available, I believe, but a lawyer might be needed to help navigate this space. I’m not certain that growing plants with the intent of gathering seeds will count as “hemp” in the eyes of the state. Especially if the seeds come from plants that have more than 0.3% d-9THC since that is the (arbitrary) legal distinction between hemp and cannabis. If you plan to do this project with more than 12 plants yourself (possibly 6 plants max, if some legislators get their way) then I’d imagine that some sort of licensing will be needed, and that’s going to be quite competitive to get one for cannabis.
All that said, I am hoping like hell that you can make this work! From your older posts it looks like we live somewhat close, at least same state. I always want to support local businesses. And selfishly, I want access to the best genetics around of some Ohio dank. I am rooting for you!
500k in wv for a medical application, non-refundable and another 500k for the license if it gets approved.
@douggyfresh420 i’d go for a hemp license. grow plants to breed like i’m doing. if you don’t plan on selling the flower you should be good. i’ll find out this year in wv. at least in wv there is a classification of industrial cannabis that falls under hemp and not medical marijuana. hoping i can ride that one out.
Technically it is fully legalized… there just aren’t rules in place to establish how it can be sold in dispensaries. That’s a big part of what’s being discussed by the Ohio general assembly. My main focus has been on how their proposed changes may impact home grown. Cannabis is legal as of Dec 7, 2023 when Issue 2 went into effect. It’s just that Issue 2 didn’t establish the rules for how weed can be sold.
