by Candace Krebs
Daren Williams had an idea that would give a whole new meaning to the term, “grassfed beef.”
Would it be possible to take the leftover plant waste from growing and processing marijuana and turn it into cattle feed?
Williams, the senior executive director of communications for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association in Denver, posed the question to Josh Malman, director of cultivation at The Clinic, one of the city’s largest and most reputable marijuana growing dispensaries.
The model Williams had in mind was Oskar Blues, a Longmont-based craft brewery that grows the hops to make its beverages and in turn feeds the mash from its brewing operation to beef cattle that are turned into the barbecued briskets and burgers served in its farm-to-table restaurant.
Malman was intrigued by the idea. “Cannabis and hops are very close cousins,” he said. When asked the same question, Duncan Cameron, chief production officer at Good Chemistry, another prominent Denver marijuana growing operation, was even more enthusiastic.
“It bugs me to no end how much waste I have that isn’t going to good use,” he said. He added his plant material is so restricted he can’t even donate it to a local community garden to make into compost.
As state legalization pushes cannabis out of the shadows and into the mainstream, prominent growers and local ag officials are beginning to forge relationships and look for opportunities for cross pollination between the two industries.
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Source: BC Democrate Online
