Indoors, Greenhouses or Outdoors: Where Are Cannabis Cultivators Growing?

When Cannabis Business Times published its first “State of the Cannabis Cultivation Industry Report” in 2016, a vast majority of participants reported that they cultivated cannabis in warehouses/ indoors (80%.) The fifth annual study, made possible each year with the support of Nexus Greenhouse Systems, revealed more diversity in the types of facilities cannabis growers are using. Since 2016, the percentage of participants growing in warehouses/indoors has declined by 20%, with 60% reporting they grow indoors, as the chart above indicates.

However, participants are increasingly growing in a variety of facilities, but there are more participants who only grow cannabis in warehouses/indoors than any other sole option, with 42% growing exclusively indoors, a trend that has remained steady for five years. The number of participants who report they only grow in greenhouses has also increased, edging up from 4% in 2016 to 12% in this year’s study. The number of cultivators with growing sties in greenhouses and outdoors has also increased by 13 percentage points (3% in 2016 compared to 16% in 2020.) 

Although most participants operate single cannabis growing operations (59%), examining five years of data reveals trends toward larger facilities and more grow sites. In 2016, 66% grew in a single facility/location. Between 2016 and 2020, the number of participants indicating they grow in two or more facilities/grow sites increased from 32% to 41%. The number of cultivators growing in five or more sites jumped by 5 percentage points compared with the first year of the study, moving from 6% to 11%. In addition, the number of cultivators who have 80,000 square feet or more of production space has increased by 12 percentage points comparing the 2016 to 2020 studies, and now nearly a fifth of study participants (19%) indicate they grow in facilities that size or larger.

Read more insights from CBT’s 2020 “State of the Cannabis Cultivation Industry Report” by following the links below:

Report Cover Page

Letter: Five Years Inside the State of the Industry

Introduction:  Tracking Data Reveals Industry Shifts, Sustained Growth

2020 Cannabis Research: Revenue and Profits Plateaued, But Solid

2020 Cannabis Research: Industry Optimism, Expansion Continues

2020 Cannabis Research: Challenges Are One Constant in a Dynamic Industry

ABOUT THE RESEARCH: The data in this report was collected by independent research firm Readex Research via an online survey, which was sent to all emailable, active, qualified subscribers to Cannabis Business Times magazine and/or e-newsletter located in the U.S. or Canada, from April 15 to April 29, 2020. The survey was closed for tabulation with 298 responses. To best represent the audience of interest, the base for the results in this report, unless otherwise noted, are the 202 respondents who indicated they currently own or work for an organization that grows cannabis. Another 53 respondents indicated they do not currently own or work for an operation that grows cannabis, but plan to in the next 18 months. The margin of error for percentages based on the 202 respondents who currently own or work for an operation that grows cannabis is approximately +/- 6.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.