"In some cases, we lost food security with the arrival of this new industry."

British Columbian farmers experienced record sales in 2019 – and it’s in large part thanks to weed, according to Energetic City.

Cannabis accounted for roughly two-thirds of B.C.’s agricultural revenues last year, giving a record boost to the province’s farm-generated income – beating out previous top crops like blueberries, mushrooms, grapes and tree fruit.

But despite the province’s considerable weed-related windfall, not everyone is happy.

Agricultural land is in short supply in B.C., and while cannabis has brought in considerable cash, the ongoing battle over the province’s farmland has only become more bitter as food production in the province dips – despite farmers receiving $252 million in aid from the federal government.

While some of the more recent declines can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, some experts are blaming the decrease in the production of agricultural products such as dairy and fruit squarely on cannabis cultivation.

“Most of the cannabis operations displaced existing food production,” Lenore Newman, Canada Research Chair of Food Security and Environment at the University of the Fraser Valley, told Energetic City. “In some cases, we lost food security with the arrival of this new industry.”

While cannabis may play a part in the decline of the province’s food production, there are also external factors affecting local agriculture.

Canadians, including British Columbians, have been steadily consuming less dairy over the past 15 years, although dairy and poultry accounted for a small increase in sales last year. Local fruit and vegetable farmers have struggled to compete in the global production market thanks to skyrocketing overhead costs and tough competition, along with poor weather and a labour shortage due to a reliance on temporary foreign workers.