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How much does it cost to produce a gram/ounce of bud?

A friend and I were having a conversation a while back on the topic of cannabis prices/taxes/cost of production.



Question of this thread....I'm curious, when growing at a "large scale" (by large, I just mean anything more than a personal/home grow), how much does it cost to produce a gram/ounce/lb of herb? Does anyone have a ball park figure or rough estimation?

I know there are so many different variables at play that will determine the cost of production (outdoor vs indoor, how much light the plants receive, temperature, genetics used, substrate used, nutes used, etc etc etc etc....)...

...I can imagine the cost will vary a lot depending on all sorts of things....but if some of ya'll can throw out some numbers for me it's be much appreciated. I'm wondering about this purely out of curiosity. I'm not trying to start a business or anything, I'm nothing more than a home grower for my own personal stash....I'm just a very curious fella.



When my friend and I were talking a while back we ended up on the point/question of..."With a large scale/commercial grow, how much does it actually cost to produce a gram/ounce of decent quality bud"?

And I'm asking this in regards to just the materials and energy needed, not in regards to all the fees and licenses and taxes legal growers/businesses have to pay...but if one knows about those #s & figures as well, like how much it costs after a licensed grower has paid all their fees & taxes and employees and other bills, I'm curious about that too.




I just want to see some #s and figures lol, how much does it actually cost to grow a gram/ounce of decent weed?....I was trying to think about it off the top of my head, but as a small time backyard grower I don't even know where to start with trying to figure out the cost of production for large scale grows.

I searched around online a bit but could not find any #'s or figures on the cost of production.

I don't know where else to post/ask this question.



.
 

AgentPothead

Just this guy, ya know?
Look for hemp production costs instead, it's been legal a lot longer in the US so there's more literature available. The problem with that is with hemp the stems are the "product" where as the flower is the product for our purposes. After digging I did find this from the RAND institute in 2010, which is all estimates.
https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/2010/RAND_WR764.pdf

That is, a well-run 5’ x 5’ hydroponic grow producing 4 harvests per year might yield 10.5 pounds per year with tangible costs of $225 per pound--$75 per pound for electricity and the remaining $150 per pound for other factors.

I think you wanted more "at scale" information, which it looks like Table 1 has that.
table1.png
 

I'mback

Comfortably numb!
It has cost me on avg $0.46/g (indoors). Even @ $1.00/g it far exceeds anything in the dispensaries as far as quality and cost. I am hoping the latter is transient.
 

art.spliff

Active member
ICMag Donor
Maybe I've been out of school too long, or in school too long and bitter about the whole thing, or not very good at it, since it is a little easier or at the very least comic relief to give an explanation which seems to make little sense. If your inheritance, is a parcel of land, and you have a credit score to sign for a loan, the cost to you for a lot of production isn't anything; a person could even write their name on paperwork production titles and so on. If you do not have that, whether it means you own a food cart or your parents spent your trust fund, whatever the case may be, the cost of production depends on a lot of things with the specific details and logical stuff surrounding the cultivator factoring in. It sounds like you can set your own price, or whatever you can sell it for, when in truth the cost can fluctuate depending on what happens. With that said the graph AgentPothead shared looks accurate, fair enough assuming a perfect cultivator and a perfect season for example. Clearly, even with an initial estimate, asking over 5000 for a kilogram of plant, flower tops, is out of the question. Newspapers advertise actual dirt for a hundred per ounce or less, and shops ask over five hundred an ounce for what may as well be mid grades in glass packaging. So much labeling and tax it is enough to upset anyone. There probably is little information available about year to year consistent producers which is something different from one sale or a commodity bushel price.
 

art.spliff

Active member
ICMag Donor
The next question becomes, how to reduce or subtract or completely get rid of the weasel middle person altogether. Who is going to change the number we are talking about here. Meaning someone decides that they would like to try and sell flower, they got from a cultivator. Now the cost is 70-275 or 500 a kilogram; sale price is another story completely. One farm or cultivator may survive producing and being compensated 500 per kilogram in any quantity while another farm or cultivator may have difficulty paying their expenses and so may try to ask for more compensation for flowers. There is no way to help this second case, instead what they may do is try to hire a consultant or expand, ask more people for more help fixing their cultivation challenges. It is like a fork in the road so to speak, the two paths do not lead to the same place.
 

Dropped Cat

Six Gummi Bears and Some Scotch
Veteran
I yield about 40 grams/month, cost is less than 0.20 per gram, no doubt.

Better quality than dealer/store bought, and I know what went into the plant.
 

bushed

Active member
This is a bit of a how long is a piece of string type of question! My no till organic outdoor costs zero money, about 10 minutes a week weeding but would be less viable for producing large commercial quantities. Then in areas where only indoor is viable the cost of electricity varies from country to country. Cost of equipment/nutrients/labour all vary hugely depending on where you are in the world.



So the answer is, there is no answer, but anyone who says there's no money to be made is doing something wrong.
 

Gypsy Nirvana

Recalcitrant Reprobate -
Administrator
Veteran
There are too many variables - dependant on location/nation - indoors or out - style of growing - legal or illegal - and whether using the sun or artificial light - to be able to give a finite price -

I grew an ounce for about £1 last year - on my balcony -
 

superpedro

Member
Veteran
Agree with GN.

Even comparing indoor to indoor, variables like need for AC, heaters, dehumidification and so on makes it almost impossible.
Fertilizer and additives can cost a fortune if you go down that road.
Not to forget the variables between strains, yield and flowering period.
 

maryjanesdad

Active member
The numbers my partner and I came up with was about $350 per pound (cost of electric, nutes, water, medium, etc) I live in an area where electric cost is higher than avg.
 

Mars Hydro Led

Grow on Earth Grow with Mars
Vendor
There are too many variables - dependant on location/nation - indoors or out - style of growing - legal or illegal - and whether using the sun or artificial light - to be able to give a finite price -

I grew an ounce for about £1 last year - on my balcony -

That is an impressive number. :tiphat:
 

grayeyes

Active member
Gypsy,

I bet it really didn't cost you that. You probably trade seeds and had the dirt. Water and sunlight are free.
 

flylowgethigh

Non-growing Lurker
ICMag Donor
I have a hunch that cali is making it so hard and expensive that farmers who tried to be legal give up. I have a pretty frustrated buddy in the triangle who is thinking of quitting. I hope not and anticipate my prices going up, OK with me BTW as long as it's the top of the pig.
 

Gypsy Nirvana

Recalcitrant Reprobate -
Administrator
Veteran
Yeah - it cost me £1 in the pound store for the pot to grow the plant in - the seed was a 'freebie' from a Spanish company - I think it might have been Dinafem -


Gypsy,

I bet it really didn't cost you that. You probably trade seeds and had the dirt. Water and sunlight are free.
 

rolandomota

Well-known member
So the answer is not much compared to the price it sells for Wich is up to 20 a gram and Gypsy Nirvana you should grow some Freakshow on your balcony
 

Rico Swazi

Active member
When my friend and I were talking a while back we ended up on the point/question of..."With a large scale/commercial grow, how much does it actually cost to produce a gram/ounce of decent quality bud"?




as others have stated, too many variables starting with one's own definition of 'decent quality bud'



Until you can qualify that threshold or meaning that everyone can agree on,
there is little chance anyone will be able to quantify the answer you are looking for.



Good luck with your quest:tiphat:
 

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