On a windswept slope above Colorado’s Vail Valley, Rob and Linda Trotter tend to their herd of Scottish Highland cattle much the same way their families have done for generations. Each spring, snowmelt from the Rockies fills the irrigation ditches that service TNT Ranch, watering the hay fields that have sustained their livestock operation for decades.
But walk past their cattle barns today, and you’ll find something that would have shocked previous generations of Trotters: rows of cannabis plants growing under the Colorado sun. Their brand, Pot Zero, represents a new chapter in American agriculture — one where traditional ranchers are turning to cannabis cultivation not as an abandonment of their heritage, but as a way to preserve it.
“This land has always supported us,” Rob told the Vail Daily. “Cannabis just became another way to keep ranching alive while staying true to our values.”
Cannabis in the Ag Economy
The Trotters’ story reflects a broader trend of agricultural desperation taking shape across rural America. As traditional agriculture faces mounting pressures—volatile commodity prices, rising land costs, and increasingly unpredictable weather—some family operations are turning to cannabis cultivation as a high-stakes diversification strategy.
The numbers tell a stark story about why ranchers might consider such risks. Recent cow-calf profitability studies show net returns highly dependent on calf prices and input costs, with profits varying widely based on operation efficiency and market conditions. An acre of hay typically generates gross revenues ranging from $200 to $400, depending on yield and local prices. By contrast, cannabis cultivation can produce substantially higher returns per acre — if operations can achieve profitability.
But there’s a critical caveat that makes cannabis diversification more of a desperate gamble than a sound business strategy: only 27.3% of cannabis operators were profitable in 2024, according to Whitney Economics. The remaining 73% either break even or lose money, with cultivation operations facing the toughest challenges in the industry.
The New “Cash Crop” for Ranchers
Despite these sobering statistics, some ranchers continue to experiment with cannabis because traditional agriculture isn’t offering much better prospects. The market opportunity appears substantial on paper: legal cannabis sales in the U.S. totaled $31.4 billion in 2024, with the market projected to reach approximately $49.56 billion by 2029.
Cannabis cultivation licenses, while showing some recent consolidation with 18,750 active cultivation licenses as of early 2024, still represent opportunity across legal markets. In established markets like Colorado, wholesale cannabis flower prices have tracked between $750 and $850 per pound since August 2022, showing relative stability after years of volatility.
In Oregon, the Tor-S Ranch represents another example of this agricultural experimentation. After about four decades in the cattle business, owners Kurt and Veronica Spencer and their grown children spent years in planning sessions before deciding to diversify. Their son Ron Spencer founded BioSync Industries and planted 80 acres of hemp in 2018, rotating that crop with pasture and forage for the ranch’s cattle. However, many ranchers experimenting with cannabis cultivation prefer to do so away from public attention, avoiding potential industry criticism and cultural stereotypes while they determine whether the venture can achieve the profitability that eludes most cannabis operations.
When Land, Climate, and Market Align
For ranchers like the Trotters and the Spencers, cannabis cultivation represents more than just economic diversification—it’s an attempt to create sustainable integration with existing operations. Pot Zero operates using hydroelectric and solar power, with cattle manure serving as fertilizer for their cannabis plants. Similarly, Tor-S Ranch integrates hemp into their existing rotation with pasture and forage crops.
These closed-loop approaches exemplify how cannabis could theoretically integrate with existing ranching operations. The infrastructure investments are manageable for existing operations, and the learning curve builds on established agricultural knowledge. The symbiosis extends beyond waste management to potentially provide year-round income that helps buffer against the cyclical nature of livestock markets.
But the harsh reality is that cultivation businesses are having the toughest time in the industry, with nearly all profitable cannabis businesses being retailers or manufacturers rather than growers. This means ranchers entering cultivation face the worst odds in an already struggling industry.
Ranch-Level Realities
Beyond profitability challenges, cannabis cultivation faces regulatory and cultural hurdles that traditional agriculture avoids. Regulatory compliance varies significantly by state, creating a complex patchwork that differs dramatically from standardized agricultural programs. The federal-state legal divide creates banking restrictions that make basic business operations—from payroll to equipment loans—extraordinarily complicated.
Many ranchers must also navigate cultural resistance within their communities. Agricultural communities often maintain conservative views about cannabis, and ranchers risk social isolation or business relationships by entering the industry. This cultural tension explains why many operations maintain discretion around their cannabis ventures.
The discretion reflects both community sensitivities and practical business considerations. Ranchers experimenting with cannabis often prefer to test market conditions and refine operations without public scrutiny, especially given the high failure rates across the industry. This quiet experimentation allows families to assess whether cannabis can work within their existing operations without risking their agricultural reputation.
Water rights and land use regulations add another layer of complexity. Cannabis cultivation often requires different permits and compliance measures than traditional crops, potentially affecting existing agricultural designations or conservation programs that ranches depend upon.
The Quiet Revolution Continues
As legalization expands and markets mature, cannabis cultivation is becoming less of an alternative to traditional agriculture and more of a calculated risk that some ranchers are willing to take. The lesson from Colorado and Oregon operations isn’t that cannabis guarantees agricultural salvation—it’s that some ranchers view the cultivation gamble as preferable to watching traditional agriculture slowly squeeze them out.
The trend extends beyond individual ranch decisions into institutional acceptance. State agricultural programs increasingly recognize cannabis as a legitimate crop, with USDA programs now covering hemp cultivation and crop insurance available in 27 states. Agricultural extension services are beginning to offer guidance on cannabis cultivation techniques, treating it as they would any other specialty crop.
This institutional shift matters because it signals that cannabis has moved from counterculture curiosity to agricultural mainstream, even if the economics remain challenging. Universities are conducting research on optimal growing conditions, pest management, and post-harvest processing, which is the same academic support that traditional crops receive.
For the Trotters, the Spencers, and other agricultural families considering cannabis, the decision represents a fundamental bet: that the potential for higher returns justifies the substantial risks of entering an industry where most operators fail. It’s agricultural entrepreneurship in its rawest form — families willing to risk everything on a crop that could either save the ranch or accelerate its demise.
The crops may be changing, but the fundamental challenge remains the same: finding sustainable ways to extract value from land, water, and hard work in an increasingly difficult agricultural economy. Cannabis represents one tool in that survival toolkit; one that is a high-risk, high-reward option for families with few alternatives and everything to lose.
Written By Macala Rose. Macala Rose is behavioral research, data analyst and daughter of a cattle rancher.
