ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Cannabis company Ultra Health has announced plans for a cultivation facility, to be located in Otero County, New Mexico, where the company recently acquired 200 hundred acres of farmland. The planned facility is expected to be a whooping 8.7 million square feet, making it the largest cannabis facility in North America, according to Ultra Health.
The new campus will be called Ultra Health Tularosa.
“Ultra Health Tularosa was conceived to solve a challenge and to seize an opportunity,” CEO and President of Ultra Health® Duke Rodriguez said in a press release. “This new facility will ensure the commitment of continuing to produce and deliver the highest quality, most affordable, and convenient cannabis in the state. The opportunity exists to have a ready solution, to address the increasing need as we move forward to the social use of cannabis by adults, and the commercial production of hemp.”
The company has also secured exclusive water rights for the equivalent of nearly 326 million gallons; an important consideration with the expected amount of cultivation to be 20 acres of greenhouses, 80 acres of outdoor cultivation, as well as an additional 100 acres of hemp crops.
Local officials seem eager to welcome Ultra Health, with their promise of revenue and jobs for the community. The company has said Tularosa will employ 100 local job-seekers, and that the new facility will be “blend modern agribusiness and green technologies including solar, wind, and rainwater harvesting.”
“Your company has thoughtfully considered the issues that we would be concerned about–security, water supply, the impact on neighboring properties,” The Board of County Commissions of Otero County wrote to Ultra Health. “Ultra Health appears to us to be a responsible, concerned corporate citizen. Your company will bring much needed jobs and economic development to our county and we offer our support to your project.”
Medical cannabis has been legal in New Mexico since 2007, but has only seen substantive growth for its medical cannabis program in the last two years. Currently there are 50,000 registered patients in the state. In 2017, the program reported sales of $86 million.
Earlier this month, two Democratic lawmakers, Sen. Jeff Steinborn and Rep. Joanne Ferrary (Las Cruces), called for opioid addiction to be added to the list of conditions that can be treated with medical cannabis in New Mexico.
