Cannabis passes cranberries as most lucrative crop in Massachusetts

Mass. — The cannabis crop has officially passed cranberries as the top crop in Massachusetts, also making it America’s sixth most valuable crop, according to the Leafly Cannabis Harvest Report 2022.

The report found that marijuana’s annual wholesale value is $362 million, and cranberries is $66 million. Hay is the Bay State’s third-ranked crop with a $13 million annual wholesale value.

There were 274 adult-use cannabis cultivation licenses last year and this year that number grew to 340.

Farmers harvested 83 metric tons of marijuana in 2022, that’s up from 52 metric tons in 2021.

This year consumers bought $1.45 billion in cannabis products in the Massachusetts alone, which according to the report, is a 44% gain in the value of the state’s cannabis harvest.

The report also found that marijuana now has a wholesale value of $5 billion, which makes it “America’s 6th most valuable cash crop, worth more than potatoes or rice.”

This value is made up by 13,297 active legal cannabis farms across 15 states. Corn, soybeans, hay, wheat, and cotton are the only crops that bring in more money than marijuana.

Recreational marijuana began being sold in Massachusetts four years ago.

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