Cannabis farm for sale

A DELUXE 44-hectare medicinal cannabis farm in northern Tasmania will be sold to fund further expansion in Victoria, says the executive director of the company that owns the farm.

ECS Botanics Holding Ltd, an ASX-listed company founded by executive director Alex Keach, “has proceeded to divest its hemp food and wellness business and commenced the selling of its Tasmanian land and medicinal cannabis business”, it said in a recent market update.

“The changes will provide additional funding to support the company’s expansion plans ... (which involve scaling its) Victorian operation as demand for dry flower and oil products continue to increase,’’ it said.

“(This includes by doubling) the size of the secure site, including the construction of a further 15 protective cropping enclosures, increasing the protected cultivation area by 6000sqm, as well as an outdoor cultivation area by 25,000sqm.”

Mr Keach told the Mercury ECS hoped to fund its Victorian expansion “organically”.

“We employ about 40 people in Victoria,’’ he said. “It doesn’t make sense to duplicate costs across two states.”

As part of the business restructure, ECS is seeking expressions of interest for its 44.62ha Cressy cannabis farm, which is being marketed by CBRE Agribusiness. The farm, which will be sold as a going concern, is certified organic, has a nine-acre secure compound, 64 megalitres of water entitlements, irrigation systems, federal and state government approvals, and a brick and tile homestead.

Mr Keach said ECS had received a high level of interest for the facility, including from “private individuals, medicinal cannabis producers and other high-value agricultural and horticultural groups”. The executive director, who was “standing in a field in the picturesque Northern Midlands with one of his oldest and dearest friends ... with pure Tasmanian hemp on one side and a crop of poppies on the other” when the idea for ECS was sparked, said there has never been a better time to be producing medicinal cannabis.

According to a recent corporate presentation, demand for ECS’s “quality dry flower” now exceeds supply, as new capacity is yet to be brought online.

As part of its new strategy, ECS has also recently divested itself of its stake in Tasmanian Agricultural Holdings Pty Ltd, which operates Powranna grain storage and supply business TAP AgriCo.

ECS had originally invested $750,000 in TAP in 2019, according to financial news website Small Cap.

Expressions of interest in the Cressy medicinal cannabis facility are due by August 3.