24 hectares of marijuana said to be Canada's largest crop harvested in Rock Creek, B.C.

The harvest of 60,000cannabis plants is underway in Rock Creek, B.C., in what is expected to be one of the largest legal outdoor marijuana crops in North America.

The 24hectares of marijuanaat the SpeakEasy Cannabis Company's farm are kept securebehind a large chain-link fence equipped with surveillance and motion sensor cameras and barbed wire overhang.

Over the next few weeks, workers will harvest an expected 70,000 kilograms of marijuana.

"As far as we know, as best we can tell,this will be the largest harvest in Canadian history," said farmer Marc Geen, founder of SpeakEasy.

He says based on reported harvests, this is the largest in Canada to date and likely North America because the U.S. doesn't have the licensing programs that allow unlimited plant canopy.

Geen comes from a family of farmers that has been growing horticultural crops for five generations in the Okanagan.

In 1995, his family purchased agricultural land inRock Creek where Geen first grew commercial ginseng and then cherries.

Watch video footage of the extensive outdoor grow op and harvest:

B.C. farmer says this is Canada's largest legal marijuana harvest

4 years ago

Duration 0:50

The 24 hectares of marijuana at the SpeakEasy Cannabis Company's farm are kept secure behind a large chain-link fence.

Seven years ago,Geen applied to Health Canada for a licence to grow marijuana, as Canada looked to open up restrictions on growingmedical and then recreational cannabis.

This autumn, the farmis bringing in its firstoutdoor crop of marijuana, after Geen obtained approval from the agency to grow outdoors this spring.

'It really comes down to the climate'

While most major cannabis companies in North America grow the cropin greenhouses under growing lamps, the majority of the marijuana produced on the SpeakEasy farm is grown outdoors at a fraction of the cost of greenhouse cannabis.

"It really comes down to the climate," Geen says speaking about the growing conditions on the Rock Creek farm.

"The temperatures are perfect.They are not 40 degrees plus. They are 32 degrees to 35 degrees through the summer [and]very, very dry."

The company employs about 80 people, including a crew of a few dozen workers which is busily harvesting the crop over the next few weeks.

Fieldwork involves manually cutting down the plants and pruning off the main branches, which are now loaded with pungent, sticky flowers. The cannabis is then taken to a laboratory building on the farm for processing.

SpeakEasy isthe largest employer in the regionand the company has plans to further expand its cannabis farm, according to Geen.

"I think it's really good for the community," said field worker Isis Morrison who was employedin the local service industry until she waslaid off this spring when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

"I, personally, because of COVID, wouldn't have a job without this wonderful place."

Curing and processing

There are indoor growing rooms in the laboratory building, along with a drying room where cannabis branches are hung to cure over one to two weeks, depending on the variety.

Much of the marijuana grown on the farm will be sold as dried flowers for smokingand the rest will be processed into oil which is used in cannabis products like tinctures or vaping concentrates, according to Geen.

As withany agricultural operation,there's a real satisfaction in seeing the fruits of your labour, he said.

"Getting this to where it is now with everything that it took to get here, personally, it's an emotional thing," he said."It has taken so much effort and so much time. It is amazing to see it here."