River Valley Growers, a cannabis cultivation company in Western Massachusetts, has filed a lawsuit against neighboring produce farm Nourse Farms, alleging pesticide contamination that destroyed its crops and land, The Boston Globe reports. The lawsuit—believed to be the first of its kind in the cannabis industry—seeks damages totaling $17 million.
According to the complaint, pesticides sprayed by Nourse Farms drifted onto River Valley Growers’ cannabis fields, ruining its 2022 bumper crop of 47,000 pounds and preventing further cultivation. The grower claims it has been unable to plant new crops since, putting its entire business at risk.
“It has been a nightmare,” River Valley Growers said in a statement. “The repeated incidents of pesticide overspray have all but put River Valley Growers out of business.”
Massachusetts has strict pesticide regulations for cannabis cultivation, far more stringent than those for traditional agriculture. River Valley Growers had secured a deal to sell its 2022 harvest but was forced to scrap it after testing labs flagged pesticide contamination—despite the company not using any pesticides on its own crops.
The Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Resources investigated the claims and confirmed that pesticides from Nourse Farms had drifted onto the cannabis cultivator’s land, stating that the berry farm “did not operate in a careful manner.”
This lawsuit could set a precedent for cannabis growers facing similar challenges in agricultural regions, highlighting the industry’s vulnerability to environmental contamination.
