Two new products hit the market in early April thanks to Battle River Bud, a licensed producer based in Ponoka, AB, established with the goal of bringing Canadians the highest possible quality cannabis.
Battle River Bud was founded in the fall of 2017 by Dr. Hugh Porter, who came out of retirement to open the facility at 65 years old.
“I’ve always liked cannabis,” says Porter. “I thought this would be an interesting and challenging industry to get into.”
The multi-million dollar Battle River Bud facility is a 20,000-square-foot state-of-the-art, fully automated cannabis-growing utopia. Visitors are welcomed and wowed with a look at the facility’s master screen, which features access to a comprehensive security system and fully integrated controls system connected to the lights, fans, CO2 and proprietary irrigation system in each grow room.
“We can control it to the second,” says Porter.
The building was designed and built to grow cannabis as efficiently as possible, and features a number of unique sustainability measures in pursuit of that goal. For instance, to reduce water consumption and cost, humidity in the grow rooms is reclaimed and collected in a tank, where it is run through a 10 micron filter and UV light to kill microbes. It is then returned to the facility’s reverse osmosis water tanks to be reused, producing approximately 70 to 80 per cent of Battle River’s water.
Run by just seven team members, Battle River currently has four grow rooms in operation with room for three more to be developed. Each functional room features four “Air Sniper” UV air sterilization units, the same units installed in Ontario schools to help combat the spread of COVID-19. The Air Snipers are 99 per cent effective in killing airborne pathogens and insects, helping to keep each crop safe and healthy until harvest.
Battle River Bud recently launched two new strains in the Alberta market: the indica-dominant Cookies’n’Cream (CnC) and sativa-dominant Fossil Fuel, while also working on three custom crops in partnership with Atlas Growers.
CnC is earthy, slightly sweet with a vanilla and citrus undertone. Fossil Fuel is gassy and sour diesel with citrus and spice overtones. The public response to both has been overwhelmingly positive so far, according to Porter.
Heading into the remainder of 2022, Battle River is preparing to launch another new strain: GMO Skittles, which came in at 24.5 per cent THC and 2.6 per cent terpenes.
“It’s a beautiful smoke,” says Porter, “just wonderful.”
They are also pursuing their concentrates license, with the goal of introducing Canadian cannabis consumers to new, high-quality products made right here at home.
To learn more about Battle River Bud, visit their Instagram at instagram.com/BattleRiverBud.
Prairie Grass Cannabis is located on a family farm near Taber, Alberta, in what co-owner Rebecca Thomson calls prime farming country. Their 2,200-square-foot cultivation and production facility operates alongside the family-run commercial crop business, which has been in operation for nearly a century.
