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Most of the crop will be used for cannabis extracts, concentrates and edibles — products that VanderMarel, 48North’s co-chief executive, believes will dominate the market once they’re introduced in the fall.

“Outdoor is the future, for sure,” she said, noting no other agricultural products produced for extraction are cultivated inside.

“We don’t grow grapes indoors for wine, or canola for canola oil.”

Since Health Canada announced last year it was lifting its ban on outdoor cultivation, cannabis companies have flooded the federal marijuana regulator with applications to license outdoor areas, which could be used for growing, composting or destruction. Around 190 applications remain in the queue, the agency says.

What’s driving all the interest? It costs 25 cents to grow a gram of marijuana outside, compared to $1 for greenhouse-grown cannabis and $2 for plants grown indoors, VanderMarel said.

“There’s our HVAC, there’s our lighting,” she said, gesturing to the sky. “The soil came with our farm.”

Although 48North just got the greenlight from Health Canada on Friday, the company has been readying the land since it bought the former organic pig-feed farm in October.

More than 2,500 metres of fencing equipped with razor wire, motion detectors and vibration sensors surround the property, where 102 surveillance cameras monitor movements around the farm.

But no efforts will be made to hide the pot plants, which could hit heights of up to six metres, from passing motorists and neighbours.