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LEAMINGTON — Sowing the seeds for expansion into cannabis production has been a natural evolution for a Leamington businessman who’s developed his acumen through building greenhouses and growing vegetables.

Peter Quiring, founder and president of NatureFresh Farms and South Essex Fabricating, is branching out into cannabis, positioning himself to be the next major grower of marijuana in the Leamington area.

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“It just occurred to us that plants are plants,” Quiring said. “And you know we build greenhouses. We have 175 acres now of vegetable production so it sort of just was vertical integration that sort of made sense.”

Quiring has entered into a joint venture with Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. to build and operate a fully automated, state-of-the-art greenhouse for cannabis cultivation.

The new chief executive officer said the numbered company (its name is yet to be determined) will build a 1.4-million-square-foot or 32-acre (13-hectare) facility on a 100-acre (40.5 ha) property north of downtown Leamington and west of Highway 77. It’s next door to a NatureFresh Farms tomato greenhouse operation of the same size.