Will Work to Fight Food Insecurity in the Delta
Locally-owned Cypress Brake Cannabis Company has announced the launch of its premium cannabis brand and cultivation facility in the Mississippi Delta in Cleveland. The company’s team is on a mission to bring artisanal award-winning cannabis products to the growing medical cannabis industry of Mississippi using a state-of-the-art facility that also produces pesticide-free nutrient-rich food for the local community.
With the help of aquaculture innovator Angela TenBroek, a fourth-generation farmer and former Florida Agriculture Woman of The Year, Cypress Brake is pioneering a revolutionary approach called Cann-Aquatic Regenerative Agriculture (CARA). This closed-loop system combines cannabis cultivation with aquaponics to produce nutrient-dense food with near-zero environmental impact. Fresh lettuce, celery, greens, herbs, tomatoes, and other produce will be grown adjacent to premium cannabis flowers, helping address food insecurity while conserving water and energy.
CARA’s novel energy-saving system harnesses excess heat & fertilizer generated from the cannabis cultivation process to create a controlled environment for greenhouse agriculture that enables a steady flow of food production every month. That means twelve months a year of fresh produce for the food insecure of the Mississippi Delta.
The new facility will be located just outside the northern city limits of Cleveland on Hwy. 61, towards Merigold, on a track of land owned by town residents, H.L. and Judy Dilworth. A projected opening date is slated for sometime in 2025.
Some twenty-nine new full-time jobs should be created between the cannabis and food cultivation that will take place at the new facility, with more possible part-time jobs becoming available.
Judy Dilworth says she has long been a big advocate for plant-based medicines. “I use Aloe Vera for sunburn and cinnamon in my coffee for blood sugar control,” she says. “I certainly appreciate my own doctor very much and his diligence in keeping me healthy, but have also long appreciated benefits from natural sources, as well.” The Dilworth’s team for the project is comprised of five experts in the field.
“It was the Dilworth’s passion that led to this moment and their vision to create access to natural medicinal alternatives in the area as well as provide needed jobs and local food production,” says Marcus Holcomb, Chief Operations Officer and 1st Place High Times Cannabis Cup-winning Master Cultivator for Cypress Brake, one of those team members Dilworth mentioned.
“We started looking at the possibility of a facility in the Delta in 2023, developing a concept and a model,” continues Holcomb. “A team of very experienced professionals with a wide array of expertise in cultivation, extraction, marketing, and retail was assembled and we went to work. From the beginning, we wanted the project to resonate with Mississippians and be positive for the Cleveland area.”
“We’re a team of visionaries, dreamers, and doers, passionately committed to shaping the future of regenerative agriculture across food and all-natural medicine,” says Matt Beaman, Chief Marketing Officer of Cypress Brake and former marketing executive for Fortune 50 companies like Disney & Facebook. “Thanks to our partnership with Angela TenBroeck, founder of Delta Grows, a sustainable hands-on farming program that helps locals learn to grow fresh produce, we are excited to build a first-of-its-kind cannabis company that not only produces exceptional cannabis but also fresh food for the local community.”
The company’s brand identity also pays homage to the rich cultural heritage of the Delta region with packaging inspired by the natural wonders of Mississippi’s magical cypress brakes and illustrations drawn by the well-known Steven Noble, who has designed some of the most iconic brands of the modern era including Coors, Mercedes Benz, American Express and, more recently, Kraken Rum and Espolon Tequila.
“This facility will be an opportunity to show the state of Mississippi what a responsible operation can look like for a product that has been widely used but vilified for a long time,” says Evan Anderson, Chief Technology Officer. The state-of-the-art facility will leverage cutting-edge technology like AI-enabled climate management and custom LED arrays to produce premium cannabis flower and chemical-free solventless extracts, said Anderson.
“Our passion has always been to cultivate the finest cannabis cultivars and work with the cannabis plant to unlock its boundless healing potential. Adding in the food and energy elements excites our team and everyone we talk to about the project,” notes Holcomb.
Cypress Brake is licensed for medical cannabis cultivation by the Mississippi State Department of Health. Investment opportunities for the project are available to those interested, said Holcomb.