Interview with Barney's Farm

We had a talk with Derry from Barney's Farm about his seed bank, the strains from Barney's Farm and what the future will hold for Barney's Farm.

Interview transcript:

Renzo: So, we are here with Derry of Barney’s Farm, the legend himself. How are you doing man? Thank you for having us.

Derry: Thank you. Yeah it’s great to be here, great to talk to you guys again and yeah, here we are at Spannabis 2017, ready to rock and roll. It’s Friday, it’s early, it’s going to be an exciting weekend.

Renzo: You guys are, I don’t want to say dinosaurs, but Barney’s is a legend within the industry. Anybody who has even grown weed himself or visited Amsterdam or has a little bit of knowledge about whats happening in this world knows you guys. But maybe you can give a small introduction of the history of Barney’s Farm. How did you start, when did it start, where did it start, where is it going and how are you going?

Derry: Well, I could go on for hours but yes you are right. We are in our bedrock of the marijuana industry. We started in India many many many years ago in the 70’s. 1970’s that is, not the 1870’s. We developed from there. We developed a small team that moved to Holland, opened up the coffeeshops, developed our marijuana and now we are in a very sophisticated unit.

We have very high-tech labs, lab-technicians working with us, our growers, our breeders, a really advanced team of people working not only in Europe but also in America, in the Middle East as well.

Our goal is to always recreate, to create new hybrid genetics and every year we succeed. We have technology that helps us to achieve much better and much more consistent product all the time. And one thing about us is that every year is exciting, every year is like a rock concert for us. We are still really psyched.

When we do something new, or we develop something new, or find something new, it’s all excitement. And where do we go with it? We are determent to continue to be the bedrock of the industry, to continue to innovate and to continue to lead the show. That’s where we’re at.

Renzo: Alright. And are you still developing new strains at the moment?

Derry: Always. We never stop. This year we are releasing just one solid, permanent strain. It’s a new line of our Peyote Purple strain. It’s Peyote Cookies. It’s been a couple of years in the making. And what’s so lovely is that we create and we find, new tastes, new flavours, new smells, new colours, new experiences. Like this year with Peyote Cookies. Which is interesting though because our lab has allowed us to do a lot of work quicker and it has also allowed us to do sort of sideline experimentation, which now, this year we start to release limited edition strains.

We start next week, we are releasing two lines from the Peyote. One is Peyote Amnesia and the other one is Peyote Critical. Again, they are really limited editions, available only in certain outlets. Zamnesia is actually one of the few places that is going to have them, and when they’re gone, they’re gone, they will never be seen again.

But at the same time, we are working again on what’s happening next year. We know that next years releases will come again with 2 limited edition strains. So it’s exciting work right now what we’re doing, but again, we are always innovative, we are always creating, the day we stop making new (strains), it’s a sad day for Barney’s Farm.

Renzo: Barney’s Farm, you hear it guys, if you’re interested in the classics, the dinosaurs, the ones that really stand for quality, then check them out. Check them out on CannaConnection but also on the site of Barney’s Farm themselves. They have been doing great work for many years.

So speaking about your strains, one of the most popular strains at the moment, as I understand, is Critical Kush. You guys are famous for many strains, but what’s so special about this one. Maybe you can tell us a bit about Critical Kush.

Derry: Yes, well one of my oldest friends, Shanti Baba from Mister Nice Seeds, gave me Critical Mass, one of the original strains, many many years ago. And we developed that. And we did many crosses with it and we crossed it with an OG Kush 6 or 7 years ago, developed that and it was incredible. It took this huge, high THC level from our OG Kush, into this beautiful, short flowering Critical Mass and we developed this new strain, Critical Kush. And it is a main stay now in the marijuana market.

What’s beautiful about it is that it is short flowering, by 8 weeks it’s fully mature with a huge volume, it gives so much marijuana. We’ve seen ‘em outdoors; 3 to 4 kilo’s a plant. Indoors a kilo per meter. So everybody likes ‘em for that, but what’s so amazing is that it has incredibly powerful THC.

The taste and flavours are very welcoming. It’s almost all Indica. And everybody will love it, it’s so easy to grow. And this is why it’s sort of leading the seed industry. I think Critical Kush is the biggest seller of the world right now. It’s got everything, it’s got everything you need; it’s easy to grow, huge yields, very tasty, very powerful, very forgiving for beginning growers as well, which is very important. Basically you grow it in soil and you cannot make a mistake with it. That’s why.

Renzo: So it’s for the more experienced grower, but for the beginners as well.

Derry: It’s for everybody. The rewards, regardless of who you are, the rewards are spectacular. That’s what it’s all about.

Renzo: Is there another main flagship strain that you could tell us about. You guys work a lot with flavour, like with these cookie strains.

Derry: I always say this to everybody, my favourite of all my strains, and it still is ‘till this year and this day, is Dr. Grinspoon. But it’s a nightmare to grow. I believe it’s a 110 days flowering, so do the maths on that. It’s very sensitive; so if you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t bother with it. But for me it’s the most euphoric marijuana in the world. It’s 100% Sativa, there is nothing else like it anymore.

For me that’s always my go-to place. I grow it myself, but I have many many years of experience with it. Apart from that, of course, I can give you a list of these big hitters; we have Pineapple Chunk, which is the main stay. We have Blue Cheese, we have Cookies Kush of course. Liberty Haze. Amnesia Lemon of course is also one of the best plants we have. Red Dragon, which people don’t realise, but it’s actually one of the best marijuana plants in the world.

We have so many of them in our staple right now. I could make a long list for you. Of course I have my sort of favourites. My actual favourite at the moment is the new one, Peyote Cookies, because it’s new. It tastes new and I’ve never smoked it before.

Renzo: It’s an Indica again right?

Derry: It’s a pure Indica. It flowers in 7 or less than 8 weeks and then you have a fully mature plant. What’s exciting for me about it is that after 35 years of smoking, it’s a new flavour. I have never tasted something like this before. And it’s a new high. And for me that’s exciting.

The Sativa’s for me are exciting of course, but again there are always the growing experience problems for them. And you know, within Barney’s Farm we have something for everybody.

Renzo: Yes, that’s a good way to go I think; something for everybody. Because that’s why we do it right?

Derry: Yes, that’s why we do it, and it’s the creativity. That’s why we do it.

Renzo: Well thank you very much Derry. It’s been a pleasure and an honour.

Derry: It’s always my pleasure…