Budding Bounds

The Trulove Family’s Cannabis Venture

By Becca Bona

Photography By Novo Studio

“We voted no when it came out on the ballot,” said Jay Truelove, co-owner and operator of Osage Creek Cultivation. He’s referencing, of course, the 2016 ballot initiative to legalize medical mairjuana in The Natural State. Initially the least likely candidate to operate a cannabis growing facility, the Trueloves’ journey to greener pastures centered on family, faith, plenty of research and an open mind.

Originally from the Berryville area, both Jay and Mary met while attending North Arkansas College in Harrison. “He was dating my roommate,” Mary recounted, smiling. It wasn’t long before the roommate was history and Jay and Mary tied the knot.

Even back then, neither Jay nor Mary had aspirations for an agricultural lifestyle. Mary followed in her father’s footsteps and became a teacher, receiving her master’s of education from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Jay, on the other hand, had his eyes on the skies. He was around planes often as a young boy, working at his grandfather’s flight base operation and pumping fuel into various aircraft. “I’ve always wanted to be an airline pilot since I was young,” he said. Thus, he went to work to become one.

The two would become partners in life, family and eventually business. They stayed in the northwest area as they grew their family, raising three children. They moved to Phoenix for a brief stint, but moved back after a year. It was then that Jay decided he wanted nothing more than to have a farm. “Our oldest son was ready to go to school, and we wanted to settle back down here,” Mary explained.

“I just always wanted some land,” Jay said. “Mary had a farming background growing up with cattle and stuff, but I didn’t.” Instead of letting that stop him, he got into chicken farming and began working for Tyson. “They were begging for growers,” he remembered. “I said, ‘Guys, I’ve never been in a chicken house before,’ and they said, ‘Perfect. You’ll do it the way we teach.’”

In fact, the Trueloves’ routine for quite some time involved plane schedules, farm schedules and the choreography of kids growing up. That’s how the cadence of life remained until Jay and Mary came home from the polls in 2016. “We were strongly against it. We voted no,” Jay said. Particularly for Jay, a pilot — he was wary of marijuana in general — as the federal government classifies cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug.

Regardless of their votes, the measure passed. “I didn’t know anything about it,” Jay remembered, “Our oldest son said there was evidence that it could help medically, but I said, ‘Sure.’” At the time he didn’t put too much credence to it, until he began hearing anecdotes from people first-hand about how cannabis helped battle health issues.

“Hearing people’s testimonials and how we’ve been able to help them, it means the world.” —Jay  Truelove

One of his co-pilots described how it helped his father, a cancer patient, relieve pain and other symptoms. Another detailed how his sister-in-law was able to get relief from multiple sclerosis (MS). “Mary was skeptical, but I decided to open my mind a little and do my own research,” Jay said.

Jay started in the 1800s, and quickly saw that cannabis was stigmatized in the press, even back then. “It kills pain. It can help you sleep,” he said. “You can eat all of it that you can hold, and it’s not going to kill you.” Around that time, Jay found the story of Charlotte’s Web, a CBD company founded initially to help a girl named Charlotte who suffered from catastrophic seizures. That was enough for Jay. He wanted to go all-in to help others suffering from various health issues and diagnoses.

“I wanted to apply to be a grower,” he said. But he couldn’t take such a step without his wife on board. For Mary, cannabis was not something she had ever thought much about.

Coincidentally, around that time she had a terrible accident and broke both of her ankles. She was in bed recovering for nearly half a year with doctor-prescribed opioids for pain. Mary took the opportunity to do her own research, and she was about ready to change her mind; but she had a caveat — she wanted to speak with three pastors.

“I thought all three would tell me no,” she said. However, it turned out that would not be the case. In fact, two responded in the positive right away, explaining that they previously conducted research on the topic for the benefit of their parishes. The third, a father figure to both Jay and Mary, didn’t respond right away. “He said, ‘I don’t know anything about it. I need to do research before I give you guys an answer,’” Mary remembered. He finally got back with the Trueloves, with a story about a close friend battling cancer who was able to push back enough against the disease to continue living.

“I said, God, I’ve tried every way I know. If you want us to have it, give it to us. If not, that’s OK, too.” With all three on board,  the two decided to apply for a license. They worked with a consulting company out of Denver to ensure that they had their information as accurate as possible. They received their grower’s license in 2018 and came to market the following year.

While neither Jay nor Mary utilize medical marijuana, their eyes have opened to those that use it and get relief from myriad symptoms and diagnoses. In fact, for Jay that’s been the best part of the whole venture. “Hearing people’s testimonials and how we’ve been able to help them, it means the world,” Jay said.

The facility that the two are running is top-notch. As methodical as the family was about applying for the license, they were just as methodical about planning out their build-out. Their younger son, Matt, works in construction and was able to help set the foundation for success. Jay is no stranger to the business, either.

“He already owned a construction company. We did want the operation to be a family thing. This is personal to us,” Jay said. “That’s why we’ve got the facility on our land right now. I don’t know how many phone calls we’ve had, people mostly from out of state and investors, trying to buy us out.”

From day one, the build-out was created to sustain a second growth phase, and the recent move into the space has been welcome progress. One of their proudest accomplishments, according to Jay, is their workforce. “The employees make it happen,” Jay said. “We couldn’t operate without them.”