Post #4 – Growing Cannabis is NOT like growing Tomatoes - Technologies used in production – Seed-To-Sale Software

Growing cannabis is not like growing a tomato. Cannabis – though a weed – is a complicated plant to grow, especially when one is trying to increase specific concentrations of cannabinoids such as THC and CBD. 

Master growers (I have even met people that call themselves “plant whisperers”) use highly guarded techniques to increase these active ingredients such as varying the hours of “light” when in bloom, changing soil nutrients to "shock" production of specific cannabinoids in the flowers and even playing different music from soothing classical to jarring rock. Anything goes: if it works, duplicate it. If not, try something else.

"That is cash being thrown into the garbage."

But let’s take a step back and look at what technologies are being used and invented to deal with this rapidly expanding industry.

Firstly, there was a need to manage the production of the bud, monitor its progress, control the inventory at harvest and “trace and track” everything including waste. This is referred to as “seed-to-sale” software. This software does (or is supposed to do) exactly what it says: monitor and record the entire life of the plant from seed to bud, harvest to extraction and then sale. 

If a plant is sick and has to be quarantined, this needs to be recorded. If that plant needs to be destroyed, then this action needs to be tracked and confirmed. Waste is now valuable due to new and efficient extraction techniques so even garbage (shake, trimmings or a "bad" plant) can yield active ingredients therefore EVERYTHING must be tracked and recorded. That is cash being thrown into the garbage and someone will sweep up and turn that waste into cash. If it were not tracked, this could end up in the illegal market.

"Then add fish. Really. I'm not making this up."

Seed-to-sale software is a technology vertical that is in its infancy. I have been consulting with a Canadian offering called AllCann (http://allcann.com/). This was my first experience with this type of platform and I have to admit, it was a real eye-opener. The level of detail required to monitor the growth, the weight, the value, the waste and finally management of the produced inventory is immense! 

Layers upon layers of modules combine to create software that needs to fulfil the requirements set forth by Health Canada. i.e.  If you want to produce cannabis for medical use (or future recreational use) your production MUST be tracked by a software that can produce the reports required by the ministry.

Early platforms such as MJ Freeway have been proven to have serious security flaws and have been “hacked” more than once. (MJ has given assurances that they have fixed the problems.) There are now a large number of software platforms emerging as companies vie for market dominance. Kind’s Agrisoft platform is making the news as is Canada’s top software and Ample Organics in Toronto are quickly becoming a powerhouse. Metrc are going strong in the US.

Snoop Dog's cannabis-industry focused venture capital group just placed a substantial bet ($2.3M) on a newcomer software company in seed-to-sale called Trellis whose grow and inventory management modules look very impressive.

Then add fish. Really. I'm not making this up. Software, somewhere is being created to support aqua-farming licensed producers such as Green Relief. It turns out that the cannabis root balls and the fish, Tilapia, like being at the same temperature (between 73-78 degrees Fahrenheit). (I will cover aqua-farming in detail in a future post devoted to Licensed Producers (LPs)).

So, the scientists at Green Relief created a closed-loop water system which uses the fish waste as fertilizer. I kid you not. I had the unique pleasure of having a tour of this facility with their CEO Warren Bravo and it was truly fascinating. They even have a scientist from Guelph University monitoring the health of the fish! So you can start seeing the complexity of the problems that need to be solved for this industry.

Aqua-farming LP Green Relief's facility. The blue tank at the back of the 
photo is where the fish live. Awesome! 

Technology is emerging to provide solutions for a huge range of industry issues. Not just helping to be “legal”, not just evolving to assist in monitoring and managing new grow methods but at the same time, as technology goes through yet another transforming era, we are seeing things like the IoT (the Internet of Things) enter the market. Concepts such as smart tables that actually “know” which plant is on it, what stage of growth it is at and is it is in good health will be the norm. 

The race is all about increasing yield while retaining quality. Other industries have faced these challenges but never has there been such a diverse and complicated plant – and for good measure, throw in a school of fish.