Yeah I wouldn’t trust sales rep that aren’t willing to put their money where their mouth is. And its hard to trust a sales rep who is paid on commission.
I’ve talked to a lot of growers who have had issues from seemingly well meaning people. Lot of wolves out there in sheep’s clothing.
I always tell growers I work with to let me consult for free. Lets me get in and educate on a lot of IPM stuff that is lacking in some grows. My pitch is let me show you I can improve your business and if you then want to contract for more indepth consulting you at least know I can help. Hard trying to be a consultant in Cannabis and even harder hearing stories from growers getting burned by “consultants”.
To root out the bad actors we gotta make education a priority. If we can educate people on grow science not bro science the whole industry gets better!
I read about half of the thread and this seems nuts. I’m all about small batches. I couldn’t image the headache of trying to pull this off, with drones and whatnot. That’s just too much. I’m also skeptical that this would produce high quality bud.
Thanks @lusid ! Completely understand the skepticism! Drones were just one idea but I think this thread has produced a great discussion so far and I look forward to more.
I think part of the (warranted) distrust of Big Ag kind of makes people with ag degrees seem a little strange here. I think people are happy with what they do now, and they kill it, but I think we can do even better and am working to prove that. Not all my ideas will be winners, but they are generally backed by years of research.
As an ag PhD I feel like its my job to prove to the cannabis community that we aren’t all bad. I think ideas like this are important to discuss, so we can root out the bs and focus on the evidence. I also hope to convince some you over the years that a soil first approach is both feasible and economical in cannabis and feedback like this is invaluable!
Appreciate everyone who has taken the time to put in their 2 cents so far!
I have no beef with actual qualified experts or even big agriculture. I respect what you’re trying to do. It’s just the opposite of what I’m trying to do. I could have made that more clear. Sorry.
Also I just wanted to post that Chron Don grow. I started following the him and eventually bought a few packs of his seeds once he started breeding all because Cannarado reposted that picture.
I didnt take your comment as a negative! But I appreciate the clarification!
I’m looking to get a pretty big platform to work with offline that will allow me to work with cannabis as a professional researcher and I wanted yall to know you got someone on the inside now!
That Chron Don post was sick and I’m glad you dropped it here! Check out some of my other threads if your interested in anymore wild opinions/ideas! I’ll have to take a look at his genetics.
For the record, I dont think my idea precludes small batch craft cannabis. Although the ag in me wants to argue that an acre or 2 of high density cannabis could be both small batch and craft. That is a difference in opinion I have with many here, but thats ok because it makes us better and our projects sharper.
I can easily see a world where someone grows some high density cannabis and still separately produces small runs of banging quality. And that might be the answer, high density plantings for casual smokers that still provide the environmental benefits that can offset indoor cultivation energy use.
Vapes have been consistently one of the top sellers for the last 2 years and are only projected to get more popular. If I’m a grower and I can produce 2 acres really cheap (depends on seed cost but thats another strong opinion I have) you can make some real money selling to processors.
The appeal of high density is that in the long run the payoff outweighs the input cost, but that also requires patience. When you gotta pay bills and buy food, patience isn’t always something you can afford to have. But I joined here so I could make a positive change that also is in line with sustainable agriculture principles and practices and im one stubborn son of a bitch!
Looking forward to seeing more of your posts around here!
I agree with you that prohibition has and continues to influence the way things are done more than anything. Cover crops and responsible land management strategies are not exactly new ideas though. I’m interested to hear your thoughts about why a dense monoculture is superior to a polyculture for your stated goals. Especially concerning beneficial insects. Interesting thought provoking topic if nothing else, thanks for posting it!
@syzgy hahaha that was literally a thread I was planning on making later! You’ve seen how long my posts are, you really wanted to read something that long?!
Got to ease people into big changes. And I agree these aren’t new ideas, cultural methods like the one I am promoting here are 100s-1000s of years old almost by definition.
I have a collection of things I would like to see either changed or implemented into cannabis cultivation for the sake of sustainability. But its going to be a bit of a journey to get there. One of the benefits of high density cropping is the ability to intercrop them with a cash crop. Something like a specialty grain or legume that a grower could sell for high dollar. We haven’t even gotten to the posts on trap cropping, exploiting plant volatile organic compounds, and eliminating weeds through seedbank management yet!
As a thought. The regulators in ny have been placing a heavy emphasis on sustainability for the industry. They really wanted to see traditional farming methods for cannabis cultivation.
For indoor cultivation they are requiring the faculties to meet certain requirements for energy efficiency.
Insightful comment. Flowers and secondary metabolite production up top on a really really tall stalk that is then used for a value added textile product would be ideal for me.
It’s either a race to the bottom or it’s not. How one differentiates themselves can make all the difference. I enjoy your comments and contributions very much.
I saw that! I hope they are serious about that and follow through!! I worry that sustainable becomes the new organic, more a PR move than philosophy these days.
That also means there will need to be qualified cannabis agronomists to help transition or start sustainable farms! Shit, look at me and NY. Ahead of our times…
I am excited to be contributing to the community and hope that I can at least get people thinking about some of these ideas I think are important. And I love being challenged! Stepping out of that comfort zone really lets you critically look at ideas for multiple sides!
The original guidances really wanted traditional methods with wording that was very similar to organic guidelines. It was only guidance though. I’m curious to see how it works out as it goes into more definitive rules
Yeah, the problem with “traditional methods” is they eventually were lost with prohibition. We catch glimpses of it from time to time in Mexico and some Asian countries, but save a few people little has been documented. Im looking to know what people did in Washington’s time before broad scale chemical pesticides and tillage.
I don’t like being negative, I think it sucks. But wording like that, 100% the person who drafted that has an election coming up
