There are plenty of gardeners and farmers that are very competent growing just about anything.I think its impressive they can make a living off of petunias, or other plants with a much lower profit margin. Just because they dont grow weed every day do not underestimate their skillset. A good gardener has a better understanding of plant and trees that is easily applied to cannabis production.
I would take a nursery worker or farmer over a specialized cannabis gardner, . There are so many tricks of the garden industry that canna tries to take credit for but is typical in the greenhouse industry.