Marijuana Business Magazine January 2020

Marijuana Business Magazine | January 2020 68 Keiller said. “If we could lift the bar for everybody, then that would be a great outcome for the industry.” AI helps growing operations keep track of production knowledge in a way that is consistently repeatable from season to season, allowing producers to maintain growing protocols as their own intellectual property, even if they lose an employee. “You’re always going to need a highly qualified grower,” Greenberg said. “This allows for a new grower to pick up where the last grower left off, and it allows the grower and the operation to continue to improve as opposed to having to rinse and repeat, hoping to meet the previous standard of quality.” DAY-TO-DAY LABOR SAVINGS AI platforms can help growers scout crops virtually. For example, the technology allows cultivators to track plant growth through computer vision that permits a range of perspectives, from a broad look at the overall crop to a 3D view of each plant. Moreover, the imagery is tracked over time so growers can look back at images from earlier in the plant growth cycle or previous crop turns. Instead of walking crops daily and trying to remember where they saw an issue or waiting to see what happens with a symptom, growers can view crops virtually and flag problems through their handheld device, assigning tasks for growing staff to take immediate action against issues such as mildew or pests. “With computer vision, you can go back in time and actually solve the issue right then and there, as opposed to having to wait and see how it spreads,” Greenberg said. “You can solve the problem as soon as you catch it, instead of waiting to understand the root cause of the problem.” GROWTH-RATE TRACKING The ability to track the day-over-day growth rate for both the canopy and the flower with AI is a relatively new development that’s been popular among larger cannabis companies, according to Greenberg. Tracking plant growth automatically using computer vision has unlocked the derivative of the growth rate, showing different phases of development. This Is AI Right for You? With the advanced level of technology involved in artificial intelligence solutions, cannabis producers might wonder: Are we ready for this, and how can we afford it? While it’s true that novel technology will cost more initially, price will become more manageable as technology advances and becomes more widely adopted, according to industry executives. “We’re seeing a lot more ability to do low-cost analysis of very complex data sets,” said Adam Greenberg, CEO of Seattle-based iUNU, which specializes in building horticultural production platforms. Greenberg declined to specify the cost of the platform but said the Luna system from iUNU is customized for each operation and the company doesn’t require a payment until the grower sees return on investment. FarmRoad management system fromAutogrow, which also employs computer vision, is a subscription model with a range of costs based on the features and integration each customer requires. Cannabis cultivation businesses with fewer than 10 people will likely be able to manage for a while without high-tech solutions, because an operation of that size can usually give extra attention to everything, Greenberg said. But larger cultivation companies with ambitions to expand need the ability to improve and scale their growing procedures, or protocols, to build value while driving efficiency. “The automation, the automated inventory, the disease protection along with the forecasting and the day-over-day growth rates—those are all things you can’t do without a vision system,” Greenberg said. “The industry has to have a way to close to the loop more than just our eyes.” In such a highly competitive business and labor market that continues to evolve, he said, cannabis cultivators should consider whether they can afford not to invest in the technology. “People think that the industry is not going to change and that the cost per pound of cannabis isn’t going to come down,” Greenberg said. “You have to drive efficiencies on your inputs—to drive the cost of production to scale— and you have to find a way to keep that centralized tribal knowledge. All of that matters now.” – Laura Drotleff Farmmanagement systems like FarmRoad from Autogrow offer farmers the ability to use data generated from environmental controls and artificial intelligence systems. Photo Courtesy of Autogrow