When it comes to scaling a cannabis business, marketing and distribution decisions are front and center. But, equally important is making the right choice for the equipment needed to improve yields and reduce labor costs.
According to a recent report, cannabis growers are increasingly turning to automation to scale their businesses. Here are five pieces of cannabis growing and harvesting equipment that are critical to scaling a cannabis business without sacrificing quality or losing your mind!
Environmental Controls
At the top of the list of items necessary to scale a cannabis business is environmental controls. Companies like Argus Controls design systems specifically for cannabis growers. These systems are essential not only to control the many variables that go into growing a successful cannabis crop but they also save a ton in labor and provide a necessary safeguard against labor shortages.
Environmental controls are getting much more sophisticated these days in programming every aspect of a greenhouse operation: louvers and vents, lighting systems, water and nutrient delivery (i.e., fertigation), and heating and cooling systems.
Proper environmental controls will help you scale your business by maximizing yields and saving labor.
Buckers
Automated buckers take the manual work out of the initial step in harvesting. Bucking involves removing the stems from the main trunk of the plant, stripping the large fan leaves, and then removing the buds to be trimmed later. In a small cannabis operation, bucking can be done with the labor force on hand. However, to scale a business and stay profitable, an investment in a bucking machine will ultimately reduce labor costs.
A bucking machine like the revolutionary MBX Bucker by Mobius can buck up to 150 lbs. of flower per hour. These machines cost approximately $20,000 and are ergonomically designed to reduce operator fatigue. User-controlled speed settings allow for wet and dry bucking.
The MBX Bucker is the only bucking unit currently on the market that offers integrated stem chipping, which will significantly reduce waste volume and the frequency of disposal, further reducing labor costs.
Trimmers
There will come a time when the debate will end that pits hand trimming against automated trimming. Labor is undoubtedly one of the most significant expenses for growers. You simply can’t scale a business without automating most operations. If you choose the right equipment to trim your cannabis, you will have a product that will be on par or perhaps even superior to hand-trimmed flower at a fraction of the cost.
A trimmer like the Mobius 108S can trim 30-60 lbs/hr of dry bud, double that for wet bud. Needless to say, it would take a lot of worker hours to trim that much bud! The Mobius trimmer features a patented AirThread Tension Tumbler made of stainless steel cable that will handle your bud with kid gloves.
Trimmers are a significant investment for any grow operation, so whatever trimmer you decide to purchase, read product reviews carefully and consult with other professionals in the business before making such an investment.
Sorters
Like automated trimmers, bud sorters can save you a lot on labor costs. The new sorters do an excellent job of sorting buds while maintaining the quality of the terpenes and trichomes. Bud sorters are probably a little less debated than trimmers because growers recognize that the sorters can reduce the potential rough handling of the bud that comes from hand sorting.
Bud sorting is the last step before curing the bud. If you’re looking to scale up your operation, a bud sorter is a good investment. There are several benefits to adding automation to the bud sorting process, including:
• Decrease labor costs,
• reduce the rough handling of the buds that can damage trichomes and terpenes,
• minimize waste by separating tight buds from shakes that can be used for prerolls,
• and, of course, speed up the harvesting process.Grow with Coco Coir
To successfully scale a cannabis business, a grower needs to purchase a growing medium that works as hard as the automated equipment mentioned above.
Coco coir is the workhorse many growers turn to whether scaling their cannabis business or maintaining the status quo. For those growers looking to scale their business, quality coco coir, like Riococo produces, can reduce costs and improve yields partly because it is reusable after sterilization.
Scaling a business is a hefty task for any grower. However, automating your growing and harvesting operation with the equipment mentioned above it can be a successful one as well.
Are you ready to scale your operations with our industry-leading coco coir?