Why Demand for Tech Talent in Cannabis Cultivation Is at an All-Time High

For cultivation businesses, information technology (IT) is more than just email administration and fixing security camera glitches. IT affects nearly every aspect of a cannabis cultivation facility, and it’s crucial to the success of any commercial growing operation.

The right technology helps growers to produce high-yielding crops and keep pests and diseases under control.

But it’s only as valuable as its ability to function properly, which can make or break a cultivation business.

Not every grower is a technological genius, and I’m a perfect example. I have grown millions of plants over my 25-year career in horticulture, but I can barely host a Zoom call without causing a major catastrophe.

And I know I’m not the only one. People who make a living by growing plants aren’t always the most tech-savvy individuals within a cultivation company, which can present a challenge.

Everything is online, in the cloud, or connected to a computer in a commercial facility. When something goes wrong, growers can’t afford to stop what they’re doing to troubleshoot the problem.

Every minute spent flipping through an operator’s manual or waiting on hold for tech support is time that the crop is not being cared for.

This situation is good news for tech-savvy cannabis connoisseurs and IT professionals looking to enter the cultivation industry but who lack the skills to seek employment as a grower.

Fortunately, with more grow facilities in operation than ever before—and many more to come soon—the need for IT talent in commercial cannabis is at an all-time high.

Here’s why:

1. Precise environmental control produces healthy crops.

Since cannabis growers are prohibited from using chemical pesticides, fungicides, and plant growth regulators on their crops, they must do everything possible to create the ideal growing conditions for the plant.

Ideal growing parameters are those ranges of temperature, humidity, light, CO2, and airflow that allow a plant to thrive. The longer a crop spends outside these parameters, the more likely it is to have problems.

A lot of sophisticated technology exists to help cultivators maintain these parameters throughout the crop cycle, but if this equipment doesn’t function and communicate properly, it can result in compromised plants that become more expensive to grow.

IT mastery of these technologies and systems is vital to maintaining a healthy crop with a low cost of production.

2. Data-driven growing improves resource use efficiency.

The concept of data-driven growing is gaining steam among large-scale cannabis cultivators. It’s the use of multiple sensors to help ensure that a crop receives exactly what it needs, when it needs it, and nothing more.

By interpreting data from sensors placed within the crop, throughout the facility, and even outdoors, cultivators can avoid the clunky on/off functionality of grow equipment that can result in higher energy consumption and wasted inputs.

By reading the activity and needs of plants, data-driven growing helps cultivators program the phasing on of equipment or the strategic delivery of inputs such as water, fertilizer, and CO2 precisely when the plant needs it.

Ensuring accurate sensor readings and the timely relay of vital information requires an IT expert familiar with the grower’s technology and goals. Troubleshooting technical issues with this equipment would be a nightmare for most cultivators.

3. Inventory control is vital to staying compliant.

Downtime or mistakes with inventory tracking systems can risk sending a cannabis operation into regulatory noncompliance.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is quickly replacing standard barcode scanners as a way to track plant inventory as it moves throughout a production facility.

This technology can improve the precision of a company’s inventory tracking efforts while also saving labor, but only if it works!

Updates, upgrades, and ongoing training of the cultivation staff are critical to maintaining a functioning track and trace system, but they’re tasks that many head growers may not have the time or talent to handle.

IT experts are imperative to helping cultivation operators maintain compliance and avoid legal problems.

4. Cultivation management software helps plant businesses improve their bottom line.

Many cultivators don’t really know what it costs to grow a pound of marijuana, and they’re unsure whether certain varieties are more expensive to produce than others.

But this knowledge is fundamental to increasing the profitability of a commercial cultivation business.

Unless key data is tracked and analyzed to determine the most efficient use of a company’s resources, growers can feel like they’re driving blind regarding what they grow and how they do it.

Cultivation management platforms use specialized software that helps growers determine their actual cost of goods sold and identify areas of production that should be refined, eliminated, or expanded.

By tracking inputs like energy, fertilizer, and labor per cultivar, growers can identify the most profitable varieties to cultivate and choose to eliminate others that may be less efficient to grow.

An IT expert can help ensure that growers accurately capture the correct data to help them make informed decisions and steer their company towards a more profitable cultivation program.

If you’re passionate about cannabis but feel stuck in your current IT job, speak to a recruiter specializing in cannabis industry job placements. We need you more than you think!

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