Genomics research and proper plant breeding practices for nascent industries like cannabis, including hemp, are critical for the efficient and predictable development of plant varieties with commercially valuable traits. These varieties support the large-scale production of consistent, stable, and profitable crops.
Modern-day large-scale agronomic crops have benefited from decades of professional breeding programs to streamline production systems. The success of cannabis and hemp cultivation hinges on similar systems to provide efficient mechanical harvesting and target desirable characteristics like disease- and pest-resistance, yield, and performance across different growing environments. This ensures a stable supply chain for ingredients derived from these crops and growers’ compliance with federal and state regulations.
Dr. Vaught will discuss how embracing genomics-driven breeding technologies will allow growers in the cannabis industry and beyond to produce reliable, consistent, and profitable crops at scale. He will draw on knowledge gained from his company’s industry-leading breeding platform, FRB’s support and collaboration of hemp genome research at UC Davis, and its recently opened breeding program branch at CRAG-IRTA.
Regulatory compliance remains a major concern for marijuana producers and suppliers. Packaging designs that meet the requirements on font size, government-mandated information and disclaimers and packing real estate put pressure on efforts to reduce waste and efficiently maximize recycling. Those in the industry look with concern to pressures currently being experienced by users of single-use plastics and look to industry professionals for guidance on how best to deal with not only recycled but with organic wastes, wastewater and odour as well. This session will examine the regulatory landscape and discuss which regs may be well-intentioned but counter-productive. We will hear about technical issues and solutions, and consider how Federal and Provincial marijuana regulatory requirements can also be at odds with environmental initiatives.
During prohibition, law enforcement hunting indoor grow-ops targeted properties that used copious electricity. That was an early hint of the power glut that now faces the industry. About a third of the average indoor grower’s overhead is lighting costs. A typical plant uses the equivalent of 70 gallons of oil from seed to harvest. And from 1-3% of the North American power grid may be taken up by cannabis farms. The commitment to go green is not just planet conscious. Eco commitments sway investors and improves the bottom line. This session will examine green options, include replacing high-pressure sodium lights with LED, using off-the-grid solar panels and cutting edge batteries to power-up, and – what a concept! – growing outdoors and using free sunlight.
Amid the noise of legalization, the non-psychoactive “other weed” sat quietly, with a relative few appreciating its almost limitless profit potential. That’s changing in a hurry, with legalized hemp production in the U.S. coming to the rescue of a CBD industry that can’t cope with a craze. But CBD oil production is just the beginning. There may be trillions of dollars in revenue once you factor in everything hemp can produce – from biodiesel fuels, to paper, to cloth, to enviro-friendly bio-plastics, all at an accelerated growth rate compared to other agri-business products. Kick-starting all these ideas will require billions of dollars in start-up funding, and many heads will have to be turned and minds changed. This session will offer up a road-map to a hemp-fueled future.
Starting from scratch has its upside. An industry whose supply chain didn’t legally exist a few years ago has had to go in with its eyes open. We’ve discovered that surprise demand can mean unexpected outlays of revenue; volatile consumer trends require every level of the industry – from raw plant harvest to finished product to retail – be thoroughly researched, intelligently produced and transparently distributed. Dealing with problems on the macro and micro level has been challenging and as we move into phase 2, we must ask, are our operations set up for future success or are we just handling growth as it comes? This panel will discuss the uncertainties of the transforming cannabis market as well as examine known problems, evolving practices and processes that can affect the entire supply chain from harvest to consumer.
Never be caught off-guard by a recall again. Recalls experts will speak from decades of retail recalls experience to proven best practices, discuss challenges and lessons learned from the 2018 cannabis recalls and share proven best practices for how to have your ducks in a row when — not if — another recall happens.
These are the brightest minds in cannabis growth, sharing experiences, best practices and goodwill amongst growers. And this camaraderie will come in handy as the push for industry standardization grows. They’ll talk about a year of challenges, adjusting to regulations, and offer insight into how Health Canada can adjust its role to promote better growing and cannabis quality. Many relationships were forged among growers last year, and it’s not far-fetched to see a future advocacy group forming over the lunch table.
With falling liquor sales, brewers are infusing cannabis into de-alcoholized beer. Pharma firms, hurting from cannabis’s toll on prescribed medicines for pain and sleep, are buying in. Tourism and service industries are re-structuring to accommodate exploding demand for cannabis-infused products. Consumer demand was always assumed to be a sleeping giant, but it is bigger behemoth than anyone expected. This session on the rising opportunity curve will look at new and growing demand for dried flowers, oils, edibles, concentrates and topicals, and how it’s shaking up the market landscape in all directions.
Yes, there’ve been growing pains, but mostly there’s been growth, and busy – you might even say caffeinated – market activity. This breakfast session will offer market analysts who’ll make sense of a year in which raised capital doubled to more than $3.2 billion, while merger-and-acquisition deals almost tripled in number. These experts will analyze where this could lead, how the state-by-state rush to legalization in the U.S. will affect our commerce, and how the push-and-pull between big-players and small-players will play out. What new investment paths are the most promising? Is the big money in supply or retail? We’ve got answers over-easy.
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