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The cannabis industry is speeding forward like a bat out of hell. Change and confluence are everywhere and accelerating continually. While I hope and believe appreciation for the craft of cannabis will reappear, just like it did for beer, right now, the name of the game is automation, time-saving, and cost.
Shock waves are being felt throughout the industry because of this, and most certainly with seed makers. Prices are down over 50% the last 18 months. To exacerbate it further, as legalization sweeps the country, medical and caregiver growers are disappearing. Michigan had 30,000 caregivers in 2021, I would think that’s 60% less now. That’s just one state. They were the continual pheno hunters of new cannabis strains. They’ve been replaced by thousands of LED lights growing Lemon Cherry Gelato, I mean Runtz bag seed, or whatever, just don’t be salty.
People want to smoke about 10 different cannabis strains right now. Here’s a list for you to disagree with me:
1. Runtz
2. Lemon Cherry Gelato
3. Permanent Marker
4. Blue Zushi
5. Gelato 41
6. Zoap
7. Golf Cart Gary
8. Ice Cream Cake
9. RS11
10. Not that nostalgic strain you want to suggest
Neptune Seed Bank, which may be the largest seed seller in the world, told me regular seeds are worthless to him at this point. Seed makers race to cross the latest hype to hype for feminized lines as quick as possible. Lemon Cherry Gelato reversed to the other top 9 on that list is already a thing, but who has the space, time, and understanding of the true cost of real pheno hunts of 224 seeds of Permanent Payton or Blue Gelato?
I hear keyboards on social media say seed makers who aren’t hunting their seeds are a serious red flag and should be a warning. This type of thinking is a serious red flag that you don’t understand the market right now of cannabis or seed making. People’s attention spans are about 7 seconds long now days. It’s extremely costly also to do a proper hunt of seeds.
Dark Star Seed Bank was telling me recently about a new client he brought on. I knew who the person was; he does real work, and he “runs his own seeds.” He just finished working on 10 lines for two years and went deep into expressions and traits he saw in the live for over an hour of his time. Then he answered every question people had. The drop went live, and after two weeks, he had sold less than 5 packs. Did he not work them right for your liking?
I wish I knew someone who had a war chest and wanted to hunt 5 strains, 224 seeds of each and do it right to find those keepers in large hunts of one strain. These people don’t just grow on trees.
What say we do a discovery breaking down the true costs per pheno you raise from seed to harvest. Math is hard but rewarding…
For a medium scale producer in 2023 with an average of 200 – 250 plants per room. In which each plant takes up 4 sq ft of canopy. it Costs roughly $277 to produce one plant with all costs including, licensing, utilities labor, nutrients, and all consumables from seed to pre packaging included.
Or $277 per 4 sq ft of canopy
$622 to produce a lb
224 x 4 = 896 sq ft of canopy
(224 x $277)/896 = $69.25 per sq foot of canopy to produce per harvest
224 plant pheno hunt is 224 x $277 = $62048
Add in gender testing if reg seeds at $10 x 224 = $2240
Testing =
$150 for terpenes and potency
$150 x 224 = $33600
Compliance = $450 per 50 lb batch
55g per sq ft which is avg = 108 lbs
48lbs avg per plant = 108 lbs
You’re going to smoke a lot for r&d so add another $900
$62048 – produce room
$2240 – gender testing
$33600 testing terpenes & potency
$900 compliance –
$98788 total cost. Can reduce testing by not testing every pheno etc.
They say math is hard, I say math HURTS! I’d rather hunt 400 of one strain to really get down to it, might as well say quarter of a million then.
Wait I can get a hype cut for $50?