CropTalk

Consistently producing quality crops starts with understanding what you're doing, what you've done and what you're going to do in the future.

On this episode of CropTalk podcast, featuring Jason Scott Arnold of Henry's Original, we dive deep into why every cannabis grower should have some sort of slight addiction to data.

Too little data is like growing in the dark.

Too much data is a burden and is muda.

Narrowing in on what data you should be collecting and how, is critical for you to feel confident in replicating results of a successful crop or learning from the lessons of a poor crop.

As one of my favorite mentors told me before "You are allowed to make any mistake in horticulture once. If you make it twice, then you didn't learn from the first one. That ain't ok."

Collecting and analyzing the right data empowers growers to learn from their mistakes and consistently repeat their success.

#startcleanstayclean

On this episode of the CropTalk series, #KyleTalksAgTech, Kyle Barnett sits down with Alexander Olesen of Babylon Micro-Farms, to understand the ins and outs of small scale indoor farming systems.

Alexander shares some unique perspective and what makes Babylon's growing system and service for their clients, special.

When it comes to understanding how many acres one should grow as a hemp farmer, two of the most important questions to ask oneself is:

1. Will I have a buyer or biomass purchase agreement for my crop, before I intend to plant it?

2. How much infrastructural capacity (harvest equipment, drying or curing capacity, mechanization) do I have?

The second question is to make oneself think long and hard about the scale of cultivation they can ultimately handle.

How many acres of crop can I adequately dry and process to a marketable form, with my current infrastructure, is a crucial question to answer before determining the actual acreage to plant in 2020.

Josh Ludgate, Co-owner of Natural Bridge Farm and Natural Bridge Products, and I dive deep into the topic of reverse-engineering the hemp cultivation and post-harvest process to determine your infrastructural capacity.

Josh and I had quite the conversation and it includes much more than what is described above.

Could not be more grateful to have had this conversation with Josh.

Grateful for all of you listeners as well!

Until next time, #startcleanstayclean

Fighting microbes at the microbial level in cannabis production is easier said than done.

There are a laundry list of potential microbes and mycotoxins that could leave your finished cannabis product worthless.

Jason Hadley of Lighthouse Worldwide Solutions is focused on helping growers understand the nuts and bolts of growing clean cannabis.

In this episode, Jason and I dive deep into microbial contamination and how to prevent it from happening.

As you might guess, it takes a diligent and multi-pronged strategy to accomplish consistently clean production of cannabis.

Tune in to this episode of CropTalk to learn how to better protect your crop.

If you enjoy this episode, it would mean the world to me if you could leave us a review on your favorite podcast player.

Choosing the right genetic varieties for your hemp crop could mean the difference between success and failure in 2020.

While many claim they have superior genetics and that they understand what the farmer needs to be successful; Travis Higginbotham and the team at The Hemp Mine prove it day in and day out.

CropTalk's newest co-host, Kyle Barnett, talks crops with Travis in this enlightening episode centered around hemp and what is on the horizon for The Hemp Mine in 2020.

Pull up a chair and grab a notebook because this episode has knowledge worth taking note of.

#KyleTalksCrops

Growers have often struggled with understanding where their crops stand with regards to optimal nutrition.

Optimal nutrition is often the difference between a bumper crop and a break even year.

Soil testing and plant tissue analysis are traditional ways for growers to attempt to understand how their plant is taking up needed nutrients and regulating its overall health.

Those techniques offer more objective information than growers have had in the past and are much better than a visual subjective analysis.

That being said, there's a new technique in town. It's been used in Europe for some time and has migrated to the States for use in high value crops.

It's called plant SAP analysis and my guest on this episode, Scott Wall of New Age Laboratories, is performing the technique for growers around the county.

It reveals how and what the plant is taking up in terms of nutrients, in the present moment.

Instead of guessing on what might happen in between a soil test, a leaf tissue analysis and a potency test on your flower, you can see into the plant's day to day nutrient uptake activity.

Listen to this episode to learn more about how SAP analysis can change the way you manage nutrition.

Managing the startup of a large-scale operation of any kind can be overwhelming.

Add in stricter regulations and a relatively uninformed market and you're in for a ride, my friend.

In this episode of CropTalk, I catch up with lifelong farmer and founder of The All-Natural Farming Group, Joey Bedard-Brunet. He shares all the ups and downs of managing the startup of a commercial cannabis production in Canada.

Plus, we talk about:

• Navigating the regulations required for commercially growing cannabis.
• The main reasons why growers fail at starting a commercial cannabis production.
• Joey's biggest career-defining moment in organic growing.
• Moving agriculture and industry knowledge forward.

To listen to this episode and more like it, subscribe to CropTalk on Apple Podcasts or tune in here.

It's clear that a lot of people in the U.S. are still wary of cannabis products being regulated.

Even regulators - like the FDA and USDA - are still uncertain of how to handle the regulation process of the commodity.

In this episode of CropTalk, founder and CEO of Allay Consulting, Kimberly Stuck, fills listeners in on how her team is educating regulators about cannabis.

She covers topics such as:

• Driving industry growth through education.
• Normalizing cannabis in the U.S.
• Differences between cannabis and other regulated commodities.
• How the FDA and USDA are currently handling cannabis regulation.

To listen to this episode and more like it, subscribe to CropTalk on Apple Podcasts or tune in here.

How does variety selection impact growth from Oregon, to California, to the Carolinas?

On this episode, we invited Dr. Allison Justice to share her expertise on variety selection with cannabis.

Dr. Justice is the Founder of The Hemp Mine, Co-Founder of SC Botanicals, and a Board Member of the California Industrial Hemp Advisory Board.

What we talked about:

• Variety selection
• How geographies impact growth
• Vegetative liners
• Clones
• Feminized seeds
• Stabilization and risk mitigation

You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to the CropTalk podcast on Apple Podcasts.

As horticulture recovers from a generational gap in recruitment, it's important to emphasize the value of building relationships - and trust - in the industry.

In this episode of CropTalk, co-host Kyle Barnett talks with Todd Downing, managing partner at Best Human Capital & Advisory Group, about recruitment in the ag tech industry.

They also discuss:

• The best ways to break into the ag tech industry.
• The importance of building professional relationships.
• Advocating for training and development in ag tech.

To listen to this episode and more like it, subscribe to CropTalk on Apple Podcasts or tune in here.