Why Automation in Cannabis is Proving Helpful

By Greenhouse Grower

There’s perhaps no better time than now to talk about automation in agriculture, writes Matthew Grassi at Greenhouse Grower. Social distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19 have severely limited the available workforce in nearly every corner of farming. It’s a question that’s been asked countless times on the major network news programs: Will we ever be back to what we once considered normal?

For what I’ve witnessed, normal in the commercial greenhouse cannabis world is and always has been a large crew of very capable team members often working near each other. Until a vaccine is widely available and adopted, or there is a significant breakthrough on instant test availability to the public, it begs the question: Will we ever be able to work in that manner again?

Due to the soaring cost of labor in many markets, plus the seemingly never-ending reports that finding manual laborers for farm jobs is growing even tougher, legal cannabis growers have taken a keen interest in automation and how it could help them lower operating expenses.

Continue reading at Greenhouse Grower.