Post-harvest tips to elevate cannabis flower and your bottom line 

(This is a contributed guest column. To be considered as an MJBizDaily guest columnist, please submit your request here.)

You’ve spent months carefully cultivating your cannabis crop and meticulously controlling every environmental factor to create healthy, potent plants.

But if you’re still using traditional post-harvest techniques, you could be leaving profits on the table while also compromising quality.

There’s a long legacy behind growing great flower, but the “old ways” of drying and curing are not always backed by science.

And in an increasingly competitive market, having inconsistent yields or mediocre-quality flower can quickly erode a cultivator’s reputation.

Taking a scientific approach in assessing drying and minimizing handling are ways for growers to set themselves up for long-term success.

Science of cannabis drying

Too often, post-harvest handling is an afterthought for cultivators looking to get product out the door and sold as quickly as possible.

But those final steps before sale are critical for preserving quality, maximizing yield and ensuring shelf stability.

The lack of a consistent process and precise repeatability open the door to potential problems: Common issues such as overdrying or underdrying, excessive handling and lack of environmental control degrade trichomes, introduce contamination risks and unnecessarily reduce profitability.

One of the biggest potential profit killers is overdrying cannabis flower.

Removing too much moisture doesn’t just reduce sellable weight; it also can negatively impact potency, terpene integrity, burn quality and more.

Optimal cannabis moisture level

The key lies in precisely controlling and monitoring water activity – the measure of the level of tightly bound water molecules within the plant material.

By maintaining cannabis flower with water activity at 0.6 (the ASTM International standard is a range of 0.55 to 0.65), it’s possible to achieve superior shelf stability and prevent mold issues without excessively drying, losing critical weight and cutting into profits.

Water-activity standards and measurement are already widely used for ensuring safety and quality in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

And as cannabis continues its path toward federal legality, the industry should expect mandated water-activity testing requirements by governmental regulatory agencies.

Massachusetts regulators recently released a memo highlighting the importance of water activity, but for the most part, such an analysis remains overlooked or misunderstood.

Purchasing a water-activity meter is an affordable investment and one of the smartest moves a cannabis cultivator can make.

I’ve seen the results of managing water activity levels with producers increasing their yields by as much as 5%-7% without changing nutrients, genetics or inputs.

These meters provide the critical data growers need to precisely control drying, curing and storage conditions.

Minimize handling and maintain stable environment

Every time cannabis flower is handled and transferred between environments, there are risks of introducing contaminants and compromising the valuable trichome heads.

Fluctuations in environmental conditions – be it in a room or a storage bin – also make it extremely difficult to achieve consistent drying rates and water activity.

Optimizing post-harvest handling with science-based methods delivers significant operational benefits, including:

• Increased profitability from higher salable weight.
• Consistently superior-quality flower.
• Reduced labor costs from minimized handling and transfers.
• Improved efficiency and consistency of operations.
• Lowered risks of compromised product safety and quality.

As consumer education surrounding cannabis increases and legal markets mature, there will be escalating demands for consistently high-quality cannabis.

The days of simply producing cheap flower with maxed-out THC are coming to an end.

Good drying and curing improve profits

Producers who have dialed in their post-harvest processes with validated tools and methods will have a major competitive advantage.

That especially relates to pre-rolls.

They are rapidly increasing in popularity, and I’ve seen plenty of real-world examples of proper handling improving quality dramatically and leading to higher sales and brand loyalty.

Statistics from Seattle-based industry analyst Headset show pre-rolls have strong sales and continued growth across legal markets in the U.S. and Canada.

The industry has made great strides on the cultivation side by implementing the latest horticultural science and innovations.

It’s now time to bring those same disciplined, science-based approaches to the vital post-harvest stage as well.

Jane Sandelman is co-founder and CEO of Perkinsville, Vermont-based Cannatrol, a drying, curing and post-harvest storage system. She can be reached at linkedin.com/in/jane-sandelman.