Founder of the Cannabis Research Center and Coalition, Dr. Allison Justice, PhD, sits down with the BIOS team to discuss the challenges of commercial horticulture and her mission to create a library of cannabis research for farmers everywhere.
Long before Dr. Allison Justice was a scientist, she was a farmer.
Daughter of an ornamental farmer and a granddaughter of cotton farmers, Allison did not fall far from the family tree. Since graduating from Clemson University with a PhD in Plant and Environmental Science in 2014, she has, among a long list of accomplishments, conducted groundbreaking research into the photobiological advantages of LEDs over traditional lighting technology and founded the Cannabis Research Center and Coalition, a partnership between her alma mater and the Hemp Mine, her family cannabis farm and research center.
From their state-of-the-art grow laboratories, Allison and her team tailor their research to the questions and needs of growers everywhere, many of whom lack access to the kinds of insights that can help them succeed. Her goal is to unite cannabis farmers and help them improve their businesses with high-quality, unbiased scientific research.
How exactly does the Cannabis Research Center and Coalition help cultivators?
When financial projections shift, it’s always the cultivators left holding the bill. Retailers and brokers can always pass their costs onto the consumer, but the same can’t be said for growers.
“With any agricultural crop, it’s a race to the bottom,” said Allison. “Margins shrink, profits go down, and you’re stuck in this position where you have to be more efficient.” The question is, how can growers make sound decisions about maximizing their operations without the science to back it up? “In a lot of ways, cannabis is all glitter and marketing, so it’s hard for growers to understand who to trust and what to listen to.”
To assist growers, the Cannabis Research Center and Coalition recently launched a tiered membership model, under which any participating grower can access an open-source library of their research completely for free, with topics ranging from propagation to flowering to post-harvest and curing. As a free member, you can even request subjects for the CRC to study and vote on which to address.
What obstacles do cannabis growers and researchers struggle to overcome?
Even in North America, where cannabis is widely decriminalized and legal for medicinal and recreational use, the centuries-old stigma around cannabis still hampers horticultural research.
Very few American universities study cannabis—especially when it comes to cultivation or post-harvest practices of cannabinoid-producing types. And even private researchers like Allison can’t access the same federal funding available for research on other crops
Allison and the CRC specialize in post-harvest, the stage of the agricultural cycle concerned with handling, processing, and transporting crops before they find their way to the customer.
According to Allison, when it comes to cannabis, it also happens to be the part of cultivation we know the least about. “We have no idea what’s going on post-harvest,” she said.
Cultivators can’t draw inspiration on what to do post-harvest from other commercial operations for different plants. “You can’t compare cannabis to cut flowers, because cut flowers are meant to die,” Allison said. “Drying and curing cannabis means you’re trying to preserve it. You can’t compare cannabis to fruit. Fruit is meant to be eaten, and it’s a whole different plant structure. Tobacco is similar to cannabis, but not exactly the same because tobacco is dried at a really high heat.”
These knowledge gaps have long prevented growers from understanding the plants they sell and developing efficient and sustainable growing strategies. Without a standard to work from, cultivators are stuck groping in the dark. That’s where the CRC comes in: to shine a light on cannabis with open-source research available to growers everywhere.
With Allison’s leadership and her dedicated team, successful, cost-effective cultivation won’t be a mystery for much longer.
BIOS and the CRC recently partnered on a new cultivation research project with Endeavour 1750 grow lights. Stay tuned!
Listen in to our BIOS Office Hours segment below to learn more about how Dr. Justice and the CRC supports growers and commercial cultivation facilities.
