Episode 1

001 Daniel Craveiro - Converting Single-Tier Legacy Cannabis Cultivation to a State-of-the-Art Multi-Tier Operation

Published on: 10th October, 2022

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Daniel Craveiro is the Director of Research & Development at Camaraderie Group, an organization that includes such brands as Mayflower Farms and Sirona Cultivated. Today, Michael and Daniel engage in a deep discussion on the cannabis industry, fertigation systems, and the difference between traditional cultivation methods and multi-tiered setups.

Daniel entered the regulated Cannabis industry in 2009 while pursuing a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Since 2009, Daniel has had ample experience in Cultivation and Manufacturing facility design and build, equipment and methodology selection and implementation and facility commissioning and training. He has contributed to the design and build of multiple ground-up and retrofit facilities across multiple states including Colorado, Michigan and California. Daniel has contributed to the development of the DAGDA Fertigation System, which is a state-of-the-art suite of automated plant irrigation solutions for cultivators that uses real-time plant data to make irrigation decisions. This system allows cultivators to make data-driven decisions that contribute to consistent, reproducible crop outcomes. Daniel has also conducted research in the field of Cannabis plant sciences and manufacturing techniques and has collaborated on research with prominent companies and institutions in the field of Cannabis sciences and product development. Daniel has been a part of award-winning teams, including being a recipient of awards from High Times magazine, the THC Classic Cup and The 710 Showdown.

Key Takeaways

00:01 – Daniel joins the show to share his origin story, cannabis cultivation, and transdermal patches

06:36 – Revolutionizing the world of cannabis sales

08:29 – Multi-State Operators (MSO), explained

13:00 – Fertigation systems

18:59 – Daniel describes some of the infrastructure he has in place at Mayflower Farms

22:38 – The difference between solventless and solvent-based extracts

31:02 – Transitioning from traditional cultivation methods to multi-tiered setups

34:50 – Daniel speaks to some of the innovations they are working on at Mayflower Farms

42:05 – Initiatives to be environmentally friendly and to continuously improve

45:07 – Tips for building a great culture

46:39 – Advice Daniel would give to those considering shifting from single to multi-tier

48:52 – Michael thanks Daniel for joining the show

Shareable Quotes

“We don’t see this being an industry that has a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, which is the perception that a lot of people have. Our perception of the industry is that it’s just like any other, but we have an opportunity to be in it a bit ahead and a bit early.” (09:24)

“We looked at the existing fertigation systems that were in the market and we saw some of the deficits they had in terms of being applicable to cannabis specifically. So, we decided to jump full on into that endeavor. What we’ve done since is basically develop a set of systems for fertilizer mixing, fertilizer delivery to the plant - so irrigation - and then also substrate monitoring.” (14:56)

“It’s very unique how you find these groups or families of strains that share characteristics…I think there’s a very big world of complements that can occur in cannabis that people aren’t exploring as much. And we’re curious about it so we’re playing around with it.” (30:35)

“One of the biggest challenges in cannabis right now is accounting. It’s a very complex business to do this and there’s a lot of different components to it. A lot of growers actually don’t know how much it costs them to grow a pound of product.” (40:55)

“We try to adopt the concept of continuous improvement in our company. You could say it’s a cliche thing, but when you get it into the heads of every team member out there and you walk the floor, you notice that people are looking around for ways to make their lives better.” (43:39)