+7.7% Boost in Cannabis

AT A GLANCE

Results
Crop
Farm
Location

If the farm adopted the UbiGro technology across all 40 greenhouses on site and this yield improvement in cannabis farming was consistently realized, it could profit an additional $320,000 per year, or an additional $1.28M over the 4-yr lifetime of the films. This advance in how to increase cannabis yield and innovative farming solutions exemplifies the potential financial benefits of enhanced cultivation strategies.

194 cannabis plants. The strain was Indica-dominant Cherry Chem.

Frontier Farms Licensed recreational cannabis farm in Hood River, Oregon.

Hood River, OR, USA.

UbiGro® films were installed in one of 40 greenhouses at Frontier Farms, a licensed recreational cannabis farm in Hood River, Oregon, to explore how to increase cannabis yield. The films were mounted flush against the inside polyethylene cover of half of a 25’x90’ greenhouse. The UbiGro film covered 96 cannabis plants while the other half of the greenhouse had no UbiGro film and served as the control for the experiment.

With 98 control plants, a total of 194 plants were monitored during the trial in this segment of cannabis farming. The strain for the plant trial was the Indica-dominant Cherry Chem (Cherry Pie x Chem 4), focusing on enhancing cannabis plant yield through advanced cannabis growing and innovative farming solutions.

All conditions were kept identical for both sides of the experiment: watering and nutrient regimen, humidity and temperature, harvesting and pruning regimen, integrated pest management regimen, etc. The cultivation team at Frontier Farms made qualitative observations of the crop during the cannabis growth cycle. They noted that the plants under the UbiGro film were taller, with a little tighter buds, and overall grew with more vigor. After three months under the films, whole plant wet weights were reported in October of 2019.

“It seemed like they were growing better and bushier on the orange side.” – Owner, Head Grower Frontier Farms

Excluding edge and border rows that were particularly inhomogeneous in plant size on both sides of the trial, wet yields were increased by +7.7% on the film side of the trial. While final dry yields have not been reported as of this writing.

We estimate this to be equivalent to a +3.1 lbs of dry, trimmed bud off the film side, based on an assumption of a 15% whole-wet-plant/dry-trimmed-bud ratio. No differences in trichome color, finishing time, bud color, bud odor/flavor or overall quality were observed.

Samples were taken from both sides of the plant trial and were sent to Anova Laboratory (Hood River, OR) for cannabinoid testing. Total THC content was moderately increased for Cherry Chem grown under UbiGro, going from 22.5% to 23.5%, a relative increase of +4.4%.

Potency Summary: Cherry Chem

	UbiGro	Control	Rel. Change
Total THC	23.5%	22.5%	+4.4%

Economics

A yield enhancement improves the economics of a farm, advancing cannabis farming and introducing innovative farming solutions. But what is that yield enhancement worth to the farmer? Taking this experiment as a case study, we can calculate the value that the yield-boosting UbiGro film brings to the economics of the farm, enhancing the cannabis plant yield and contributing to how to increase cannabis yield.

During this trial, the full greenhouse will produce an estimated 80 lbs of dried, trimmed cannabis, excluding the 3-lb boost realized by the half covered by UbiGro, demonstrating effective cannabis growth strategies. The greenhouse will produce double that amount given two rounds of harvests per year. The farm currently wholesales trimmed cannabis for $1000/lb.

This equates to $160,000 in wholesale revenue from this single greenhouse per year. A +7.7% increase in yield translates to $12,320 increased revenues per year.

“I’m excited about being on the front lines with you guys. I think it’s gonna do us well.”
– Grower, Frontier Farms

CONCLUSION

To quantify the value of the increase in cannabis plant yield and the resulting revenue from cannabis farming, we must calculate the increased profit. There are variable costs associated with producing and selling this extra cannabis, including harvesting, drying/curing, trimming, packaging, and transportation. However, fixed costs are not increased with additional yield. These costs include real estate (rent/mortgage), heating/cooling, electricity, marketing, and labor tied to square footage such as cleaning, seeding, vegetative labor, etc.

Given that the gross margin on the baseline production of cannabis at Frontier Farms is 50% (50% COGS), then we estimate a 65% gross margin on the extra production (35% COGS) realized as a result of the advanced cannabis growing techniques and innovative farming solutions provided by the UbiGro spectrum, designed to increase cannabis yield and optimize cannabis growth.

In this example, that translates to $8,000 additional profit per year from this greenhouse. Over the 4-yr life of the installed UbiGro film, the farm would benefit from $32,000 in additional profit from this greenhouse alone.

If the farm adopted the UbiGro technology across all 40 greenhouses on site and this yield improvement was consistently realized, it could profit an additional $320,000 per year, or an additional $1.28M over the 4-yr lifetime of the films.

Greenhouse Details

Greenhouse Size: 25ft x 90ft

Increased Revenue/Year: $12,320

Increased Profit/Year: $8,000

Increased Profit over Film Life: $32,000

Increased Profit over Film Life, Farm: $1.28 million