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Yesterday at the Benzinga Cannabis Market Spotlight in New Jersey, I witnessed something both telling and troubling, yet unsurprising. Settling into my front-row seat for what promised to be an insightful panel—”Beating the Elements: How High Tech Cultivation is Defining the East Coast”—I was struck by the sparse attendance. The room was barely one-third full, a stark contrast to the packed house at the preceding panel on dispensary product selection.
This visual disparity crystallized something many of us in cultivation have felt for years: despite being the literal foundation of the cannabis industry, cultivation knowledge remains undervalued by the broader cannabis business community.
The Irony of Industry Focus
The panels drawing standing-room-only crowds at Benzinga featured discussions on retail strategies, investment opportunities, and product selection. Investors and retail operators crowded in, eagerly taking notes and networking. Meanwhile, the discussion of advanced cultivation technologies—the very innovations that determine product quality, consistency, and ultimately consumer satisfaction—apparently warranted only passing interest.
This attendance gap reveals a fundamental disconnect. How can an industry so focused on product quality, consumer experience, and brand differentiation show such limited interest in the cultivation processes that determine these outcomes?
What They Missed: Cutting-Edge Innovations
Those who skipped the cultivation panel missed some critical insights that directly impact business success. When the discussion turned to AI applications in cannabis, Jesce Horton, Founder of Plant Fidelity Solutions, highlighted Aroya—a leader in data-driven crop steering, root zone management, and AI-assisted cultivation that many growers have relied on for years.
Surprisingly, even some panelists seemed unfamiliar with Aroya’s capabilities, underscoring the knowledge gap that exists even among industry participants. This technology isn’t merely a cultivation tool; it represents the kind of data-driven approach that transforms operational efficiency and product consistency—metrics that directly impact financial performance.
Similarly revealing was David Fettner from Grow America discussing vertical cultivation with his observation that “real estate is expensive but air is free.” When the panel acknowledged that upper racks typically produce lower quality cannabis, it raised the question of how sophisticated systems like Aroya—enabling tier-specific irrigation zones run by AI—can address exactly that challenge. This kind of operational intelligence bridges cultivation science with business outcomes. Yet it remained unheard by the majority of attendees who had prioritized other sessions.
The Knowledge Gap Consequence
This cultivation knowledge gap has real consequences for the industry. Capital flows toward flashy retail concepts while fundamental cultivation infrastructure remains underfunded. Business plans get built on production assumptions that experienced cultivators recognize as fantasy. Vertically integrated companies struggle when their grow operations can’t meet the expectations set by marketing and retail teams. And executive decisions about facility design, tool placement, and floor-level operations get made without any meaningful understanding of what happens in the grow.
Perhaps most concerning is how this gap perpetuates itself. When cultivation discussions are poorly attended, conference organizers schedule fewer cultivation sessions, further limiting knowledge sharing and reinforcing the disconnect.
Cultivation Passion as Industry Fuel
During the panel, a moment perfectly captured what’s missing from today’s industry conversations. Jesce Horton made a joke about his girlfriend leaving him because their apartment was “like living in a greenhouse,” to which someone quipped, “Hey, there are people in here who would love to live in a greenhouse!”
That exchange hit home. That is precisely the energy this industry needs—people who genuinely love and understand this plant. When we have a fundamental disconnect between growers and everyone else, how can we ever hope to build a customer base that shares that curiosity?
The most passionate advocates for cannabis quality have always been those with soil under their fingernails. As that connection erodes, we risk losing the very passion that has driven this industry forward against impossible odds.
Cultivation Knowledge as Competitive Advantage
Forward-thinking operators increasingly recognize that deep cultivation knowledge is a genuine competitive advantage. When executives understand the nuances of environmental control, genetic selection, and cultivation workflows, they make fundamentally better business decisions. The most successful cannabis businesses in mature markets have integrated cultivation expertise into their strategic decision-making—treating AI-driven crop steering not as a grow room tool, but as a margin-protecting asset.
A Direct Call to Action
If you’re an investor, spend a day in a cultivation facility before your next deal. Add a cultivation expert to your due diligence team. Make site visits non-negotiable.
If you’re an executive, schedule monthly hands-on time with your cultivation team. Consider putting cultivation expertise on your board. Create cross-functional teams where growers have a seat at the decision-making table.
If you organize conferences, feature cultivation innovators in keynote slots—not just specialized tracks. Build programming that explicitly connects cultivation to business outcomes.
And for everyone in this industry: challenge yourself to learn one new cultivation concept every few months. Ask questions. Build relationships with growers. Recognize that cultivation isn’t just an operational necessity—it’s the heart of what makes cannabis unique.
Bridging the Divide
Those empty seats at yesterday’s cultivation panel represented more than missed information. They symbolized a broader industry challenge we must collectively address. Without successful cultivators, there are no products to select, no brands to build, and no industry to invest in.
The future belongs to organizations and leaders who close this knowledge gap. The empty seats reveal not that cultivation is unimportant—but that we have significant work to do.