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Denver-based LeafTrack has developed an RFID-based tracking system to help producers meet U.S. state mandates, tracking each plant’s growing environment and alerting you when a plant’s condition declines.
Two medical marijuana suppliers in Colorado, USA use RFID systems (RFID Radio Frequency Express Note: developed by Denver-based LeafTrack) to track the health of plants as they grow, while meeting the state’s requirements for tracking the drug from seed to user. strict requirements. Several other cannabis growers and manufacturers are also piloting the system. The system develops an observation window for each plant to track plant growth and health, as well as the production of cannabis until it becomes a consumer product, and patients can buy medicines in a variety of forms, such as mixing it into chocolate. Manufacturers of medical cannabis can access relevant data through LeafTrack software, and consumers through LeafTrack’s Findmary website. Government agencies (RFID RF Express Note: 17 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, which currently has programs for medical marijuana) can also access information from the LeafTrack software.
LeafTrack was founded in 2010 to provide logistics services to the medical cannabis industry. The company buys cannabis from growers, then transports the raw ingredients to pharmacies, where they process them into medicines, and finally deliver the final medicines to the pharmacies. Along the way, growers are responsible for growing, managing, and ultimately harvesting the leaves and buds. LeafTrack not only ships the ingredients, but also sticks barcode labels on the packaging to help them track the flow of goods. Reid Hanson, founder of eafTrack, said: However, with the introduction of the new national policy, the company gradually realized that the biggest demand for enterprises and countries is the traceability of products from the production source to the final consumer. As a result, the company pulled out of the logistics business to develop an RFID-based traceability system for medical cannabis suppliers.
At present, the main intended customers of the system company are medical marijuana dispensaries and growers across the country, including those providers of high-value plants, such as saffron, who need to pay close attention to their growth process during the cultivation process.
Medical marijuana is legally produced and sold in many states, but must comply with government regulations. Julie Postlethwait, public information officer for the Division of Medical Marijuana Regulation Enforcement, said: In July, Colorado’s tax department drew up regulations on medical marijuana that would require tracking of cannabis products from seed to sale, and said the state would eventually require EPC Gen 2 Ultra High Frequency (UHF) RFID tags. She added that the government is currently working with Franwell to develop the RFID system, which is expected to be completed early next year. Postlethwait said: At that time, the government will introduce regulations on the implementation and use of UHF RFID systems. She noted that the Colorado Department of Taxation may recommend specific RFID systems or tags for sale. “Until regulations are in place, the department does not recommend large technology purchases to meet new requirements,” she said.
Before using the system, marijuana growers provided information about the plants to Colorado authorities through paperwork, and the government conducted regular inspections after products were put into storage. At harvest time, the unprocessed hemp feed is often shipped to another producer to process and sell the product. However, Colorado’s new law requires that 70 percent of a product supplier’s spot inventory must come from the same cannabis grower. The two product suppliers currently use the LeafTrack system to trace around 60,000 plants on a four-month cycle, serving up to 10,000 customers. LeafTrack customers declined to be named.
By using the LeafTrack system, the description (RFID radio frequency express note: planting conditions and date) and number of the seedlings grown for several weeks are entered into the LeafTrack database for full life cycle tracking. LeafTrack has designed a plastic strip (like an RFID wristband on a baby’s hands or feet in a nursery) embedded with an EPC Gen 2 RFID tag made by SK&T Integration. The plastic strip is provided by Precision Dynamic (PDC), and its unique RFID-embedded code is presented on the surface of the plastic strip in the form of text and barcode, so that data can be read without using an RFID reader. As shown in the figure, the plastic label is wrapped around the stem of the plant, and the data read by the IP30 handheld reader produced by Intermec CN3 and the running LeafTrack software are sent to the management background, so that the label and barcode are encoded in the system. associated together.
Planting with dense seeding can result in multiple cannabis plants growing together, Hanson said. Cannabis plants grow in greenhouses and have high requirements on the growing environment. Not only do they need adequate temperature and light, they must also be protected from insects and mold. Once a cannabis plant is infested, it can spread to other plants within 24 hours, thus destroying dozens or more in a short period of time. Each cannabis plant is worth about $500, so even the death of one plant can affect the company’s bottom line. Under the aegis of the software, any plant problems will be immediately alerted and management will be notified via email.
Routine exams are usually weekly, or more frequently. When an employee inspects or fertilizes, he or she simply holds an Intermec reader and determines if all plants are being monitored. If this is not the case, the reader will display the code of the missing plant, try to read the tag again or send a notification that the plant is missing. If one or more plants are found to be infested, employees read the plant’s tag code, send details of the problem and a photo of the affected plant to the back office via Wi-Fi or cellular connection, and then send an email to notify managers .
In addition, the LeafTrack system has sensing capabilities to detect changes in temperature, light, soil pH and other factors that may affect plant health. These wired sensors, installed in each greenhouse, upload that data to LeafTrack software, which sends alerts via email if conditions are unfavorable for the plants. The company is also testing wireless solutions for stand-alone sensing setups, where RFID transponders provide sensing data from individual plants, tracking conditions throughout the greenhouse. For example, if resetting the exhaust fan to bring the indoor temperature to 45 degrees increases the yield per plant, growers will benefit from this information, Hanson said.
During harvest, each plant is placed in a container. Wet RFID tags (RFID RF Express Note: provided by SK&T Integration, Inc.) are affixed to each container and read so that the code of each plant tag is linked to the code of the container tag. After the container is transferred to the processing area, it is either roasted into another edible product or processed into tobacco. The product is finally packaged, and RFID tags are attached, and the label codes are printed on the outer packaging in the form of text and barcodes. This label code is linked to the code of the container box and plant.
LeafTrack’s Findmary.com website allows consumers to enter the number on a product’s RFID tag and view information about the product, which may include how the plant was grown and how the plant used pesticides, whether other ingredients are organic in nature, such as eggs.
In addition, the company reports that it can share data on the cultivation, processing and sales of each plant with government agencies.
In the future, the U.S. state of Colorado plans to create its own database to store details about the growth and harvest of each plant. He also noted that LeafTrack software can forward data directly to the database if necessary.
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