Is a Chemistry background the most useful when it comes to cultivation & production?

CannaBusiness
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Hello again FutureFam, Happy new year to everyone! I’ll try to make this short, sweet, and to the point.

When bringing on new employees for upper management/director positions, weather it be for a cultivation operation, or in an extraction lab,

Is a chemistry background preferred over a horticulture background?

In my mind a chemistry background would be way more versatile/flexible in the sense that I believe a chemistry background would allow me to have way more flexibility when picking where exactly I want to be in the canna industry.

I am asking bc I am currently enrolled in classes for a horticulture degree, but I think I’m about to change my focus of study to chemistry instead.

Also, before anyone gives me shit for getting a degree, instead of just getting experience, I do have 2 years white market commercial cannabis cultivation experience, in addition to a year traditional market experience. and I plan to get back into the industry ASAP

Thanks to all that reply!

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I personally would find a chemistry background better than horticulture for all around skills and knowledge

If you want to grow and stick with that i would choose horticulture but i think its more limiting.

When bringing on an upper management position i would want more than just a degree, i would be expecting management experience, cannabis experience, people skills and most of all a good head on their shoulders when it comes to values.

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Where do you want to be in five years?

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I think you are asking about chemistry education vs horticulture education. But I’m going to answer it as though you meant background - meaning hands on experience, training, and knowledge - and not just a degree. I think you already know my thoughts about seeking a degree - if you don’t check out my post to you here.

In my experience as a chemist who has also worked large farms/cultivations. A background in horticulture will prepare you better for a management position because the average person in a horticulture environment will be on small/large teams more often, will have to deal with more team turnover than chemists, and in general will have to learn some really interesting supervisory/management soft skills that as a chemist you get way less experience from entry level positions.

Most chemistry entry level positions are solo activities - you and your bench samples. You and your instrument. Occasionally doing peer review - with one or two people. Mistakes here are often smaller and less costly.

Most horticulture entry level positions are team activities - you and your team moving trees/shrubs/plants. You and your team working on big tractors together. Almost always with other people - being challenged by communication issues, team dynamics, and generally dealing with mechanical systems and unforgiving plant environments (wrong chemical, plants die) which can lead to entire batches being thrown out.

I’ll point back to the original response - focus on WHAT YOU ENJOY. Its not about which job you can get - in STEM you’ll probably be able to find a job, maybe not a “running a multi-state cannabis operation” job - but a good paying job.

So if you are like - man I don’t want to learn about plants anymore - but wow organic chemistry is the shit, that’s cool. Switch to chemistry.

But really - without all the experience I mentioned before - the degree isn’t going to be what sets you apart. But you passion might be what does. So find what you really ENJOY doing - that class that you are willing to be up at the ass crack of dawn for, and do something that applies that.

The rest really is just up to chance anyway. Your network - the people you know - and how you communicate with them. Its 100% facts and it fucking makes life suck more than people like to admit.

Either degree is a fully functional working in or out of the cannabis industry job. With a masters in horticulture you could walk into a nice cushy government job, almost out of college. But you won’t be working with cannabis. Still a damn good job though. And if you love plants - even better. :slight_smile:

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Intro organic chemistry and intro general chemistry are the only classes you need. With a firm grasp of these two-three classes you can understand or even participate in the most advanced cannabis chemistry conversations available right now. If you get a degree in horticulture and take these two classes you will be in a great position imo

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What kind of skills do you have? Are you good at memorizing? Math? Are you an organized note taker?

I’d steer towards chemistry because to a layman graduating with a chemistry degree shows a high level of competence. That said for cannabis I’d think chemical engineering would be more useful since it focuses on more applied chemistry rather than the background science.

Horticulture might teach you some useful information related to cannabis, but much of that can be learned in the field. Hate to say it, but the most important aspect of a degree is that it acts as proof that you can buckle down and do something challenging. I’m sure you will apply what you learn as well, but when it comes to your degree helping you land a job it’s often an exercise in branding unfortunately.

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Imo, no.

It just makes it harder.

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nah seriously. if it don’t bring you joy, it’s work.
who the fuck wants to work for a living?

dammit! :rofl: :joy: :rofl:

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Didn’t everyone already answer these questions for you?

You got a ton of advice already, you keep talking about upper management/director positions. @Extractionperson kinda already laid out that career path for you.

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If I were looking for the ideal employee, I would look for someone with great communication skills that knows how to listen and follow directions. I am willing to train the right person all the complex sciences of cannabis, but if and only if they can do what I need them to do. In my world I want my team to start by scrubbing the floors and cleaning, be useful and take the opportunity to learn. Nothing I hate more than someone that thinks they are above doing hard work because they come from some fantasy land.

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Working for a boss that will also pick up the broom or put the cannabis in the tube is awesome too.

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Anyone that is “above” sweeping or cleaning or doing “low level” tasks doesn’t belong in a team environment
PLAIN AND SIMPLE!

Leading by example goes a long way! Nothing turns off employees motivation more than a self entitled “boss” that doesnt pull his weight.

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I love leading by example. I like doing the shit work while the team does the fun stuff. Usually the fun stuff is what makes the money but the cleaning is the glue that holds everything together. Imagine working at a restaurant and the waiter / waitress can’t bus a table when the restaurant is short staffed. I still Cringe thinking about those waiters I worked with who talked down on me as a busser/ food runner. Everyone has to take care of each other. Bring value to the team or you’re just bringing the team down. Super easy to bring value while you’re still learning by helping keep things clean

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