To the average non-gardener , you may be asking yourself — “ What ’ s the big deal ?” Well , when you ’ re growing thousands upon thousands of plants indoors , it is extremely laborious and burdensome to be moving such heavily potted plants across a large facility . The solution to this problem — conveyor belts !
“ The conveyor belts were something we saw in operation from an OG cannabis group we admired on the West Coast ,” said Tyler Hannegan , Co-Owner and Chief of Operations and Sales . “ Currently , we have nearly 400 feet ( more than a football field long ) of conveyor belts that are truly part of our team ! We move , on average , 4,500-plus pots per week throughout our 74,000-square-foot facility . Our investment in equipment really comes down to helping-plus investing in our team members ’ longevity . Let ’ s face it , for us , this is straight-up farming . Farming is hard work , and with this plant plus our approach , we orchestrate our masterpiece from a true labor of love standpoint .”
If that doesn ’ t “ convey ” Robust ’ s labor of love for cannabis , imagine remediating all your left-over soil post-harvest by hand mixing it . That is A LOT of shoveling and mixing ! Until a recently acquired automated machine that does all that work for them , the staff at Robust took the hands-on approach to churning soil , which required the forearms of Popeye the Sailor Man .
Robust ’ s greenhouse facility ( partially shown here ) has state-of-the-art climate control capabilities to provide complete control over the indoor environment .
It ’ s obvious that Robust has a VERY hard-working cultivation team , but hard work always starts from the top and works its way down , and Rhodes is no exception . He was a part of one of two groups in Missouri that were allowed to grow hemp before the Farm Bill passed in 2018 .
“ From 2016 until 2019 , I was the only employee for Noahs Ark Foundation , one of two companies that were issued licenses to cultivate cannabis in Missouri under the Department of Agriculture ’ s CBD program , to treat patients with intractable epilepsy ,” said Rhodes . “ During that time , we learned a great deal about growing cannabis commercially in the uniquely challenging Missouri climate .”
Today , Robust ’ s flower can be found in over 60 dispensaries across the state . The company has an interactive Google map on its website that allows consumers to search locations near them that carry the Robust brand . On the Kansas City side of the state ,
( Above ) Robust flower is one of the few cultivation facilities that uses “ soil ” as its growing medium to produce the most robust terpene and cannabinoid profiles . ( Below ) A sample of soil and sun-grown Robust flower . ( Photos courtesy Robust )
you can find Robust at BesaMe Wellness , Kansas City Cannabis , and many other locations . On the St . Louis side , you can always find Robust products at the Feel State dispensary in Florissant and many other locations .
For more information about Robust and its products , visit www . robustmo . com .
Clayton Stallings is the Director of Sales & Marketing for
The EVOLUTION Magazine
October 2023 33