Mayflower Farms acquired a former storage warehouse in Aurora, Colo., in 2015, says Compliance Officer Mark Troutman, and he adds, “we … spent 13 months building out the best facility the Colorado cannabis community could produce.” Troutman says they doubled the space of the original structure, which sat at 24,000 square feet, by adding a second level. The facility, which features 40-foot ceilings, now boasts 48,000 square feet of cultivation and post-harvest production space. The second level-which Mayflower Farms uses for harvest, cure and extraction-is modeled after a commercial kitchen. (In other words, they take sanitation very seriously.)
“We’re uniquely positioned to succeed long term in the Colorado cannabis space due to our integrated cultivation and extraction facility, which is highly adaptable,” Troutman says. “[We’re] able to move quickly on trends in product development.”
Right now, Mayflower Farms produces wholesale buds and trim, and concentrates such as live resin, wax and shatter. But how has its approach to cultivation and extraction helped pave the company’s way into the state’s competitive cannabis marketplace? Cannabis Business Times writer Jillian Kramer spoke with Troutman, as well as Drew Greco, Mayflower Farms’ garden manager, and Travis Ingraham, the company’s head of processing, to find out more.
Jillian Kramer: Why did Mayflower Farms decide to use hydrocarbon extraction?
Travis Ingraham: Hydrocarbon extraction is a high-yielding and time-efficient extraction method for cannabis. The solubility of the cannabinoids in hydrocarbon solvents allows us to make high-potency extracts with minimal post-processing required. We find that we are able to capture the essence of the strain using this method, followed by gentle purging [which removes the solvent].
We have developed our gentle purging methods to use the lowest heat, vacuum and time realistically possible. This allows us to
save as many terpenes as possible, while still delivering a product which has [approved] levels of residual solvent.
To read the full article in Cannabis Business Times' February issue, click here.
Top photo by Povy Kendal Atchison
