How to Successfully Add Strains, Items, and Locations in Your Metrc Admin Area

sarah shulman
Nov 7
3 min read

For Minnesota cannabis licensees, managing your inventory in METRC is a critical step to ensure compliance and smooth operations. After placing a tag order, licensee Admins must add all the strains, items, and locations their business plans to cultivate or create. This process is essential for accurate track and trace reporting and inventory management.

Adding these elements correctly from the start helps avoid complications later. Fortunately, METRC allows you to add more strains, items, and locations as your business grows. However, items can only be updated if they have not been used previously, so accuracy is key during initial setup.

Accessing the Admin Area in METRC

All strain creation, item addition, and location setup happen within the Admin area of METRC. Licensee Admins can find this section in the dropdown menu on the navigational toolbar once logged into their account.

The Admin area is divided into grids for Strains, Items, and Locations, making it easy to manage each category separately. This structure supports clear organization and helps cannabis consultants guide licensees through compliance requirements.

Creating Strains in METRC

Before bringing in beginning inventory, each strain must be created in your facility’s METRC account. If exact potency or Indica/Sativa genetics are unknown, estimated values can be entered and updated later.

To create a strain:

Go to the Admin area and select Strains from the dropdown menu.
In the Strains grid, click the Add Strains button.
Enter the strain name, testing status, THC and CBD percentages, and indicate whether it is Indica, Sativa, or hybrid.
If you manage multiple licensed facilities, you can add the strain to several at once by selecting the checkboxes next to each facility.
Click Create Strains to finalize the process.

This step ensures your inventory is properly categorized and ready for tracking as plants move through growth phases.

Adding strains in METRC Admin area

Adding Items and Locations

After strains are created, Admins should add all relevant items and locations. Items refer to product names or types your business will cultivate or manufacture. Locations represent physical areas within your facility where cultivation or production occurs.

To add items or locations:

Navigate to the Admin area and select Items or Locations from the dropdown.
Use the Add Items or Add Locations button to enter new entries.
Provide clear, descriptive names that match your business operations.

Remember, items can only be updated if they have not been previously used in METRC. Locations can be added or modified as needed, supporting flexibility in facility management.

Bringing in Beginning Inventory

METRC requires specific methods to bring in starting inventory:

Seeds must enter through an external transfer.
Immature plants are brought in by creating plantings.
Plants eight inches or taller must be brought in as plantings and individually tagged using the change growth phase option.

Each of these steps ties back to the strains and items you created in the Admin area, so having accurate data upfront simplifies inventory tracking.

Why Proper Setup Matters

Proper strain creation and item/location setup in METRC supports accurate track and trace reporting, which is vital for compliance with Minnesota cannabis regulations. It also helps cannabis consultants provide better guidance and ensures your business can scale without data errors.

By following these steps, licensees can confidently manage their inventory and avoid common pitfalls that lead to compliance issues.

Licensees should revisit their Admin area regularly to add new strains, items, or locations as their operations expand. This ongoing maintenance keeps METRC data current and reliable.

Setting up your METRC Admin area correctly is a foundational step for any Minnesota cannabis business. It supports smooth operations, regulatory compliance, and effective inventory management.