Glass House Farms
A Carpinteria greenhouse grower that became California's largest legal cannabis cultivator, and came through a very public federal raid along the way.
- 41cup results
- 0first places
- 2022–2026active in results
- 2cups entered
01Beginnings
Glass House Farms is the cultivation arm of Glass House Brands, a greenhouse grower based in Carpinteria, in Santa Barbara County, California. The AP names its co-founders as Kyle Kazan, a former Southern California police officer and special education teacher who went on to invest in cannabis, and Graham Farrar, a Santa Barbara tech entrepreneur1. Forbes Chile says Glass House Brands was founded in 2015, after the two met at a greenhouse farm in Carpinteria2. The company's first cannabis was grown in a Carpinteria greenhouse at a time when the area's cut-flower industry, once strong, was shrinking1.
Farrar did not come to this as a farmer. He worked at Software.com and Sonos, and by 2015 he was already growing cannabis in a rented greenhouse and selling soil products through Elite Gardens3. He traces the idea back to an earlier fertilizer company, Elite. Its team realised they were training skilled growers to be their customers and started asking why they weren't doing the farming themselves4. Carpinteria is his hometown, and he chose it for two reasons: the nearby ocean keeps greenhouse temperatures moderate, and Los Angeles, which he calls the biggest consumption market, is close by3.
02The story so far
Greenhouse Grower reported in June 2020 that Glass House Farms was the first greenhouse cultivator to make it through Santa Barbara County's licensing process, which took real persistence3. The company later paid $93 million for a property in Camarillo, in neighbouring Ventura County. The property had six greenhouses that had been growing tomatoes and cucumbers, and the AP reported in July 2025 that two of them had since been converted to cannabis1. The sources don't say when the purchase happened. In 2023, rival Catalyst Cannabis Co., through its parent company, sued Glass House and alleged black-market activity. The suit was dismissed, but the AP suggests the press coverage may have drawn federal attention1.
On 10 July 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents carried out a search warrant at the Carpinteria and Camarillo farms, and the AP reported more than 360 arrests1. During the raid a farmworker fell from a greenhouse roof and later died of his injuries5. Forbes Chile gives his name as Jaime Alanis García and says Farrar called it the worst day of his life2. The AP reported on 22 July 2025 that no cannabis had been seized, the warrants were sealed and the company had not been charged. The government pointed to an investigation into possible child labor and trafficking, but the reason for the raid was still unclear5.
In a post on X, Glass House said it had complied with the warrants, had never knowingly broken hiring rules and had never employed minors5. Forbes Chile reports that the raid cost about $20 million, and that the company lost roughly 60% of its plants while it rebuilt and trained new contractors2. California's cannabis regulator later fined the company $21,000 over its records for checking workers' ages. The company appealed and asked for a formal hearing2. Glass House says that since the raid it has renewed its agreements with farm-labor contractors and hired the compliance firm Guidepost Solutions to tighten its employment-eligibility checks2.
03Culture and character
Farrar likes to explain farming in software terms. In his view, plants are like programs: give them consistent inputs and they give consistent outputs3. In June 2020 the farm had 122 full-time staff. Turnover was about 5%, which Greenhouse Grower called unusually low for seasonal agriculture, and Farrar talked about his workers as teammates3. He was also president of a local grower group, the Cannabis Association for Responsible Producers. In 2020 he described years of friction with neighbouring avocado growers, including odour complaints and protests3.
Farrar says his team helped write Santa Barbara County's cannabis ordinance, which he describes as the first of its kind, and that the company opened the city's first dispensary4. These claims come from Farrar himself, and the sources don't confirm them independently. In 2022 he listed the company's brands: Glass House Farms flower, Forbidden Flowers (a brand made with Bella Thorne), Field Extractions, Mama Sue and the recently acquired PLUS Gummies4. According to Forbes Chile, the head grower at the Camarillo site is Jason Downs, a longtime friend of Farrar's2.
04Where it stands now
On 22 July 2025 the AP described Glass House as California's biggest legal cultivator, well ahead of its nearest competitors. It also noted that Glass House Farms is one part of the larger Glass House Brands5. Forbes Chile reported on 28 June 2026 that Glass House Brands grew 666,000 pounds of cannabis and took in $182 million in revenue in 2025. That was down from $201 million in 2024, a drop Forbes Chile puts partly down to the July 2025 raid2.
The same Forbes Chile article calls the Camarillo site the largest greenhouse cannabis cultivation site in the United States. It covers 5.5 million square feet across six buildings and holds about 1.2 million plants, and two more greenhouses in Santa Barbara County add 500,000 square feet2. Forbes Chile also reports that in April 2026 the U.S. Justice Department moved medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, and it calls the change a major shift for the industry and for Glass House2.
Accounts of the raid investigation differ. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said it is ongoing, while Kazan understands that any inquiry that was opened has been closed. As of 28 June 2026 the warrant was still sealed and no charges against the company had been reported2. The sources cover nothing after that date.
On the podium, in our data
CannaLib records 41 cup results naming Glass House Farms, between 2022 and 2026, 0 of them first places.
Where they showed up
- California State Fair Cannabis Awards / California Cannabis Awards · 38 entries
- The Emerald Cup · 3 entries
Strains behind the results
Sources
- There are many illegal marijuana farms, but federal agents targeted California's biggest legal one (AP via NBC News, July 2025)
- El invernadero de cannabis más grande de Estados Unidos quiere convertirse en "El Sunkist de la hierba" (Forbes Chile, 28 June 2026)
- Glass House Farms Grows Big! Here's How They Do It (Greenhouse Grower, 2020)
- Cannabis Matters with Graham Farrar, President of Glass House Brands (ForceBrands Newsroom, 2022)
- There are many illegal marijuana farms, but federal agents targeted California's biggest legal one (AP via WSLS, 22 July 2025)
Written from the sources above and checked on 2026-10-29. Spot an error? Tell us on the contact page.