[PRESS RELEASE] – LONG BEACH, Calif., and TORONTO, Jan. 13, 2026 – Glass House Brands Inc., one of the fastest-growing, vertically integrated cannabis companies in the U.S., continues to collaborate with the University of California, Berkeley through its ongoing hemp research partnership.
Commencing in 2024, the UC Berkeley and Glass House partnership aims to identify key development needs within the cannabis and hemp sectors, assess university research capacity, and further the development of medicinal cannabinoids. The collaboration informed the scope and methodology of a successful research proposal to the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC), resulting in an approximate $1.8 million recent award to UC Berkeley for the project “Cannabis Crop Yields: Survey & Remote Sensing.”
The DCC-funded project will estimate cannabis crop yield variability across indoor, outdoor and mixed-light cultivation systems. The resulting models are expected to improve crop-production estimates and support regulatory oversight and market forecasting for California’s legal cannabis sector.
UC Berkeley will examine how growth rates and yields vary across different propagation and production scenarios, including greenhouse cultivation, supplemental lighting systems, fully indoor environments and outdoor field-grown cannabis. The research will integrate grower survey data, field-level observations and remote sensing techniques to generate empirically grounded yield models.
“This partnership demonstrates how early, structured collaboration between industry and a public research university can translate into impactful, agricultural science and innovation, such as how AI and computer vision can improve yields and the farm’s bottom line,” said Dr. Thomas Azwell, UC Berkeley faculty director. “The exploratory work allowed us to align on research priorities and technical feasibility, which directly enabled the DCC research proposal and award.”
For Glass House, the collaboration reflects a commitment to advancing data-driven insights that can benefit the broader regulated cannabis market.
“Understanding how yields differ based on inputs and growing techniques is essential for improving efficiency, sustainability and quality for the market,” Glass House President and co-founder Graham Farrar said. “Working with UC Berkeley allowed us to help catalyze research that supports industry best practices.”
Findings from the research are expected to inform policymakers, growers and researchers by strengthening empirical understanding of cannabis production across indoor, outdoor and greenhouse systems, while also contributing to broader discussions around agricultural innovation and sustainability in California.
