Quick answer: To find out who actually grew your weed in Washington, read the license fields on the package. WAC 314-55-105 requires the business name and nine-digit UBI number of both the producer that grew the flower and the processor that packaged it. The producer is the farm. Cross-check that UBI against the WSLCB's published licensee spreadsheet for the license type and address.
Almost nobody does this, which is odd. The information is printed on the jar by law, and it is the most reliable thing on the label.
Who is the producer, who is the processor, and who is the retailer?
Three licenses, three jobs, kept apart on purpose. WAC 314-55-075 lets a producer produce, harvest, trim, dry, cure and package cannabis into lots for wholesale. WAC 314-55-077 lets a processor package and label flower, concentrates and infused products for sale to retailers. WAC 314-55-079 covers us: adults 21 and over, product behind the counter, no internet sales, no delivery.
Producers are licensed by size too. Tier 1 is under 4,000 square feet of plant canopy, tier 2 runs 4,000 to 10,000, and tier 3 up to 30,000. Canopy counts every square foot dedicated to live plants, mothers and clones included.
Then the part that surprises people. Under RCW 69.50.328, a producer or processor cannot hold a direct or indirect financial interest in a licensed retailer. We do not own a farm. No Washington store does. Every gram on our shelf came from someone else's operation, which is exactly why the producer name matters.
| License | What they do | What the name means on a label |
|---|---|---|
| Producer | Grows, dries, cures, packages into lots | The farm that grew the plant |
| Processor | Packages and labels for wholesale | Who filled the jar and printed the label |
| Retailer | Sells to adults 21+ in a licensed store | We chose it, we did not grow it |
Most Washington farms hold both licenses, so the same name usually appears twice. When the two differ, someone bought that flower and packaged it themselves. Worth knowing, not automatically a problem.
What does a Washington cannabis label actually tell you?
More than the front does. The front is branding. The regulated fields sit on the back or the side in small type, straight out of WAC 314-55-105.
| Label field | Required | What it tells you about the grower |
|---|---|---|
| Producer name and UBI | Yes | The farm. Nine digits, searchable |
| Processor name and UBI | Yes | Who packaged it |
| Lot number | Yes | Ties the jar to one batch and the manifest |
| Net weight, ounces and grams | Yes | Catches short-fills, nothing about the farm |
| Total THC and total CBD | Yes | Chemistry, not craft |
| Harvest or packaged date | Optional | Freshness, and its absence is a signal |
| Pesticide link or QR code | Yes | What was applied, published by the grower |
| Warnings and universal symbol | Yes | Every legal package has them |
The date that is not required
Harvest date, best by date and manufactured date all sit in WAC 314-55-105(8) as optional information, which is why some jars carry one and some carry nothing. Growers who cure properly and move product fast tend to print it unasked. Read a missing date as a question you now have to ask out loud.
The pesticide link nobody opens
WAC 314-55-105(9) requires the producer or processor to publish every pesticide applied to the plants and the growing medium, reachable through a link or QR code on the label, for as long as the product is for sale. Scan it once. You learn fast which farms treat that page as a document and which treat it as a box to tick.
How do you look up a Washington producer's license?
Two routes, both starting from the label.
Start with the UBI. The Washington Department of Revenue runs a public Business Lookup that searches registered businesses by name or UBI number, which confirms the legal entity behind a trade name.
For the license itself, the WSLCB publishes downloadable spreadsheets on its Frequently Requested Lists page, including a cannabis applicants and issued licenses file carrying license type and location. It is a spreadsheet, not a search box, so open it in something that filters. The board warns of errors from a known data transfer issue, so treat a mismatch as a reason to ask, not a scandal.
Do not expect more than that. CCRS, the reporting system that replaced Leaf Data Systems in 2021, reports to the board, not to you. There is no lot number you can type in.
What you can do is ask us. WAC 314-55-105(10) says a consumer may request the name of the certified lab and the quality assurance test results for any cannabis product, and the retailer must provide it on request. That certificate usually carries the full terpene panel, which says far more than the THC number on the front. Our guide to what terpenes actually do explains how to read one.
Does indoor, greenhouse or outdoor change what is in the jar?
Yes, though not in the direction most people assume. The method sets the constraints a grower works inside, and a good operator beats a careless one in all three.
Indoor. Full environmental control, cycles year round, a tight handle on humidity through the cure, and the highest energy cost, which lands in the price. Indoor flower usually looks the part. Our piece on colas, buds and nugs covers why the top of a plant looks so different from the rest.
Greenhouse and light deprivation. Sunlight, supplemented and controlled, with blackout systems that start flowering on the grower's schedule rather than the calendar's. Several of the better Washington farms work this way, taking multiple harvests a year on a fraction of the electricity.
Outdoor, sun-grown. One harvest, finished in the fall, at the mercy of a Washington September. Eastern Washington sites around the Okanogan and Brewster get the heat and low humidity the plant wants. The risks are weather and mold pressure. Much of it ends up as extraction feedstock, but the good lots are excellent value.
None of it is required on the label. You have to ask, or recognize the farm, which is the argument for learning producer names.
Questions worth asking a Cannabis Guide
- Who is the producer, and do they grow indoor, greenhouse or outdoor?
- When was this lot packaged, and when did it reach the store?
- Can I see the certificate of analysis, including terpene percentages?
- Is this the same farm and cultivar I bought last month?
- Which producers do you restock most often, and why?
- Does this farm run this cultivar every year, or was it a one-off?
The last one matters most. A farm repeating a cultivar year after year is selecting for it, and selection is where character comes from. It is also why you cannot buy the seed and cut out the farm, as our piece on why dispensaries do not sell cannabis seeds explains.
What this looks like at our counter
Origins buys farm-direct, so our Guides in West Seattle and Redmond know the producers by name. Ask about a jar and you should hear the farm, the method and the date without anyone checking a screen.
We say the unglamorous parts too. A tier tells you scale, not skill. A high THC number tells you very little, which is part of why some weed costs more. A strain name is a promise the plant never signed, worth remembering whether you are reading sativa and indica labels, chasing landrace genetics, or looking at a red lobster strain. A package with no producer, no date and no lab document is not a bargain, which our guide to spotting fake cannabis products gets into.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out who grew my weed in Washington?
Read the license fields on the package. WAC 314-55-105 requires every jar of useable cannabis to carry the business or trade name and nine-digit Washington UBI number of the licensees that produced and processed it. The producer is the farm. Search that name or UBI against the WSLCB's published licensee spreadsheet to confirm the license type.
What is the difference between a cannabis producer and a processor in Washington?
A producer grows, harvests, trims, dries, cures and packages cannabis into lots for wholesale under WAC 314-55-075. A processor packages and labels flower, concentrates and infused products for sale to retailers under WAC 314-55-077. Many Washington farms hold both licenses, which is why one name often appears twice on a label.
Is the brand on the jar the same as the farm?
Often, but not always. A brand name is marketing, and it can belong to a processor buying flower from several farms. The producer name and UBI are the regulated fields, and they identify who grew the plant. Where brand and producer differ, the producer name is the one worth writing down.
Why do some Washington cannabis labels not show a harvest date?
Because it is not required. WAC 314-55-105 lists harvest date, best by date and manufactured date as optional label information. Growers who cure well and move product quickly print it anyway. If no date appears, ask the retailer when the lot arrived, and treat a jar nobody can date as an unknown.
Can I ask a dispensary for the lab results?
Yes, and the store has to answer. WAC 314-55-105(10) says a consumer may request the name of the certified lab and the quality assurance test results for any cannabis product, and the retailer must provide it on request. That is a right written into the rule. Terpene percentages usually sit on the same document.
Does a producer's tier tell me anything about quality?
It tells you scale, not skill. Tier 1 is under 4,000 square feet of plant canopy, tier 2 runs 4,000 to 10,000, and tier 3 up to 30,000. A tier 1 grower may hand-trim every gram, and a tier 3 operation may hold tighter environmental control. Use tier to predict consistency and availability.
Start with one farm. Find a jar you liked, write the producer name down, and buy that name again next month instead of the strain name. Do it for a season and you will have five growers whose work you can predict. The West Seattle flower menu and the Redmond flower menu both list producers, so you can start before you leave home.
Origins Cannabis is a licensed Washington retailer serving adults 21 and over in Redmond and West Seattle. Nothing here is medical advice. If you are using cannabis for a health reason, talk to a healthcare provider who knows your history.