Life as a Weed Trimmer in California: Work, Dollars and Marijuana

Life as a weed trimmer in California means seasonal farm work in counties like Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity: hand-manicuring freshly harvested buds for 100 to 150 dollars per pound, usually without a work visa and with real risks attached. Here's what that life actually looks like. By Juan Quintana.

Trimmers are the true migrant workers of the cannabis world. When they arrive at a farm, they work every single day until the harvest is done, then move on to the next one and do it all over again.

The headline may sound tempting to some and dangerous to others. Trinity, Mendocino and Humboldt counties, in northern California, became the mecca of marijuana cultivation back in the 1970s. Their rural geography of hills, mountains and immense, lush, hard-to-police redwood forests had already turned the region into the epicenter of cannabis growing in the United States by the sixties. Every year, between August and December, dozens of people from all over the world — especially from Latin America — arrive in the area to work the trimming season: the pruning and manicuring of the buds, the last link in the production chain before the product hits the market.

Harvesting marijuana in California: the Argentine boom

In recent years, more and more Argentines started leaving the country and daring to try work experiences abroad, like work and travel. But there's a newer way to do it that many now aspire to: the cannabis gig. Why? Because trimming work in California is usually paid by output, ranging from 100 to 150 dollars per pound of trimmed marijuana — just under half a kilo. Each California trimmer is expected to cut at least one pound a day. And the more, the better.

“One of the things they ask when you start working on the farms is that you don't give interviews or share information about the job,” says Fernando*, a harvest veteran now retired from the cannabis fields. “I went for six years and never had a single problem. Not getting into the country, not working, not leaving. There's a lot of paranoia,” he goes on. The truth is that without a work permit, there's always the risk of ending up on the wrong side of a raid. “The farm managers always advise that if there's an inspection, you grab your passport and run for the woods.”

How do people get in to work?

Unlike other work and travel experiences — say, working-holiday visas in Australia or New Zealand — this kind of employment in California is illegal for Argentines. To work as a trimmer in California, they usually enter the United States as tourists, which means they're barred from working — and on top of that, many of these farms aren't licensed.

Did California legalize marijuana?

Illegality and an appetite for risk are two requirements for living this experience, but there's also a legal framework that helped the industry develop. In 1996, California voted in favor of Proposition 215, legalizing marijuana in the state with a doctor's prior authorization.

Then, in 2018, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act took effect for the California harvest, allowing cannabis users to hold up to 28.5 grams (about an ounce) and grow six plants at home. With that, many growers were able to work harvesting marijuana in California and produce at a larger scale, brushing up against some degree of legality for mass production of the plant. Even so, most producers stay in the black market to avoid paying taxes.

But it's not all risk and numbers. It's also work and a connection with nature. The growing method for marijuana is the same as for plenty of other plants: watering, transplanting, cutting leaves so they don't drain the plant's strength, cleaning the flowers if any pests show up, and the famous moment of “trimming” — the manicuring of the buds. Yes, sitting in a chair for hours, peeling marijuana buds.

 “The best months to find work are October and November, but the season starts in mid-July and runs until early December,” says Julieta*, who has three seasons as a California trimmer under her belt. “My day starts with a coffee I make in the farm's rustic kitchen, a piece of bread or some fruit, and then around 11 in the morning I start working. Everyone can work as long as they like, as long as the day's target gets met.” Martín* considers freedom one of the job's main perks: “Having no fixed hours and managing my time however I feel like is something I always looked for, and here I found it. My most active part of the day is the afternoon, and since I'm not that desperate for money, I work fewer hours than the rest.”

How much do weed trimmers make in California?

The reward is tempting enough that harvesting marijuana in California in temperatures around 35°C (95°F), through rain or hail, fades into the background. Trimming is paid according to the total weight of the buds you manicure. Every 450 grams — one pound — pays between 100 and 150 dollars.

For field work as a California trimmer, tending the plants while they grow, the pay is for the time you put in — usually between 15 and 20 dollars an hour. “Everyone's greed shows. There are days when you'd rather do anything but work, but when you remember that a couple of hours will earn you 100 dollars, you simply get to it,” says Julieta.  At 20 dollars an hour, working nine-hour days with one day off a week, you'd pull in a total of 4,320 dollars a month.

“I met a lot of people who ended up leaving within a few days once they saw how many hours you have to work,” says Julieta. With the pros and cons laid out on the table, it's up to each person to draw their own conclusions. “The key is being genuinely excited about cannabis culture,” she stresses.

*Name changed to protect the source's identity.

 

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