Situated in Colusa County, California, Spring Valley Ranch has seen a lot of changes in recent years. The land’s inheritor, Robert Slobe, took over his great-grandfather’s 7,500 acres in 1985 and has been on a journey to improve the land ever since. He has faced many challenges, including the ever-worsening need for water and threat of invasive weeds. […]
Nutrient Management
SKYELARK RANCH
Ten years ago, Alexis and Gillies Robertson began raising sheep, chickens, and pigs on a small piece of land in the Capay Valley. They have since moved to the Northern California community of Edgewood and expanded onto a 50-acre free-range ranch. This move marked a junction in the road for the farmers. They’re growing their […]
OCEAN MIST FARMS
Ocean Mist Farms’ history dates to 1924, when Daniel Pieri, James Bellone, and cousins Amerigo and Angelo Del Chiaros started the California Artichoke & Vegetable Growers Corporation in Castroville, Calif. Not long after, local vegetable farmer Alfred Tottino joined the partnership. Over the last 50 years, the company expanded from growing artichokes and Brussels sprouts […]
RED ROCK RANCH
John Diener’s family started farming in the Central Valley in the 1920’s. John bought his farm shortly after graduating with a degree in Agricultural Economics from UC Davis in 1980. Located in Five Points, CA, on the Western side of the San Joaquin Valley, Red Rock Ranch is 4,000 acres of fruit and vegetables, including […]
PONCE PRODUCE
Rúben and Rebecca Ponce first began cultivating berries in 1986 near Watsonville, California. In 2012, Rúben transitioned from farming as a contract berry grower to a direct market farmer with 10 acres of berries and vegetables. Recently, Ponce Produce diversified their production to bring to market a variety of crops that get sold at five […]
MEDRANO FARMS
Sergio Medrano has a 54-acre farm in Los Alamos, California, where he primarily grows strawberries and beans for wholesale, and has a large plot with a variety of vegetables to sell at local farmers’ markets. The success of his farm and innovative techniques is evident through the growth of his operation from just 4 acres […]
LIMONEIRA COMPANY
Limoneira Company grows a variety of fruit and nut crops on nearly 8,000 acres in Southern California. The company specializes in lemons and avocados, with roughly 3,000 acres of those two crops in production. In their other orchards they grow walnuts, pistachios, cherries, pluots, and specialty citrus varieties, like cara caras, blood oranges and valencias. […]
JACOBS FARM
With 300 acres of crops and an additional 1 million square feet of greenhouse space, Jacobs Farm has become one of the nation’s leading organic herb growers with 60 varieties of common and specialty herbs and edible flowers. What began as a small family farm in 1980 near Pescadero, CA, has since expanded to include […]
DAN AND TOM ROGERS’ ALMOND ORCHARD
Brothers Tom and Dan Rogers’ grandparents emigrated from Italy to California in 1916 and settled on the property in Madera County that has remained in the family since. At the time, the land was home to pasture, cotton, corn and alfalfa. In the late Seventies, their father, who had been pasturing dry heifers, was compelled […]
RIO FARMS AND GILLS ONIONS
In 1976 Steve and David Gill followed their family’s agricultural legacy and started farming onions and vegetables in Monterey County. They acquired 200 acres and in 1979 they added another 200 acres. In 1983 the brothers opened Gills Onions, an innovative and sustainable fresh-cut onion processing plant. They sell their onions nationally to both supermarkets […]
