Organic Farming

Organic Farming Information

Overview

In these pages we provide information on organic farming, including the differences between "organic", "naturally raised", and other descriptors used in the modern movement towards more natural food for the consumer, and more humane, environmentally friendly and sustainable farming pratices.

At Salmon Creek Ranch we are heavily involved in the effort to supply consumers with locally raised meat from animals that are raised in their natural environment, humanely treated, and without artificial hormones, antibiotics and the like being part of their diet. We here present information derived from our own experience as well as from fellow producers around the world.

Index of Topics
to be addressed in the future in these pages includes:

Organic versus Naturally Raised
Organic Certification Regulations
Natural and Humane Livestock Production
The Locally Produced Food Movement
Economics of Organic Farming

Naturally Raised Livestock
Our philosophy at Salmon Creek Ranch is to raise our animals in a manner that is as close to natural conditions as possible. For example, most of the country's "pasture raised poultry" is actually raised all its life in small portable cages that are periodically moved around the pasture. Our ducks, once they are big enough to survive in the open, are given truly free range in a large pastured area so they can walk, run and fly around in true freedom rather than being cooped up in a cage. A similar philosophy governs our other livestock -- our goats forage freely over hundreds of acres of natural grass and brush every day, with no artificial foods needed or wanted. Goats are closely related to other ruminants such as deer, which have roamed our hills for thousands of years and continue to do so today.

Sustainable Farming
There is a lot said and written these days about "sustainable" agriculture, energy, and living. Unfortunately, relatively few people actually study the underlying science to really understand what is feasible and what is not, and even fewer try to make their living producing energy or food. By definition, sustainable agriculture means using practicies that can be continued indefinitely into the future. In the end, this means our agriculture (like our energy production) has to be profitable and 24/7 reliable as well as preserving the environment.

Here at Salmon Creek Ranch, we attempt to match our livestock management practices to the natural ecology of the area, and produce our products with as small an environmental footprint as possible while devoting significant resources to conservation. This involves considerably more labor and expense than the factory farm approach, so we need enough customers to realize that local, naturally raised food from animals that are naturally raised in their preferred environment is worth a bit more than mass-produced food of questionable factory or overseas origin. If customers instead adopt the Walmart shopping philosophy, buying the lowest priced food they can find, ranches like ours will cease to be "sustainable" and soon be put out of business.

Natural grass and trees

Preserving our Historic Heritage
We aim to preserve and improve the historic ecological health and biological diversity of the area in which our ranch is situated. Both prehistoric and modern humans have influenced the environment; we are told the local Indians used to burn off the forest every year to expand the grasslands. This encouraged the deer, mountain lions and smaller animals they hunted and ate along with the large variety of bird life that is sustained by the mixture of trees, pasture, prey and carrion. For the future, we hope to maintain a healthy balance between pasture and forest, protect the salmonid creek, and encourage the native wildlife to coexist with the domesticated livestock. To this end we use special wildlife-friendly fencing, which allows small critters to get through the bottom unimpeded, and large ones (deer etc) to jump over the top.

As a result of these and other conservation initiatives, Salmon Creek Ranch with its numerous foxholes, gopher mounds, vultures, deer, and skunks may not look as tidy and manicured as some farms. But we think the effort and money we spend on preserving our unique natural habitat is a worthwhile investment in the future. We plan to pass on this land in a better condition than we found it, and we hope that enough customers will recognize the value in these efforts to make up for the extra costs we incur in the process.

Quick Links to Salmon Creek Ranch Products
    Duckling
    Duck Eggs
    Goat Meat
    Honey
    Pet Treats

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Salmon Creek Ranch
Bodega, CA
(707)876-1808

For more information about Salmon Creek Ranch, contact us at: info@salmoncreekranch.com

Last updated June 3, 2010