Chet Vogt’s Three Creeks Ranch in Glenn County is a 5,300 acre 500 cow/calf operation. The core of Chet’s holistic approach to ranching is intensive managed grazing, which rotates the cattle among 32 fenced paddocks. This supports native grasses, healthy cattle, and increased water retention in the soil. Chet has also fenced off riparian corridors and livestock ponds as special management zones that receive short-duration grazing so that native plants can thrive and provide abundant nesting habitat for birds and other wildlife, including, among others, Tricolored Blackbirds, Box Turtles, California Quail, and Black-Tail Deer.

Craig McNamara’s 450-acre Sierra Orchards is a diversified farming operation that includes field, processing, and marketing operations and produces organic walnuts and grape rootstock. Sierra Orchards is proof that an agricultural operation is able to be green without going into the red.

Brad and Randy Lange are third-generation winegrape growers on their 6,500 acre vineyard near Lodi. The Langes have improved natural habitat on their property through restoration of a riparian area along the Mokelumne River and the implementation of unique, eco-friendly pest-control methods.