California Farms
Please help us to improve and expand this incomplete listing.
Places
Apricot Lane Farms in Moorpark, CA, a 234-acre certified organic & biodynamic farm in Moorpark, California (Movie: The Biggest Little Farm 2019, The Biggest Little Farm: The Return, Disney Plus 2022) 🌿🌿
- Alpacas at Windy Hill: Somis, CA
- Black Rock Ranch: Stinson Beach, CA 🌿
Dry Creek Nursery (Sequoia Riverlands Trust) in Woodlake, CA
Eco Urban Gardens in Los Angeles, CA
Family Harvest Farm (John Muir Land Trust) in Pittsburg, CA
Fully Belley Farm in Guinda, CA 🌿🌿
Goodie Farm Organic in Cherry Valley, CA 🌿🌿
Hansen Agricultural Research and Extension Center (HAREC / UCANR) in Camarillo, CA (moved from Santa Paula to a 114-acre farm in Camarillo in 2022)
McMahon Ranch in Ramona, CA
Mulberry Lane Farm in Somis, CA (Upside of Downs)
PT Ranch in Ione, CA 🌿
Rancho Llano Seco – Chico, CA 🌿
South Central Farmers' Cooperative in Button willow (Kern Co.) and Lake Hughes (Los Angeles Co.) CA
Uncommon Good Farm in Claremont, CA (plus Pomona & Ontario, CA) (Community Alliance for Urban Sustainable Agriculture program (CAUSA)) 🌿
Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark, CA
The Urban Homestead in Pasadena, CA
Wild Oak Hollow in Grass Valley, CA 🌿
Zephyr Mountain Grove in Wildomar, California 🌿🌿
Programs / Services / Agencies
Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) in California (USDA NRCS): helps safeguard the future of farmers, ranchers, and agricultural communities who depend on and sustain the land as a way of life, especially under a changing climate.
Apricot Lane Farm School: The Farm School is a nature-based homeschool bridge program for children in grades 1-5. The school is located at -- and deeply integrated with -- Apricot Lane Farms, a 234-acre certified organic & biodynamic farm in Moorpark, California.
Bright Horizon Seeds (Upside of Downs, Somis, CA)
California Agriculture in the Classrrom
California Association of Food Banks
- California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA): a law that makes sure when people want to build something, like a new road or building, they have to check if it might hurt the land, animals, or water (and requires them to fix it if it does)
California Farm Bureau - works to protect and promote family farms and ranches, and to find solutions to problems facing agriculture and rural communities
California Rangeland Trust: preserves working landscapes in California by working with ranching families to preserve California rangeland, air and water quality, wildlife habitat, and local food supplies
California Rehabilitation Center (Norco): California Rehabilitation Center provides incarcerated individuals with agricultural job training and reintegration opportunities
- California ReLeaf Network (Sacramento): group of nonprofits working to green cities across California through habitat care and restoration, tree planting, urban forestry.
California Small Farm Conference: Feb 23-28, 2025
Center for Farmworker Families (Fresno): Center for Farmworker Families provides educational and social services for farmworker families, including job training programs
- City Slicker Farms (San Francisco): City Slicker Farms is a non-profit that offers job training and employment in urban agriculture for at-risk youth.
Community Alliance with Family Farmers: Mission: build sustainable food and farming systems through policy advocacy and on-the-ground programs that create more resilient family farms, communities, and ecosystems
EARTH Academy (Sequoia Riverlands Trust): a year-long, project-based learning program for high school students in Tulare County to learn more about environmental issues in their local communities.
Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program (USDA NCRS): offers technical and financial assistance to help local communities relieve imminent threats to life and property caused by floods, fires, windstorms and other natural disasters that impair a watershed.
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Farm Bureau
The Farmers Guild: A Facebook group supported by CAFF for family farmers and their supporters from across California to share resources, ask questions, mobilize and find support to help grow a more vibrant, regenerative and collaborative local food system
- Fibershed: develops regional fiber systems that build soil & protect the health of our biosphere
- Fresh Approach: founded in 2008 by the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association (PCFMA) to help connect communities to the fresh produce available at farmers’ markets in their neighborhoods
Homeboy Industries (Los Angeles): Homeboy Industries provides job training and employment in urban agriculture for formerly incarcerated individuals
Land Trust Alliance (Gaining Ground, Equitable Land Access): The Land Trust Alliance’s mission is to save the places people need and love by strengthening land conservation across America
Native Plant Database (Theodore Payne Foundation)
NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) California Office: address the natural resource conservation on private lands. NRCS defines "conservation" as wise use of natural resources - soil, water, air, plant, and animal - in order to sustain productivity of current and future generations.
Sentinel Landscapes Initiative (USDA NRCS): helps farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners around military installations and ranges to integrate conservation into working lands
Sequoia Riverlands Trust: protects over 40,000 acres of land around the Kaweah, Tule, Kern, and Kings Rivers, as well as in the Carrizo Plain, manages seven nature preserves, helps farmers and ranchers conserve agricultural land in the Central Valley, pioneers programs to educate students across Tulare County.
Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture (SEEAG): Ventura County Farm Day Nov 2, 2024 and Santa Barbara County Farm Day (Aug 2024)
- Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers & Native Plants (Sun Valley): a nonprofit organization that inspires and educates Southern Californians about the beauty and ecological benefits of California native plants
- UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR): connects the power of UC research in agriculture, natural resources, nutrition and youth development with local communities to improve the lives of all Californians.
UC Organic Agriculture Institute (UC OAI): California leads the nation in organic agriculture. UC OAI provides research, extension, and education to meet the needs of organic growers.
Upside of Downs (Somis, CA)
Williamson Act Program (Land Conservation Act of 1965 in California) and CEQA: The Williamson Act can be a valuable tool for small farms in CA by providing significant tax relief, ensuring the long-term viability of small-scale agriculture.
Regenerative Farming Organizations
- Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA) : manages the Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC), which focuses on regenerative farming practices combined with organic standards. It emphasizes soil health, biodiversity, animal welfare, and social fairness. The ROC was developed in response to the growing need for a certification that goes beyond the USDA Organic standards, which focus primarily on the prohibition of synthetic chemicals and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
- Kiss the Ground: nonprofit organization dedicated to public education and advocacy for regenerative agriculture. They provide educational courses, resources, and media to promote regenerative farming techniques, including a well-known documentary.
- Savory Institute: promotes Holistic Management and regenerative grazing practices. The Savory Institute works globally, with hubs in the U.S., to train farmers and land managers in techniques that improve soil health, biodiversity, and ecosystem regeneration through grazing livestock.
- Rodale Institute: pioneer in organic and regenerative research, focused on regenerative farming practices and the connection between soil health and human health. They provide research, farmer training, and advocacy. The Rodale Institute, along with partners like Patagonia and Dr. Bronner’s, spearheaded the creation of ROC as a way to integrate regenerative farming practices, animal welfare, and social fairness into a single certification standard.
- Carbon Underground: advocates for regenerative agriculture as a climate solution, focusing on carbon sequestration in soil. They partner with farmers, businesses, and governments to promote regenerative practices for mitigating climate change.
- Regeneration International: global network organization that promotes regenerative agriculture to address environmental, social, and economic issues. They provide resources and support to scale up regenerative practices.
- American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC): supports sustainable and regenerative agriculture through business advocacy and policy initiatives, offering tools for businesses and working to influence legislation to promote regenerative farming practices
- Real Organic Project: growing people’s understanding of traditional organic values and practices
Special Thanks
Inclusion on this website indicates good will, but does not indicate vetting or affiliation except as indicated. Some content on this site may generate direct or indirect benefits to Upright Farms (or to readers ;-)
- Johnson-Su Bioreactor (named for Dr. David C. Johnson, Regeneration International and Hui-Chun Su Johnson) a method for creating compost rich in fungi. The process mimics what happens to dung and organic matter on prairies, but without the need for grazing animals. The compost can be used as a microbial inoculant to improve soil health and plant growth.
- Special thanks to Amy Smyth Photography (IG: @byamysmyth) (Malibu, CA) who introduced us to Cory Miller through the 18-minute YouTube mini-documentary 'Compost on a Large Scale' about Grass Valley Farms (Missoula, MT)