Profiles in Preservation

Straus Home and Dairy Ranches

Straus Home & Dairy Ranches, Marshall

In 1941, Bill Straus began a small dairy in Marshall. For the next 50 years, he and his wife Ellen—like many others in West Marin—produced commodity milk and sold it to large co-ops where it was processed and packaged under various labels. By the 1990s, milk prices had stagnated but production costs had risen. Rather than enlarge the herd dramatically to compete with mega-farms elsewhere, or go out of business completely, the family's innovative nature (and son Albert) led them to a brand new idea. Thanks to the sale of an agricultural conservation easement to Marin Agricultural Land Trust in 1993, they were able to convert the operation to organic. It was the first certified organic dairy west of the Mississippi. It is still the only California organic dairy company that runs both a dairy and creamery processing only organic products.

To see a timeline of MALT easements, download MALT's Land Preservation Report.