Cultivating Change: Women Farmers and Ranchers of Marin County
By Peter Fugazzotto,
Director, Communications
March 3, 2025
In 1980, while many were focused on Silicon Valley’s emerging tech boom, two remarkable women in Marin County were quietly launching an agricultural revolution that would reshape land conservation across America. Ellen Straus, a Point Reyes dairy farmer, and Phyllis Faber, a wetlands biologist, founded the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) with a revolutionary vision: protecting farmland by keeping farmers on it.
Their innovative model—the first agricultural land trust in the nation—emerged from their deep understanding that preserving agricultural land meant more than just preventing development. It required creating a sustainable future for working landscapes where both environmental stewardship and agricultural productivity could thrive. This women-led vision would eventually inspire agricultural land trusts across the country.
Though Straus and Faber’s groundbreaking work established a model that would spread nationwide, the women farmers following in their footsteps today confront a landscape of challenges that has evolved dramatically since MALT’s founding.
Today women farmers face unprecedented challenges. Climate change threatens traditional growing seasons and water availability, while rising land costs in Marin County make entering farming increasingly difficult for new farmers. The average price of agricultural land in the county has risen dramatically over the past decades, putting ownership out of reach for many aspiring farmers. Adding to these difficulties, the recent turmoil in the federal government has created uncertainty around agricultural policies and funding programs that many new farmers rely on to establish sustainable operations.
Janet Brown, the owner or Allstar Organics and visionary leader for Marin County agriculture, on the value of local food and voting with your dollar.
Access to capital also remains a significant barrier. Despite women operating close to half of all farms in the country, they often face greater difficulties securing loans and investment. Traditional lending institutions frequently undervalue the innovative, sustainable approaches many young women farmers bring to agriculture, favoring conventional farming models instead. Moreover, many emerging women farmers are trailblazing regenerative agricultural practices that require different metrics for success than traditional farming. These methods often prioritize soil health, biodiversity, and long-term sustainability alongside immediate productivity—approaches that don’t always align with conventional agricultural financing models.
Yet these challenges come at a crucial moment in our agricultural history. As climate change intensifies and food security concerns grow, the innovative approaches many women farmers champion—regenerative agriculture, carbon farming, and sustainable water management—are more vital than ever. MALT’s role in supporting these farmers has never been more critical. The organization continues its founders’ legacy by adapting to meet contemporary challenges. Beyond traditional conservation easements, MALT now offers programs specifically designed to support the next generation of farmers, with particular attention to removing barriers for women and historically underrepresented groups in agriculture.
The path forward requires collective action. This Women’s History Month, we celebrate not just the trailblazing women who shaped Marin’s agricultural heritage, but also the emerging leaders who carry their vision forward. We can ensure that the next generation of women farmers have the resources and backing they need to innovate, succeed, and lead agriculture into a sustainable future.
To celebrate, here are some of our local heroes of agriculture and the positive change they’ve made in our community:
Phyllis Faber and Ellen Straus, the dynamic duo of agricultural land conservation. When Phyllis Faber, a conservationist, and Ellen Straus, a dairy farmer, wanted to protect the at-risk farms and ranches of West Marin, they ended up doing so much more: creating MALT and helping catalyze the idea of agricultural land trusts across the nation.
Marcia Barinaga, continuing ancient shepherding traditions. Building on her Basque family heritage, Marcia Barinaga is the co-owner of Barinaga Ranch in Marshall. Raising sheep and lamb for food and fiber, Marcia continues the ancient shepherding traditions of her Basque family and ancestors with a focus on sustaining the land and community.
Jody Brazil, honoring ancestors. Jody has implemented numerous management practices to improve and protect soil and water health, as well as biodiversity, on her family ranch in Tomales: Marin Coast Ranch. Jody raises beef and sheep, as well as encourages agritourism and education with her gathering space, The Haven at Tomales. Jody has been offering field trips and educational tours of the ranch for over 30 years and is passionate about sharing the story of West Marin agriculture.
Janet Brown, the visionary of Bay Area heirloom tomatoes. Farming ten acres of land at MALT-protected Lafranchi Ranch, Janet Brown, is the co-owner and operator of All Star Organics. The farm produces a diverse array of heirloom and specialty crops for Bay Area restaurants and groceries, health food stores, curated specialty shops, and farmers’ markets, and helped get heirloom tomatoes on the culinary map.
Nancy Chaffin, wildflower hero. Every year, Nancy Chaffin opens up her MALT-protected Leiss Ranch to hikes so the public can experience the amazing display of wildflowers. Nancy and other botanists have identified more than 60 wildflower species on her property, including the rarer ones that grow on serpentine soil.
Sue Conley, a leader in West Coast artisanal cheeses. A co-founder of Cowgirl Creamery with Peggy Smith, Sue Conley has been a vanguard in Northern California’s artisan cheese industry. For her, cheesemaking was a way to showcase the locally-produced organic milk, often from MALT-protected lands.
Melissa Daniels, an innovative next generation rancher. With a passion for agriculture and land stewardship, Melissa Daniels exemplifies the innovation of next generation ranchers in Marin. Building off the legacy of her parents’ investment in Cow Track Ranch, she has expanded beyond beef ranching to include farm stays, events, honey, soaps, salts, and pasture-raised eggs.
Kitty Dolcini, investing in water for the next generation. Kitty Dolcini, owner of the Red Hill Ranch, knows the importance of water. With one of the largest privately owned ponds in Marin County, Kitty continues to invest in water infrastructure to build opportunities for the next generation of farmers, and to allow the ranch to support three organic crop farmers-, a beef cattle rancher, eggs, herbs and pollination bees.
Sally Gale, embracing conservation and agriculture. For Sally Gale, conservation and agriculture go hand in hand. As the co-owner of Chileno Valley Ranch, known for its beef and u-pick apples, Sally has a strong commitment to conservation, having restored creekside habitat and founded an effort to protect local newts.
Katie Gallagher, a dedicated community servant. For more than 25 years, Katie worked for the county as a school bus driver while also tending the family’s 337 acre beef cattle ranch — helping steward the community’s fresh water and habitat for endangered coho salmon.
The Giacomini Sisters, a family united over cheese. Lured back to the family farm from their various careers in business, Jill, Diana, and Lynn now own the Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company. Known for its award-winning cheeses, the sisters continue to innovate with an on-farm culinary and educational center, a second creamery, and the use of robotic milking technology.
Tamara Hicks, connecting cheese and community. Inspired by the desire to preserve open space and agricultural land, Tamara founded the MALT-protected Toluma Farms, Tomales Farmstead Creamery, and the Daily Driver to connect people all over the Bay Area with Marin farms, cheese, and community.
Jessica McIsaac, fifth-generation rancher. Born into a ranching family, Jessica McIsaac proudly continues her agricultural heritage. Co-owner of the McIsaac Dairy, she helps raise and tend to the herd of 300 organic cows as well as running a pasture raised egg operation and has a popular farmstand. As a recipient of one of MALT’s DRAWS grants, she leveraged the funds to construct a model stormwater capture system on a barn roof.
Molly Myerson, championing locally grown food. Owner and operator of the Little Wing Farm on MALT-protected Black Mountain Ranch, Molly champions locally grown food. At her iconic farmstand near Point Reyes Station, Molly provides a cornucopia of fresh fruit and vegetables, flowers, and quail eggs to the community.
Lisa Poncia, sharing the gospel of grass-fed, grass-finished beef. A lawyer by training, Lisa Poncia is the co-owner of Stemple Creek Beef. From the home ranch in Tomales, Lisa has played a key role in bringing regeneratively-raised, sustainable meat direct to consumers as well as select retailers and restaurants.
Julie Rossotti, purveyor of pasture-to-plate. As a fourth-generation rancher, Julie Rossotti has a passion for producing food for her community. With a deep commitment to sustainability, she produces humane and pasture-raised veal, grass-fed goat, as well as duck and chicken.
Karen Taylor, sixth generation dairywoman. A co-owner of the MALT-protected Bivista Ridge Ranch and Bivalve Dairy outside of Point Reyes, Karen Taylor represents agricultural tradition in raising dairy cows like generations before and agricultural innovation by expanding operations to include the production of artisanal cheese and butter.
Marissa Thornton Silva, building an organic dairy farm. Operating the 220-acre Silva Family Dairy, Marissa Silva chose organic operations for all the right reasons. She has a strong desire to protect the environment and the animals and to give consumers the confidence to know that their product is pure.
Vivien Straus, carrying on a legacy of preserving agriculture. The daughter of one of MALT’s visionary founders, Vivien Straus is equally committed to advancing the cause of preserving agriculture in Marin. Co-owner of Straus Home Ranch, Vivien Straus has rehabilitated historic buildings, restored wildlife habitat, improved soils quality, and created the Cheese Trail to promote local and California cheesemakers.
Know a woman agriculturalist you’d like us to highlight on this list? Send us an email to outreach@malt.org so we can keep building this list of amazing women in Marin County agriculture.