Agriculture Archives

What’s Living in a Handful of Dirt

October 5, 2026

Pick up a handful of soil and you’re holding a city — one where most residents are hunting each other.

Teo and Maxima Zarate - of Zarate Family Farms

Teo and Máxima Zarate — The Ground They Know

September 22, 2026

Teo and Máxima Zarate, owners of Zarate Family Farm, have worked the soils of the MALT-protected Red Hill Ranch, west of Novato in Hicks Valley, for more than fifteen years.

Teo y Máxima Zarate — La tierra que conocen

September 22, 2026

Read this story in English Cuando conocí a Máxima Zarate, su cálido “¡Buenos días!” resonó por debajo del ala de su sombrero, dándome la bienvenida a su granja. Nos reunimos con Teo y comenzamos a recortar pequeños manojos de cebollín, conversando sobre nuestras familias, las generaciones anteriores que cultivaron la tierra en Oaxaca, y los…

How Grazing Reduces California Wildfire Risk – What the Science Says

August 19, 2026

In one year, California’s livestock ate 11.6 billion pounds of wildfire fuel. The science on grazing and fire is striking.

How to Prepare Your Ranch for El Niño and a Wet Winter

August 11, 2026

A record-strength El Niño is on track for this winter. Here’s what forecasters are seeing, what to do before the rains, and how MALT can help. The short version: a strong El Niño is building, and this fall is the time to get your ranch ready. It may bring a hard, wet winter. It may…

Bob Giacomini: Some Jobs Are Never Finished

June 17, 2026

How Bob Giacomini and his daughters turned their Tomales Bay dairy into Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese.

Vibrant spring grass in Marin County rangelands. - MALT

This is Your Brain on Spring Grass

May 8, 2026

Grass fever is real. Here’s what’s behind it.

Jennifer Beretta at the Dolcini Jersey Dairy, Marin County.

Jennifer Beretta: What It Takes To Keep A Dairy Thriving

February 25, 2026

Jennifer Beretta can’t always remember her phone number, but she remembers cow numbers from 15 years ago. That kind of commitment—to heritage, to family, to land—is what keeps agriculture thriving in Marin County.

Moira Kuhn of Marin Roots Farm stands beside a weathered Kubota tractor in a field at the MALT-protected Volpi Ranch in Marin County.

Moira Kuhn: Building a Farm on Borrowed Ground

February 23, 2026

Moira Kuhn has farmed Marin County for over two decades without ever owning the land—and what’s at stake if farmers like her can’t stay.

Multi-generation ranching family walking hand-in-hand across the pasture.

Planning for What’s Next: Essential Resources for Ranch and Farm Succession

June 17, 2025

Discover the essential resources and expert guidance your ranch or farm family needs to successfully transfer your operation to the next generation.