MALT 101 Series Recordings

June 1, 2021

Join staff experts and agriculturists for our virtual illustrated series on how MALT works. So far this series has covered topics such as MALT’s conservation easements, farmland stewardship and building water security. The recordings for past events can be found below. Come learn with us!

Building Water Security

Join Thane Kreiner, Ph.D., MALT’s new chief executive officer, along with John Taylor, owner and operator of BiValve Dairy, and Randi Black, PhD, dairy advisor at University of California Cooperative Extension, as we discuss the impact of intensifying drought conditions on local farms and ranches, MALT’s Drought Resilience & Water Security (DRAWS) initiative and the collective actions taken by community leaders and agriculturalists to build long-term drought resiliency.

Learn more about MALT’s Drought Resilience & Water Security initiative and how you can support Marin’s farmers and ranchers here! View the final graphic.


How We Steward the Land

Once MALT has protected a ranch with an agricultural conservation easement, MALT’s team gets to work. Through MALT’s Stewardship Assistance Program (SAP), MALT staff work with farmers and ranchers to improve soil and water quality, increase agricultural productivity, protect habitat and natural resources and make Marin’s working farms and ranches more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Learn more about our SAP program, how it works and the projects we collaborate on in the video below!

Click on this video to learn how MALT stewards the land.

Learn more about SAP here and some projects we have spotlighted here! View the final graphic.


What’s a Conservation Easement?

MALT’s mission is to permanently protect Marin’s agricultural land for agricultural use, with a vision for a thriving agricultural community in a healthy and diverse natural environment. But how exactly does MALT do this? What tools do we use?

As many of you know, the primary tool MALT employs to protect farmland is called an agricultural conservation easement. But what does that mean, exactly? How does it work? Why do we use them? And who benefits? We gathered staff experts with a graphic recording artist to depict the answers to these crucial questions in a captivating illustrated video.

Click on this video to learn how MALT permanently protects Marin’s farmland.

Learn more about agricultural conservation easements here! View the final graphic here.


MALT has preserved more than 50,000 acres of Marin’s productive farmland to date, but there is still another 50,000 acres to go. Donate today to protect at-risk farmland in Marin County, forever.

More stories like this:

a collection of sheared wool

The Benefits of Local Fiber Production: Supporting Community, Sustainability, and Soil Health

December 4, 2024

There’s been a growing awareness of the value of local fiber production, and there are countless exciting examples of innovation within this textile industry right here in Marin on MALT-protected farms and ranches.

Read More

A view of the Parks Home Ranch near Tomales, CA

Parks Home Ranch: Historic Tomales Farmland Protected for Future Generations

November 19, 2024

In a significant win for Marin County’s farmland conservation, the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) has secured crucial funding to permanently protect the historic 177-acre Parks Home Ranch in Tomales with an agricultural conservation easement. Today, the Marin County Board of Supervisors approved a grant from the county’s Farmland Preservation Grants program funded by Measure…

Read More

cows trotting through a field, kicking up dust

Enhancing Marin’s Rangelands: Innovative Soil Amendment Strategies for Landowners

October 11, 2024

As ranchers and farmers know, healthy soil is the foundation of viable agriculture and resilient ecosystems. Here in Marin, one ranch, with the support of the CDFA and MALT, is experimenting with using soil amendments traditionally used in orchards and row crops – gypsum and lime – in a rangeland setting.

Read More