Lowering Barriers for Regenerative Producers: Pie Ranch and Brisa Ranch

Pie Ranch has been a leader of California’s regenerative agriculture movement for nearly twenty years--starting well before the term “regenerative” started popping up on grocery store labels. Pie Ranch has trained over 100 new farmers to cultivate healthy food and community over the years, and it recently launched an inspiring new “Cascade Regenerator” program for emerging farmers to build their businesses.

ZFP has awarded Restore grants to both Pie Ranch and its neighbor, Brisa Ranch, so we decided to call them up and learn more about their plans to build soil health and community health along the California coast, in San Mateo County. Our conversations moved rapidly from principles of agricultural reform to the details of daily land stewardship and back, as they embody the step-by-step work of regenerating our food system. 

Pie Ranch’s Director of Operations, Leonard Diggs, explained that the Cascade Regenerator program “is for farmers at a more mature stage” than the currently-paused apprenticeship program. “They have a good idea of how to grow and market crops, but they could also use help with developing traction and collaborations,” Leonard said. Pie Ranch offers these fledgling farmers connections to markets and partners, as well as access to land, which presents an overwhelming challenge to many young farmers. Whereas most agricultural incubator programs give new farmers 3 to 5 acres, the Regenerator program offers bigger plots of 12-15 acres, where they learn how to manage a carbon budget by submitting cropping and water plans to Pie Ranch. 

“The way that I see it is that farmers can’t make a living just producing ecosystem products, we’ve got to provide ecosystem services,” Leonard said. That is, farmers need to earn money from the environmental benefit of their practices, and not just from selling their produce. “Regardless of organic materials, if we are making our living on just the products, and not the services, it’s not going to be sustainable,” he said. “ My goal is for farmers to make 70% of their income from the products and 30% from the services.” Soil health leads to soil wealth, so Leonard got a Restore grant to prepare an irrigated pasture for a future Regenerator business to manage, and Brisa Ranch will use its Restore grant for compost application, cover cropping, and more.

Brisa Ranch is run by Pie Ranch alums Veronica Mazariegos-Anastassiou, her husband Cole Mazariegos-Anastassiou, and their partner Cristobal Cruz-Hernandez. They started out growing winter squash on less than one acre, but the Regenerator program has allowed them to scale up to twelve acres of diversified vegetable production, and they’re also focused on soil carbon. 

“I came to farming from a more international development background,” Veronica said. In fact, she’s recently finished a master’s program in applied economics and management, and she’s been active in farmer coalitions to improve agricultural policy in California. “I got frustrated by the top down approach to things--but as a farmer, you see that you face hurdles that are structural and policy related, so you have to think about both.”

Brisa Ranch is working to mitigate the effects of climate change, including increased wind pressure, pollinator loss, droughts, and fires. “I think we need to create a narrative around farming as land stewardship, and trying to be an ally in mitigating climate change,” Veronica said. “We think about it at the level of our farm, but incentive structures like Restore California show the systemic approach.” 

Zero Foodprint’s Restore program and Pie Ranch’s Regenerator program share a concern with changing the economics of farming to support carbon sequestration. The goal is for small farms to make a living growing food and restoring the climate, and to expand access for new farmers, who don’t come from farm families, or lack the cash resources to invest in soil health. The regenerative movement needs to care for the farmers who care for the land, and create space for farms like Brisa Ranch to make a living while growing food and restoring the climate.

Or, as Veronica pointed out, “How we steward the land is ultimately a public good. This is not just on our shoulders as farmers.” Hear, hear!