farming & ranching

Zen and the Art of SheepherdingOver the years, I've come to realize that one of the principles of working or moving livestock is that I must move slowly to go fast.  Every time I get in a hurry to get something done - loading sheep in the trailer ...

By Julie CaderJulie is Finance & Administration Manager for the California Rice Commission, and a big proponent of trying new recipes- especially if they feature California rice.We always enjoy offering sushi to newbies to see their reaction to eat...

By Paul ButtnerI was driving up and down the Sacramento Valley recently and realized that something seemed different.  It was the presence a lot of more winter water (used for rice straw decomposition) being held in the fields longer than I think ...

Sabrina Rodriguez takes a look at how the warmer weather is affecting crops in the region.

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The subtitle of today's entry is Bottle Babies and Fair Lambs!I'll write more about this later, but here are some photos of Smalls and The Great Lambino (with apologies to "The Sand Lot"), along with Emma's fair lamb, Milo.  Milo was born today - ...

By Jim MorrisNaturalist John Muir once said, “In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”  I couldn’t agree more.There’s something meaningful about traveling to the countryside and learning more about our natural world....

Rice grower Brian McKenzie talks about the wildlife activity on their family farm in the Pleasant Grove area. Brian McKenzie proudly represents the fourth generation of rice farmers in his family. Following his graduation in 2005 from The University o...

Several years ago, I made a blog entry everyday during our lambing season.  I'm not nearly as ambitious this year, but I thought I would try to make some more regular updates about how lambing is progressing in 2013.  While I hope this is of ...

As a small farmer, I’ve struggled with the idea of appropriate scale.  I’d like my sheep operation to be small enough to be manageable and community-focused, but large enough to pay me a reasonable wage.  I’ve often started with an idea...

By Bob MadgicAfter retiring from a career in public education, I took up writing on my passions—conservation, fly fishing, and the outdoors. My initial effort was a book detailing the outdoor ventures I have enjoyed over the decades, titled Pursuing ...