How A Skeptical Northern California Rancher Embraced Green-Friendly Farming

Ranchers don’t always agree with environmentalists when it comes to climate change. Now, there's a partnership between a popular outdoor brand and a Northern California ranching family that’s both green friendly and profitable. Lani Estill’s family ranches on thousands of acres in Modoc County on the border of Nevada and California. Her operation, Bare Ranch, sits in a place called Surprise Valley. It’s a beautiful almost forgotten place “Where the West still lives” — that’s the county’s motto. The Estills have three bands of sheep that trek through the area where the Burning Man festival takes place yearly. “There’s a lot that goes into this,” Estill says. “It’s really hard to run a business this size. It’s not always a beautiful day like this.” Lani Estill's ranch in Modoc County, California. Andrew Nixon / Capital Public Radio That struggle got a little easier around four years ago, when she got a call from Rebecca Burgess with the textile group called Fibershed, focused on regional textline production. The organization's goal is to connect farmers and ranchers with companies, all while benefiting the environment. Burgess went ahead and asked Estill if her family would incorporate climate-friendly farming practices that at the same time would also keep the farm economically viable. “To be able to do that, they needed an economy to be stable enough to retain their way of life,” says Burgess. It took a bit of arm-twisting for the family to get on board, however, because of previous encounters with environmentalists. “Ranchers have been threatened constantly by the environmental community,” Estill says. “So, we had to kind of open up our minds a little bit to accept what was being offered as a genuine offer.” After many conversations, the family accepted. This meant they could establish an environmentally friendly farm plan with grant money...more