{"id":28980,"date":"2018-05-29T04:00:46","date_gmt":"2018-05-29T09:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/civileats.com\/?p=28980"},"modified":"2018-06-05T06:22:34","modified_gmt":"2018-06-05T11:22:34","slug":"growing-california-rice-and-almonds-against-the-grain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/civileats.com\/2018\/05\/29\/growing-california-rice-and-almonds-against-the-grain\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing California Rice and Almonds Against the Grain"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his now-weathered, century-old diary, Manuel Fonseca penned an entry in Portuguese about the many challenges he faced as a new immigrant trying to grow rice in California\u2019s Sacramento Valley. Fonseca planted his first crop in 1916 and found himself wrestling with an alarming number of weeds in the paddies.<\/p>\n

Despite the challenges, the farm survived, and three generations and a century later, his great-grandson Greg Massa is still growing rice, along with his wife Raquel Krach. Although Greg\u2019s father, Manuel Massa Jr., opted to use herbicides, Greg has chosen to farm organically, meaning he\u2019s facing the same weeds as his great-grandfather, which are difficult to remove once he floods his fields with nourishing waters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe farm organically because we think spraying poison on food and on our environment is wrong,\u201d Massa says. But being an organic rice farm has been anything but easy, requiring Massa and Krach to employ an arsenal of farming techniques: crop rotation, cover crops, field preparation, timely planting, and deep water followed by drought stress to restrain weeds.<\/p>\n

\u201cRice is difficult to grow organically with modern varieties that were bred for high inputs of nitrogen and herbicides to kill weeds,\u201d Massa explains. \u201cSometimes it works, sometimes it doesn\u2019t. We\u2019ve tried using goats, mowing, and spraying vinegar with limited success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Set on 200 verdant acres in Hamilton City, Massa Organics<\/a> farms rice, almonds, sheep, and pigs. Sandwiched between two majestic national forests, the Mendocino and the Plumas, with the Sacramento River at its feet, Massa Organics is 15 miles from the university town of Chico.<\/p>\n

\"Massa

Though rice, which Massa sells to restaurants in town, is its primary selling staple, the farm also sells its grass-fed ground lamb at the Chico farmers\u2019 market and raw nonpareil almonds, jars of almond butter, lamb, and pork to farmers\u2019 markets in the Bay Area<\/p>\n

In a rice industry dominated by larger producers like Lundberg<\/a> (which does its own conservation work<\/a>), Massa Organics is the rare independent brand selling directly to its customers through markets, CSAs, and small retail stores using social media as a marketing tool. Rarer still is the Massa approach to farming as a means of ecological work. The couple views each crop as part of a fully functioning ecosystem<\/a>\u2014the rice as part of a pond ecosystem and the almonds part of a woodland ecosystem\u2014that relies on biodiversity and natural relationships for crop health.<\/p>\n

An Ecological Approach to Farming<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Massa and Krach both have Masters\u2019 degrees in ecology and moved to the farm in 1997 with hopes of re-thinking his family\u2019s approach to conventional commodity farming. Though they could have entered academia, the pair was inspired by Krach\u2019s agroecology research on Costa Rican tropical tree plantations growing right next to rainforests without harming them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was doing my research on this actual plantation and thought, \u2018This is kind of weird that I\u2019m doing this in a research-based situation when we have a real farm,\u2019\u201d Krach says. Hoping to engage in applied ecology that made an immediate difference, she convinced Massa they could convert his family farm into a living experiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe chose organic farming as a means of doing conservation work because our methods promote biodiversity by mimicking natural ecosystems,\u201d Massa says.<\/p>\n

\"Snow

Like Massa\u2019s ancestors, he and Krach chose to farm medium-grain Calrose rice<\/a>, a versatile variety bred specifically to flourish in California. The result is a sweet, nutty brown rice high in fiber and taste that Charles Phan, executive chef at the renowned San Francisco restaurant The Slanted Door<\/a>, serves and swears by. But its taste isn\u2019t the only reason that Massa and Krach chose Calrose over jasmine and basmati varieties.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmall farmers in Thailand sell a little jasmine rice, and they\u2019re reliant on that for their income,\u201d Massa said. \u201cMany generations of Thai farmers worked to select jasmine rice to make it what it is. We decided early on we were not going to grow jasmine or basmati because it felt too much like stealing their genetic heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon after taking over, Massa and Krach began to transition the land to organic, eventually diversifying the operation, adding almonds, wheat, and several heritage breeds of animals to the mix. By 2002, the rice operation was certified, and the rest followed over the course of the next eight years. Today, their whole operation is certified organic.<\/p>\n

Creating a Natural Woodland Environment <\/strong><\/h4>\n

Integrating heritage animal breeds\u2014Dorper sheep, Gloucestershire Old Spots pigs, and Berkshire pigs\u2014has been an important way to improve the farm\u2019s ecological footprint as well.<\/p>\n

\"Some

Krach and Massa have pioneered a natural grazing pattern for their sheep, converting their 30-acre almond orchard into a natural woodland. Every morning, and sometimes in the afternoons, Massa and Krach move an electric fence to cover a different 6,000- to 8,000-square foot area, guiding 100 Dorper sheep and lambs to a new patch of orchard.<\/p>\n

Mimicking the ancient patterns of pack herbivores like pronghorn antelope, the sheep graze happily on perennials and other grasses. In the process, the herd replicates a natural woodland ecosystem\u2014one that consists of mature trees, understory plants, large mammals, small mammals, birds, and insects all living in symbiosis that serve the crops well.<\/p>\n

The woodland environment attracts beneficial insects<\/a> that protect against pests, and the grazing animals naturally remove weeds, fertilize the almond trees with their waste, and create a richer soil for insects and thus a richer food source for birds.<\/p>\n

Massa and Krach pasture their 120 pigs as well. In addition to creating natural fertilizer, Krach says the pigs provide a plowing function for the farmers, digging up stubborn weeds, and are mostly fed rice, wheat, safflower, and hay that is grown on the farm. \u201cThey\u2019re part of the cycle,\u201d she says. \u201cIf they tear up the ground, we can just plow it and move them out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agriculture is intricately connected to the larger web of life for the pair. \u201cEverything we do with the animals is totally counter to mass production,\u201d Krach says. \u201cLetting them live like they should is the only way we can imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spring is a lively time for Krach, as she manages their animal operations. Most of the 45 ewes are pregnant this time of year and hungrily mow down the tall grasses by at least a foot over three or four hours in the field. Krach finds it hard to go inside when she\u2019s standing in three-foot grass watching her ewes and 11 lambs, the babies frolicking in a beautiful pink sunset.<\/p>\n

\"Sheep

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty idyllic,\u201d Krach says. \u201cIt\u2019s hard work, but raising the sheep is fun, and it\u2019s lambing time, so I can\u2019t get enough of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon, the lambs will go to the farmers\u2019 market to be sold. Krach sees letting the animals go as part of the cycle and hopes to educate omnivores about where their meat comes from. \u201cWe hope we can teach people and they can learn about [how we raise animals] by knowing our farm or buying our products,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Water Limitations and an Ecological Lifestyle<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Almonds, like meat, have often gotten a bad rap<\/a> as a water-thirsty crop in drought-ridden California. But as an almond farmer, Massa sees much of that response as scapegoating.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it takes some water to grow [almonds], but if you look at what you get out of these nuts, [it\u2019s worth it],\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re really full of health benefits\u2014they can regulate your blood sugar<\/a> and hold your hunger at bay for several hours. I\u2019d challenge you to find another crop that could do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greg says rice used to have a similarly bad rap. \u201cIn terms of water used per serving, rice can be pretty good. Lots of crops use a lot of water, and in most of California, you can\u2019t dry-farm everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"150

With two water-intensive crops, Massa Organics is fortunately situated just a few hundred yards from the Sacramento River near its intersection with Stony Creek. Half the land is in an irrigation district with water rights from the river, and the other half of their water comes from what Greg called \u201cvery good groundwater,\u201d with minimal sinking of the ground.<\/p>\n

Massa and Krach\u2019s dedication to ecology and conservation\u2014a view of the bigger picture that goes far beyond profits\u2014has also inspired innovation. They live in a well-insulated, energy-efficient rice straw-bale farmhouse<\/a>, use solar panels to provide approximately 90 percent of the farm\u2019s energy, and use biodiesel made from vegetable oil they recycle from local restaurants to power most of the farm\u2019s vehicles.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur background in ecology directs everything we do on the land,\u201d Massa says. \u201cWe\u2019re always looking to stack enterprises, integrate processes, grow new things, and grow them better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Massa Organics<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his now-weathered, century-old diary, Manuel Fonseca penned an entry in Portuguese about the many challenges he faced as a new immigrant trying to grow rice in California\u2019s Sacramento Valley. Fonseca planted his first crop in 1916 and found himself wrestling with an alarming number of weeds in the paddies. Despite the challenges, the farm […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":829,"featured_media":28979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3255,3256,4632,4479],"tags":[],"coauthors":[4579],"class_list":["post-28980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agroecology","category-animal-welfare","category-farmer-profiles","category-farming"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGrowing California Rice and Almonds Against the Grain | Civil Eats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"These two crops are often treated like commodities in the state, but Greg Massa and Raquel Krach have prioritized a high-functioning ecosystem on their farm while selling direct to customers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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