Giving Back to the Land
The McNamara family of Sierra Orchards farms with a passion for conservation.
Sierra Orchards, a 450-acre organic walnut farm in Winters, California, is permanently protected through a conservation agreement, ensuring the land will remain dedicated to agriculture for generations to come.
This milestone marked a significant achievement for the McNamara family, who have farmed the land for four decades, blending innovative agricultural practices with a commitment to environmental stewardship.
In 2005, Sierra Orchards worked with Solano Land Trust, the state of California, and the federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) to permanently protect the land.
A Transformation
Sierra Orchards grows, hulls, cleans and dries walnuts before selling them to a processor. Their organic walnuts are sold at Trader Joe’s. The last four years have been challenging for the farm, owner Craig McNamara says.
I started farming in 1980. Our price last year for walnuts was what we got in 1980. We have to change, or we’ll go out of business.
Protecting the Future
It was the right thing to do. We live within 35 minutes of the capital of California, the fifth-largest economy in the world. Here we are in the midst of this amazing farmland—and we’re only an hour from the Bay Area.
Innovative Practices
Building a Bright Future
The "golden hour" at Sierra Orchards.
“We’re just stewards of the land in this lifetime. We too shall pass. But we want this land to remain in farming forever.”
About NRCS
The federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) was a voluntary conservation program that provided matching funds to state and local governments, land trusts, and tribes for the purchase of permanent conservation easements to protect agricultural land from development. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) administered the FRPP from 1996 to 2014. FRPP was superseded by the Agricultural Lands Easement component of the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP-ALE) in the 2014 Farm Bill.
About American Farmland Trust (AFT)
American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on protecting the land, promoting regenerative agricultural practices, and supporting farmers and ranchers. American Farmland Trust launched the national conservation agriculture movement and raises public awareness through our No Farms, No Food® campaign. Since 1980, American Farmland and our partners have permanently protected nearly eight million acres of agricultural land while advancing environmentally sound farming practices on millions more and supporting thousands of farm families.
About the Photographer
Shawn Linehan specializes in capturing the compelling stories of socially responsible farmers and mission-driven clients. Employing a journalist's sense of narrative and an artist's eye, she creates intimate, authentic images that celebrate the lives of environmental stewards dedicated to improving our access to local, healthy, and delicious food. She resides in Portland, Oregon, where she documents the inspiring stories of those working towards a more sustainable and equitable food system.
