Raising livestock the natural way, in a "private national park" of pasture, forest and creeks.
Salmon Creek Ranch is situated between the villages of Bodega and Bodega Bay on the glorious Sonoma coast, about 80 minutes north of San Francisco. It is bordered on the south by Bay Hill Rd. and by Salmon Creek Rd. on the north, and has almost 400 acres of rolling hills, natural pasture, steeper ravines, redwood groves and forest. Over a mile and a half of Salmon Creek, a designated riparian habitat, meanders within its northern end. Tucked among similar sized parcels on an isolated stretch of the coast, it was originally part of a 580 acre thriving dairy operation until the 1980's. Subsequent owners leased front gate its pastures to local ranchers and it was used for non-intensive grazing up until the time we purchased the land in August of 2007. Since then, we have obtained organic certification for its pastures through the California Certified Organic Farmers and are raising Scottish Highland and Angus cattle for 100% grass-fed/grass finished beef, Kiko goats for meat and breeding stock, as well as producing certified organic duck eggs and other farm-related products. Salmon Creek Ranch is also the home of Timaru Salukis and Anatolian Shepherds.
Us - John, Lesley & Jocelyn Brabyn
We both come from farming backgrounds: John spent a good portion of his youth on a dairy farm in New Zealand while Lesley shares ownership in a 126 acre ranch in Ventura County that has been in her family since 1886. However, we have both have pursued professional careers in the non profit sector prior to our return to toiling in the field. Our daughter Jocelyn, after graduating from college and trying her hand as a field archeologist at various digs on the east coast, has returned to the ranch, much to our delight, where she is an invaluable member of our team. We are all deeply concerned about environmentally destructive practices in modern agribusiness and hope we can do our bit to counteract this by producing food in an animal and habitat friendly manner. We are also concerned about the disconnect in our society between field and table and how producers are increasingly adversely impacted by well-meaning but impractical policies made by city dwellers with no real understanding of nature, animals or ranching. We hope, by providing an accessible work in progress, to help bridge some of these gaps between producers, land owners, conservationists and urban consumers.
The Community
We are members of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, California Certified Organic Farmers, the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, American Kiko Goat Association and the Anatolian Shepherd Dog Club of America.
Salmon Creek Ranch Products
Grass-fed Beef
Duck Eggs
Goat Meat
Pet Treats
Other Products
