A New Way of Farming – Utilizing Symbiotic Relationships

Posted by Chris Kerston

March 16, 2008

For a while my wife and I were living on Table Mountain in Oroville.  We were commuting to Chico State for school.  After leaving my home base of Placer and Nevada County I was fascinated by Butte Counties “Big Agriculture.”  It still had a small-town feel to it, as many of the large farms and ranches are still family operations but it was vastly different in comparison to the small 1-5 acre niche farms I was accustomed to in the foothills.  I was looking for a place to work or volunteer that would expand my knowledge of community based food production.  In my quest for sustainable agriculture I came across Chaffin Family Orchards.  There is a little unassuming blue sign on hwy 70 at the base of Table Mountain as you are heading towards Quincy that caught my interest.  I was intrigued by the ranch and I had seen their name and products around town but never really took the time to stop in. 

            I got to meet the owners of Chaffin Family Orchards at the opening of Chico State’s Organic Dairy.  Kurt and Carol Albrecht had inherited the farm from Carol’s father.  As I chatted with them I got a feeling that they were special, that they understand the soil, the land, the animals, and the plants, in almost a spiritual way.  I came to find that these people understood symbiotic relationships in ways I couldn’t imagine.  The farm/ranch is a couple of thousand acres.  They raise olives for olive oil, stone fruits, citrus, grassfed beef, lamb, goat, chicken, and eggs.  Everything for them is based on quality.  They don’t use chemical fertilizers or pesticides.  They hand pick the fruits for freshness.  They slaughter animals once a year it at the peak of the feed season for each particular species.  They don’t ever confine their livestock in small pens or feedlots, but rather let them go out and harvest the feed on their own. 

            This is all amazing but some of this thankfully is becoming a bit more common on farms around the country.  The difference with Chaffin Family is the scale upon which they undertake these operations and their understanding of symbiosis on the farm.  Waste is seen as a normal part of industrial agriculture.  Not with the Albrechts.  Rather every resource on the farm is viewed as an asset.  They use the livestock to graze the orchards.  In turn the livestock fertilize the orchards.  The goats even help prune low or fallen branches.  This eliminates their need rely on chemicals and minimizes their dependence on fossil fuels.  When they do have to go in and prune mechanically, they take the waste branches and grind them up into a mulch applied right back to orchard floor, in contrast to conventional orchards who burn most of their prunings.  On the parts of the ranch that aren’t suitable for farming they use their animals to forage in a constant rotational grazing system.  Guard dogs are used to protect vulnerable livestock and no predators are ever killed.  Once a group of livestock move out of an area the predators return to hunt their native prey.  Each species of livestock prefers to consume different types of plants and in the same way each different class of livestock has different fertilizing properties in their manure.  By utilizing all the species at different times they are able to maximize utilization of available feed while also maximizing available nutrients for the soil.  After each piece of ground is grazed, sufficient biomass is left to provide habitat for native critters and to prevent erosion and other negative effects. 

Managing this concert of movement to come to a beneficial outcome takes years of trial and error and someone with an innate understanding of nature’s cycles.  The Albrecht’s have dedicated their lives to such an undertaking.  They are committed to healthy local food that is both good for the people and good for the land.  You can find Chaffin Family Orchards at various farmers markets around Butte County.  They pride themselves on remaining affordable for families while still providing a quality product.  They also believe in maintaining a feedback loop between the farmer and the consumer.  I can’t say enough about Chaffin Family Orchards.  It’s a really neat place and anyone who wants to visit is welcome to.  Just go to the website and call them up for an appointment.

http://www.chaffinfamilyorchards.com/