Beretta Family Dairy of Santa Rosa, CA, has been selected as the recipient of the 2022 California Leopold Conservation Award.
Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the award recognizes farmers, ranchers and forestland owners who inspire others with their dedication to water quality, soil health and wildlife habitat management on private, working land. In California, the prestigious award is presented annually by Sand County Foundation, American Farmland Trust, Sustainable Conservation and the California Farm Bureau Federation.
Beretta Family Dairy was revealed as the 2022 recipient during the California Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Meeting in Monterey, CA. Doug and Sharon Beretta farm with their children, Jennifer, Lisa and Ryan, and grandson, Brayden. The Berettas received $10,000 and a crystal award for being selected.
“California is experiencing intense and compounding climate pressures, and we’re working hard to respond to a cycle of drought, deluge and fire,” said Ashley Boren, Sustainable Conservation CEO, which has co-sponsored the award since its launch in California in 2006. “The Berettas don’t just manage their dairy to save water. They also protect endangered species in their local watershed, create habitat for wildlife and reduce fire fuels. Their long-term commitment to their dairy operation and our environment stretches back decades and will continue into the future with the family’s strong leadership.”
Early in 2022, California farmers, ranchers and forestland owners were encouraged to apply (or be nominated) for the award. Applications were reviewed by an independent panel of agricultural and conservation leaders.
Among the many outstanding landowners nominated for the award was finalist Sardella Ranch of Tuolumne County.
The Leopold Conservation Award is made possible thanks to generous contributions from American Farmland Trust, Sustainable Conservation, California Farm Bureau Federation, Sand County Foundation, The Harvey L. & Maud C. Sorenson Foundation, Farm Credit, The Nature Conservancy in California, McDonald’s and California Leopold Conservation Award alumni.
Beretta Family Dairy
Conserving California’s water is important when milking cows. The Berettas are dairy farmers who have long sought to improve water quality and quantity.
Located in Northern California’s ecologically and economically important Laguna de Santa Rosa watershed, the Berettas are innovators when it comes to recycling wastewater and preserving groundwater.
Doug Beretta’s father, Bob, had the foresight in 1968 to build a pond that secures nutrients from runoff. The nutrients are later used to fertilize pastures and crop fields. It’s one of many conservation projects the Berettas have implemented to reduce groundwater usage, improve soil health, cut greenhouse gas emissions and protect federally recognized endangered species.
The Berettas have utilized the city of Santa Rosa’s reclaimed wastewater to irrigate their pastures and hay fields since 1981. Using recycled water has eliminated the need to draw 45 million gallons of groundwater annually. The Berettas also partnered in California’s first-of-its-kind, voluntary water quality credit trading project with Santa Rosa and the Sonoma Resource Conservation District in 2015. It aided with pasture improvements that protect water quality by reducing soil erosion and manure runoff.
Recently, Beretta Family Dairy secured a pair of grants from the California Department of Agriculture to achieve more environmental and economic efficiencies through conservation. An Alternative Manure Management grant helps reduce labor and fuel costs with a new barn scraper system and manure separator that eliminates methane. Compost derived from the separation process is used as cattle bedding, eliminating their need to purchase sand. A Healthy Soils Program grant will improve forage productivity by spreading compost on pastures, utilizing a no-till drill to seed grassland and designing a new rotational grazing plan.
Due to volatile prices in the conventional milk market, the Berettas made the decision in 2006 to transition to organic production for a better and more stable pay price. In doing so, they also began switching from the Holstein to Jersey breed. Jersey cows are better grazers and their smaller frames create less compaction on the soil.
The Berettas graze their cattle on wetlands, thoughtfully managing these areas for their ecological significance with beneficial grazing practices. That includes 200 acres of wetland that they lease from the state of California. The combination of irrigation and managed grazing of pastures and wetlands has helped reduce the likelihood of wildfire.
As Santa Rosa’s city limits have grown, Beretta Family Dairy has become a refuge to turkeys, pheasants and deer. The farm’s ponds serve as nesting areas for waterfowl, and its pastures are covered with 100-year-old valley oak trees.
The Laguna de Santa Rosa watershed’s unique ecological communities compel the Berettas to use careful farming practices that benefit the natural systems they work within. That includes farming with three endangered flowers—one of them endemic to the Laguna—and an endangered, distinct population segment of the California tiger salamander.
Long ago, Doug Beretta was taught that you only milk as many cows as your land can handle. That advice is just part of the conservation ethic that has guided Beretta Family Dairy for more than 70 years. — Sand County Foundation
