For this week’s Market Report, Gillian Ferguson went to Marshall, California in Marin County to talk to Vivian Straus, to discuss the history of farming and ranching in this region. For anyone who’s been to the Tomales Bay area, you know this is a bucolic part of Northern California where cows graze on the hillsides and oysters grow in the bay.
Her father, Bill Straus, began his dairy farm in the early 1940s in Marshall. Her mother, Ellen, joined him in 1950. Later, Vivan’s brother Albert started Straus Family Creamery, where she served as the marketing/sales director for 11 years. She also worked for several years at Cowgirl Creamery.
These days, Vivan and others are working to preserve the region’s agricultural roots. One way they’re doing that is the Cheese Trail.
Bill and Ellen Straus, in the 1990s. Photo courtesy of Vivian Straus.
Gillian Ferguson: It’s so great to be here. So you grew up in Marshall on your parents’ dairy farm. Can you paint a picture of what that was like and describe the region at that time?
Vivian Straus: It was so remote. There were no friends. I had nobody out here. I talked to cows, and I still do. It was really remote, like I said. It was four miles to school. I went to a one-room schoolhouse in the beginning with five grades and two or three kids in each class, and our life was really on the farm. We didn’t travel much. We stayed here, and we were a very close family, hanging out together for every meal.
Was this region known for dairy or was your dad a pioneer for starting the ranch here?
Oh no, this was a very well known dairy region, and has been since the mid 1800s. It was actually, I think, one of the first premiere dairy regions in the country, and the first commercial cheesemaking was made here in Point Reyes. And butter-making was the big deal, too.
Vivian Straus stands among the cows. Photo by Rocco Photography.
What makes this region so good for dairy?
It’s the grass. We’re right on the coast, so we get a lot of moisture, which influences the grass and lets it grow for a little bit longer and has a little bit of salt in the flavor of the grass. So we’re known for our grazing.
It’s hard to express how stunningly beautiful this is, even today. We’re only an hour and a half from San Francisco. How did this region stay this idyllic and resist development?
Actually, I want to credit my mother. She co-founded the first agricultural land trust in the country, called the Marin Agricultural Land Trust. Basically, the farmers then sell the rights to develop their land. They don’t actually sell the land itself. And we have now protected about 60,000 acres of farmland here in Marin County.
A round of triple cream brie from Marin French Cheese Co. Photo courtesy of Marin French Cheese Co.
Wow. So tell us the story of dairy now. When you were growing up, it was known for dairy. What’s the status of Marin County today?
We still have dairy, but it is struggling. I’ll be honest about that. We just lost six dairies in the Point Reyes National Seashore due to a lawsuit, so that is taking away a huge percentage of our dairies here. When I was growing up, there were about 150 dairies in the ’60s, and there’s now, oh gosh, less than a dozen, I think, left.
Those dozen, are they individual dairies producing milk, or is it a collective?
They’re all individual dairies but they sell to different processors. We have Clover Sonoma here, and we have Straus Family Creamery, and most of the dairies sell to one or the other.
Curds from Marin French Cheese Co. Photo courtesy of Marin French Cheese Co.
You mentioned that they are closing in Point Reyes National Park. That was due to an environmental lawsuit. What are the other reasons that dairies are closing?
Some of it is economic. The milk price never seems to go up. The conventional milk price never seems to go up. And feed costs are very high, especially due to drought. So the feed will go way up. We have generational issues. Farmers are older and maybe the next generation sees how hard it is to work a dairy and says, “Oh boy, I’m out of here,” and goes off to live in the city. There are also regulations that make things difficult, as well.
A young Vivian Straus feeds a calf in the 1960s. Photo courtesy of Vivian Straus.
What happens to the dairies that have joined this malt, this agricultural land trust? If they close, do they just go fallow?
No, the ones that close usually, if they close as a dairy, they usually revert to beef or some other product but they have to remain in agriculture. That’s part of the easement that you sign, which is that the land remains in agriculture in perpetuity, no matter who buys it, or who inherits it.
Kenne, a soft, bloomy-rind goat cheese from Tomales Farmstead Creamery. Photo by Rocco Photography.
Incredible. So the closure of these dairies also impacts the local cheesemakers, of course, who rely on the dairy. You came up with this innovative way to support them. Tell us about the Cheese Trail.
The Cheese Trail came out of my love for our dairies and our cows and our farms. I really thought the way to help the dairies was to help the cheese makers, because one great way to keep a dairy alive is to make a value added product. So I decided to create a map that shows you where you can go visit cheese makers. It’s expanded now to a website, and you can find any cheese you like. It’s the only directory of all California cheeses in California. We also are now expanding to other states. So it’s a great way to go visit cheese makers.
Donna Pacheco (2nd from left) of Petaluma’s Achadinha Creamery, which is part of the Cheese Trail. Photo courtesy of Vivian Straus.
Do you want to shout out a few cheese makers in this area that you think people should visit on their next trip to Marin?
Oh, yes. You have to go visit Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese. Beautiful view of the bay and great cheese, of course. And Nicasio Valley Cheese and Marin French, and get a private tour at Tomales Farmstead Creamery, which is on Tuluma Farm.
If we visit these great cheese makers, what should we get while we’re there?
Well, I have my favorites. I love Kenai from Tomales Farmstead Creamery. I love Quinta from Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese. Try the Foggy Morning from Nicasio Valley and any cheese from Marin French.
The Straus family in the 1990s. Photo courtesy of Vivian Straus.
So when we’re following the cheese trail, can we actually get out and meet the makers?
Absolutely, and that’s what’s so fun about it, which is that you get to go out and see the cheese maker. You see their farm sometimes and it’s kind of crazy, because they’re all different people. Some are scientists, some are artists. They’re all very different, and they come from all walks of life, and their cheeses are always so unique. It’s really fun to see the little ones, because those are the ones that are most inventive, I must say.
Are they all using California milk?
All of them. Yes, and that’s what the cheese trail does. It’s supporting California milk and California dairies.
The Straus barn. Photo by Jeff Lewis.
Bay Blue, a rustic-style blue cheese with a natural rind, from Point Reyes Farmstead. Photo courtesy of Point Reyes Farmstead.