Joe Pozzi Takes the Reins as President of Sonoma County Farm Bureau Story By Tim Tesconi

Sonoma County Farm Bureau president Joe Pozzi is a guy determined to make a difference, no matter if he is blazing new trails for marketing his lamb and wool or serving in a leadership capacity for an agriculture, conservation or education organization.

Pozzi, ambitious and always on task, said his goal is for Farm Bureau to be a united voice for all agriculture-based programs in the county, bringing everyone together to work in unison to keep farmers in business and farmland in agricultural production.

“As a county we need to take action to protect our open space and keep it in agricultural production, this means keeping agriculture financially viable so that farm families can make a living from their land,” said Pozzi, 48, a fourth generation North Bay livestock rancher and dedicated conservationist. Pozzi took the reins of Farm Bureau in January, succeeding Santa Rosa rancher Robert Muelrath as president of the organization recognized as the voice of Sonoma County agriculture.

Pozzi served as second and first vice president of Farm Bureau before being elected president. He will serve two years as president of Sonoma County’s largest and most influential organization, which was founded in 1917 to represent the interests of farmers and the rights of rural property owners.

Pozzi said a lot has changed over the last 94 years but the need for a grass-roots organization like Farm Bureau is more important than ever because of the growing urban population and increasing regulations on land and natural resources.

“I would like to see all land owners, whether they own 1 acre or 1, 000 acres become members of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau because we are there protecting the rights of everyone who has land use issues to deal with,” said Pozzi. He said Farm Bureau’s strength and effectiveness are increased with a growing membership base.

“There are many marketing and promotion commissions in the county for specific products, but they do not represent property owners’ when it comes to land use issues or have Farm Bureau’s ability to formulate legislative action to protect landowners and their business interests,” said Pozzi.

Sonoma County Farm Bureau is part of the California Farm Bureau Federation and the American Farm Bureau, which provides oversight and action on legislation at the county, state and national levels. Farm Bureau’s clout is recognized at the county level and in the halls of government in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

“I want to see all land based groups working together with the SCFB to create new ideas for protecting our family ranches and farms, by setting policies for land use and developing markets to provide access to local food sources direct form the grower,” said Pozzi. “I think the citizens of Sonoma County value the presence of agriculture as one of the reasons they want to live here, we need to make sure it continues to be a priority in our county.”

Pozzi is certainly doing his part to keep agriculture part of the county’s landscape and economy. He operates beef and sheep ranches in western Sonoma County, near Bodega and Valley Ford. He has prospered in a tough business by developing new and innovative markets for his lamb and wool. Pozzi rolled up his sleeves and developed a plan of action not long after he came home after graduating from agricultural college in 1984. He quickly realized it was not going to be ranching as usual on the coastal farmland where generations of his family had earned a living.

Production costs were rising and commodity prices for lamb, wool and cattle – the ranching endeavors that had sustained generations before him – were flat or depressed. Times were changing and Pozzi realized he would have to change with them, or go broke.

Working smarter meant developing new specialty markets for the wool and livestock harvested from the coastal rangeland of Marin and Sonoma counties.

Pozzi successfully made the transition, taking his lamb and wool beyond the commodity market. Today he is one of the proud survivors in the livestock industry and a respected agriculture leader. He runs 650 head of ewes and 120 head of Angus mother cows on more than 1,000 acres of coastal grazing land in Sonoma and Marin counties.

A man of the land, Pozzi epitomizes the new breed of American rancher, a collegeeducated entrepreneur who balances economic viability with environmental stewardship.

A single father, Pozzi is assisted in his livestock ranching operations by his only child, daughter Alexandra Pozzi, a student at Santa Rosa Junior College who participates in all aspects of the ranching enterprise from production to bookkeeping.

As an innovator in livestock marketing, Pozzi has earned the respect and admiration of the agricultural industry. Over the years, Pozzi has been recognized as the Sonoma County Fair’s Outstanding Young Rancher and the North Bay Wool Growers’ Sheep Producer of the Year. In 1996 he won the National Environmental Stewardship Award and in 2006 the California Wool Growers’ Retailer Marketer Award. In 2007 he was named Sonoma County Farm Bureau’s Agriculturalist of the Year. Last year, he was recognized by the Sonoma County Business Environmental Alliance for his conservation and stewardship with the Alliance’s Best Practices Award.

Pozzi’s many awards recognize the remarkable skills of a rancher whose progressive attitude and can-do spirit is preserving a way-of-life on the coastal rangelands.

Sheep ranching has been on a decline for decades in Sonoma and Marin counties because of predator problems, low prices and the shrinking acreage available for grazing. Pozzi, who buys lambs and wool from other growers who meet his quality standards, believes a good marketing program will help keep sheep grazing on coastal hills and, perhaps, even increase their numbers.

As an astute businessman Pozzi seized on every marketing opportunity that came his way, developing companies that would pay premium prices for his natural wool and grass-fed lamb.

Pozzi is the owner of Pure Grow Wool, which supplies wool to bedding companies in the United States and Canada for mattresses, comforters and pillows. A lot of his wool is sold to the esteemed Pendleton Woolen Mills for the company’s signature blankets.

In addition to Pure Grow Wool, Pozzi markets his Pozzi Ranch Lamb through Whole Foods stores throughout Northern California and at select San Francisco Bay Area restaurants. This month Pozzi lamb will expand into the Whole Food Stores in the Pacific Northwest.

To make it to the Whole Foods’ meat case, the lamb must be raised under strict standards that embrace humane farming and land stewardship.

“These lambs are raised without any antibiotics or hormones,” said Pozzi. “They are raised on coastal grasses and are as natural as you can get.”

Pozzi is a keen observer of the markets for food and fiber. He’s taking advantage of the growing consumer trend of buying locallyproduced food that is raised in a sustainable manner. It’s a trend that fits closely with his own personal beliefs about wisely using resources and maintaining a ranching culture on land he wants to see preserved forever.

Like many of the consumers he serves, Pozzi doesn’t think it makes sense to waste fossil fuel shipping sheep and cattle to feed lots across the country and then sending the meat back in refrigerated trucks for the retail markets.

“I’m basing my business on reducing the carbon foot print of how these lambs and cattle are raised and, then, marketed.” said Pozzi.

Pozzi has another job in addition to ranching. He is the district manager of the Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District. The District annually oversees more than $3 million in federal grants to assist western Sonoma County landowners in enhancing the natural resources on their properties while maintaining an economically viable ranching business.

Pozzi said ranchers are mindful of taking care of their land because, ultimately, it’s the land that provides their livelihood. Some years, depending on Mother Nature and the market, it’s easier than others to make a living.

“Livestock ranching is a challenging venture even in the best of years,” said Pozzi. “But it’s a way of life and a tradition that I want to uphold.”

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