David Evans, a fourth-generation rancher and owner of Marin Sun Farms, has spent the last decade raising animals for meat and eggs while helping to build a vertically integrated network of farms and food processors to provide local, sustainably produced beef, lamb, pork, goat, poultry, and eggs to the Bay Area.
Marin Sun Farms Tour from Ranch to Butcher Shop
On May 10, 2013, a group of curious adventurers visited Marin Sun Farms’ operations to learn how pasture-raised meat is brought from the ranch to the market. The day-long tour, organized by CUESA, included stops at Rogers Ranch in Point Reyes, Marin Sun’s butcher shop and restaurant in Point Reyes Station, and their processing facility in San Francisco. Read the full recap.
Marin Sun’s flagship ranch, Rogers Ranch in Point Reyes National Seashore, was operated as a dairy by Evans’ family until they switched to beef cattle in the 1970s. When Evans took over his uncle’s lease, he added pastured chickens and ducks.
Evans showed us his brooder. When these three-week-old chicks are old enough to start laying, they will be spend their days on pasture, with large chicken houses for protection. Every three days, the houses are moved with a tractor to provide access to fresh pasture. This arrangement works well both for the hens and for the fields: as they forage, the hens eat pests and their manure fertilizes the grass.
Evans is currently experimenting with raising ducks, which are thriving, and may try guinea fowl and quail during the summer months.
Evans’ cattle are a mix of Red and Black Angus, Holsteins, and Hereford crosses. They are raised on pasture throughout their lives and slaughtered when they are 20 to 30 months old.
Evans shows us his map for rotational grazing. To keep his pastures and animals healthy, cattle are rotated to fresh pasture every 2 to 3 days, allowing time for the grass to grow deep, strong roots before being regrazed. In order to control erosion and protect wildlife habitat, Evans avoids putting cattle on hillside slopes or along streams.
The browner pasture on the left was recently grazed, while the greener pasture on the right has been left to rest for several weeks, allowing it to begin to recover and generate new shoots.
This tall, lush pasture is home to many native species, including blue-eyed grass, California poppies, lupine, and Douglas irises, as well as California quail and red-legged frogs.
When the cattle are old enough for slaughter, they are transported from Rogers Ranch to the Rancho slaughterhouse in Petaluma, one of the few remaining in the region. The carcasses are shipped to Marin Sun’s processing facility in the Dogpatch district of San Francisco. The space is subletted from F. Uri Meat Company, one of the longest continually operating meat operations in the city.
Fifteen butchers and five drivers work at Marin Sun’s USDA-inspected facility, where they cut, package, and deliver meat for wholesale.
Evans and his crew are proud of the facility, and enjoy showing customers this less-seen but essential part of a local meat infrastructure. “Having your own processing facility is a rarity,” he said. “Many things happen between the pasture and the plate. The whole processing part is often hidden from customers. We want to show you that.”
Our tour group was shown the cutting room, where carcasses are broken down into primal cuts. The large rails along the ceiling are used to move whole animal carcasses through the facility.
The freezer.
From the processing facility, primal cuts go to out to wholesale accounts as well as Marin Sun Farms’ retail outlets. For lunch, we stopped at their restaurant and butcher shop in Point Reyes Station.
At the butcher shop, primal cuts are broken down into smaller cuts for retail. Until recently, this was their central operating facility, where they did all of their farmers market and CSA packing.
In addition to the animals Marin Sun Farms raises for eggs and beef on their own ranch in Point Reyes National Seashore, David Evans works with a regional network of co-producers to source poultry, pork, lamb, goat, and more beef. The company only enters into contracts with ranchers who adhere to their production protocols, which require that animals be free of antibiotics and hormones, treated humanely, and never raised in confinement. At the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, the names of the co-producers can be found printed on the label.
Paul, the general manager at the butcher shop and restaurant.
Our tour group stocked up on meats from the butcher counter...
...and then enjoyed sandwiches made from the products of Marin Sun’s foodshed.
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About CUESA
CUESA (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture) is dedicated to cultivating a sustainable food system through the operation of farmers markets and educational programs. Learn More »