We rise before most and go to bed before most. We live by the seasons and are ruled by Mother Nature. We grow food to feed our neighbor. 

Farmers are the closest beings to nature, where they are present daily, seeing, listening, feeling and remembering. We are taught by the ones before us. We work outside year-round in all weather—rain, wind and sunshine. We work long hours. Our jobs are demanding on our bodies, and the work is never done. We are not millionaires. Most of us earn enough to make the wheels keep turning and provide for our staff and ourselves comfortably.

We are tethered to our farm.

Tethered because we cannot leave and go on holiday, and it’s rare to run off to a friend’s wedding across the country. Who would milk the cows, the goats or the buffalo? Who would collect the eggs, harvest the oysters or bring in the hay before it rains? Who would feed the animals and help them birth their babies? Who would maintain the fences, the trucks, the boats, the tractors that need fixing? Who would get the produce out for deliveries? Who would organize the workers, pay the bills, lead the tour? 

We do it because we love it. We love the outdoors, the water, the animals and the challenges that they bring. It can make you want to go back to bed sometimes, or pull out your hair or throw a wrench at the bloody machine. It’s a lifestyle, not really a job. (My little sister taught me that.) It might seem simple, but it’s complex every day, and no day is the same. We are forever learning and adapting to what comes our way.

Year after year, we are thankful to have survived the last.

A lot of farms are generational. Kids learn and work on the land from a young age, learning about life up-close and personal. It’s a lifestyle you love and want your children to grow up in. I look around and see my generation taking over the family businesses, and young farmers starting their own. It makes me proud of us all.

Now it’s our turn to see how we can take our skills and adapt to the years to come. For me, running a 114-year-old oyster farm comes with a lot of baggage. Add the climate crisis we are all facing to top it off. Life is overwhelming, beautiful and uncertain most of the time.

Farmers in Marin are highly regulated by different agencies that all want the same thing, but differently. It costs money and time that a farmer doesn’t always have. You need extra hands to manage all the permits and emails. There’s a lot of paperwork you never expected to be doing. You just want to be a farmer—right?

It takes foresight, time and money to change out old equipment for new, and zest to make it happen. When you want to make changes on your farm, it takes years to get a permit and by the time you get it, things have changed again. It’s slow and it takes a lot of patience, studies, paperwork, expert analysis, public opinion, money and phone calls. And that is for every single agency. It’s difficult to maneuver and stay enthusiastic about change. 

It’s hard to move forward and also get shit done. 

Whether you are an oyster farmer like me or a cattle farmer, an egg farmer, a dairy farmer or a vegetable farmer, whether you forage crops or grow apples, grapes, olives, nursery plants or flowers (I hope I didn’t leave anyone out), you are under the umbrella of agriculture. You provide beautiful, organic, fresh produce for others.

West Marin is built on agriculture, starting back in the 1800s. Each year, we can’t wait for the vegetable and fruit farmers to come out with their bountiful array of delicious food. Organic extra virgin olive oil? Oysters, clams and mussels farmed in your backyard? Grass-fed, pasture-raised meats of all kinds, organic milk from dairies that started over 100 years ago and the yogurt, cheese and ice cream that it’s made into? Mead and apples galore? There is so much delectable food in our area. We are outrageously lucky.

I want to say thank you to the farmers for feeding us, for working your bums off to feed our community despite all the obstacles that stand in the way. Thank you for caring for the legacy that was left in your very capable hands. Thank you to the new farmers who are making great strides, and to all who are continually adapting to this ever-changing world.

Food is essential. Farmers are your food source, your energy, your pleasure, your family gathering, the nourishment helping your body continue to thrive.

Here are some facts from the University of California Cooperative Extension Marin. Nearly 94 percent of the dairy revenue in this county is derived from organic milk. California’s number-one agricultural industry is milk. In Marin, we have 17 diaries, including one sheep, one water buffalo and two goat dairies. Five diaries are in the Point Reyes National Seashore. California provides a quarter of the nation’s food and nearly 50 percent of its fresh fruits and vegetables. Agriculture in Marin contributes over $50 million annually to the local economy. The majority of farms are third- to fifth-generation family-owned operations. Shellfish farms are the most sustainable form of farming. 

Heidi Gregory is the co-owner and farm manager at the Tomales Bay Oyster Company, in Marshall. She lives in Point Reyes Station.