Loren Poncia is a fourth generation rancher in Marin County near San Francisco. His roots trace back to when his great-grandfather, Angelo “Pa Nono” Poncia, emigrated from Italy in the late 1890s to start a new life. Today, he continues this tradition on the same land Angelo once walked on years ago. It is now named Stemple Creek Ranch after the waterway that runs through the ranch and into the Pacific Ocean. Poncia's mission is to provide grass fed and finished beef to the Bay Area through championing wildlife restoration and improving the biodiversity on the land. A measured return of wildlife can be seen. When human action has hurt the environment, human action is required to heal it.

Marin County family farmers and ranchers face numerous challenges when it comes to transitioning properties to the next generation. Because of it's proximity to the tech boom of the Bay Area, property values and corresponding taxes have skyrocketed because they are based on residential and commercial prices not agricultural. Loren has worked with and served on Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) who will buy the residential and commercial development rights to ensure land stays committed to agriculture.

In addition to his own acreage in Tomales and Petaluma, Loren also leases agricultural land in a few satellite locations, including here in Point Reyes Station. Point Reyes Station, CA

"Everything I've learned in my past experiences with other companies has helped me a lot with Stemple Creek Ranch taking it to the next level. Because I'm not the typical rancher, I have a marketing background, I have a sales background. so it's easier for us to spend on our story and realize we’re selling not only a product but a story." Loren left a high paying job in veterinary pharmaceuticals two years ago to focus on Stemple Creek full time. - Point Reyes Station, CA

"I like a challenge and I was not happy with other people controlling my destiny. Basically, work for big corporate America and today they want one thing and tomorrow they want something else. The main reason is I want to do something good for people and good for the community and expand on my family’s legacy to make it something my kids will hopefully have an option to do if they want to. What I came into was not a successful business at all; it was basically a business that my parents were able to barely live and keep the ranch.” - Point Reyes Station, CA

Loren reangling his newly installed solar panels that power his water pumps. - Petaluma, CA

Oscar Munoz feeding hay to the cattle. It is common to supplement with alfalfa during acclimate weather as cows, like humans, burn more energy to stay warm. - Petaluma, CA

Loren inspected the progress of his worm farm, which feed off of old newspaper, cardboard, chicken manure, and more. By created a more complex soil system, rain is allowed to better penetrate instead of run off into waterways.

"For every one percent increase in carbon we get in our soil, we store about another 17, 18 thousand gallons of water. Basically all this rain that comes we want to stay in the soil for the rest of the year." - Loren Poncia speaks about his efforts in strengthening the biodiversity of his land and soil. - Tomales, CA

A fence draws the line between his neighbor's property on the left and his on the right. Loren has planted over a fifteen hundred trees and fenced off areas next to Stemple Creek. "[It's] changed dramatically since I was a child, for the better. There’s actually documented steelhead coming in the creek now and there wasn’t ever before." - Tomales, CA