As part of a local markets study, SACOG and Valley Vision are interviewing farmers that are diversifying their operations via direct marketing to the public or on-site agritourism. Just south of Yuba City is Stephens' Farmhouse, an old-time produce stand best known for its homemade fruit pies. Owner Sheri Stephens estimates that about 65-70 percent of her customers are local, repeat visitors.
The farm stand primarily sells local produce grown by their family or bought from other local growers. They also purchase some specialty products from backyard gardens, such as pomegranates or quince. The Stephens' business has grown during the eight years they have owned it, but sales volume is highly cyclical with the seasons. After the holiday rush, business is slow until the warm days of spring. In order to deal with these down times, Stephens has created other projects like using her kitchen to produce cookie dough for local fundraisers. This effort began three years ago with a few student groups, and has grown to 10-12 fundraising groups a year.
The Stephens are an example of a single family managing a diverse agricultural operation that taps into both local and international markets. While Sheri oversees the farm stand, her husband Jeff farms about 600 acres of walnuts, prunes and peaches. They also operate a walnut processing plant in Nevada, Pioneer Nut Company, which purchased and processed nearly 3,000 tons of walnuts last year from growers across California. The nuts were transported in bulk form to their final market destination—Australia—through the Port of Oakland.