Clair de Lune Niman greets me with an impressive bark and a look that says, “FREEZE.” I inch closer to the home of Nicolette and Bill Niman in Bolinas. Her head tilts in disbelief. Getting Clair to back down from protecting her family is as likely as getting the Nimans to back down from their vision of viable family farms and the righteous raising of livestock. The beautiful Great Dane standing her ground symbolizes the gift of partnership between the Nimans and their animals.
A smiling Bill Niman hurries out to vouch for me and Clair warily escorts us into the house where Nicolette has just finished nursing the Niman’s first child together, twelve-week old Miles Robert.
Bill Niman is the Founder of Niman Ranch, where he created a model for compassionate, healthy treatment of livestock in the meat industry. Nicolette Hahn Niman is a former environmental attorney who worked tirelessly with Bobby Kennedy, Jr. to reform the industrialized livestock and poultry industries. She is also the author of the recently published Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms. During Nicolette’s work reforming the hog industry, the vegetarian lady lawyer and the sustainable cattle rancher crossed paths. Thunderbolts of attraction and shared values inspired them to marry in 2003.
While Bill made coffee, I asked Nicolette if being a rancher had impacted her approach to pregnancy. “Yes,” she smiled. “I received quite a few books on pregnancy. When I picked one up to read, it was about all the things that could go wrong. I put it down and never read another one. I thought about how naturally our cows take care of themselves. Good food, exercise in the fresh air… I did what they did. I was actually outside working on the ranch when my water broke and I had Miles that day.”
Bill and Nicolette pointed out that their experience with cattle also confirmed the importance of breastfeeding. If a calf is abandoned (extremely rare) it will never be a “profitable” animal. Formula fed animals never “catch up”. Nicolette says that she is grateful for Kaiser’s support during her pregnancy and their strong promotion of a good nursing relationship with Miles. “They know doing things naturally will save them money. The moms are healthier and the babies will be healthier all of their lives.”
Our discussion of Kaiser’s forward thinking model led us to Bill and Nicolette’s work creating a new model for the mid-level family farm. Bill said, “One of our fears is that aspiring young farmers will assume farming is very capital and labor intensive… if you do it naturally, it isn’t. Nicolette has painted the big picture with her book. “Without government subsidies, factory farming is far less efficient than traditional.” Bill referenced Fred Kirschenmann, a longtime leader in sustainable agriculture, saying, “He defines mid-level farming as $50,000 to $500,000 per year gross income and believes this is an economically viable market.” Bill smiled as he talked about the people they hope to inspire and guide, “I see immigrant families, young aspiring farmers and recent graduates learning how to do this - involving the whole family - a labor of love, but one that can be profitable.”
I asked Bill about the addition of heritage turkey breeding to their BN Ranch. He explained that diversity and livestock are important components in a viable traditional farm. “Turkeys, goats and grass-fed beef go together well – all successful farms have diversity. It’s better to have goats and cattle together because of the low overlap in grazing - goats like tall grasses and woody stuff and cattle eat the shorter grasses – there’s about a 20% overlap. You actually have a total increase in all vegetation over time. This is a big savings in fuel and equipment because you don’t need to mow.”
Bill helped Nicolette get Miles into his sling for our walk to the turkey pens. There’s an ease in the way they hold Miles. I sense that they tend their animals with the same grace and love. As we walked, Nicolette said they’d been thinking of raising chickens, but were inspired by Frank Reese, the famous turkey farmer in the Midwest, to try turkeys. The “guru” of Heritage turkeys, Frank is to turkey as Bill Niman is to beef. “We weren’t sure how we would relate to turkeys or if we would enjoy working with them, but after some consideration we decided to try it and see if it was a good fit for us.”
Reese willingly shared his knowledge and excitement with the Nimans, but would not put any of his poults (baby turkeys) in the mail. They knew starting with the best stock was critical, so they rented a vehicle and headed east to see Frank at his farm in Lindsborg, Kansas. After spending thirty-six hours learning from Frank, their eggs hatched and they gathered 225 golf-ball sized poults and drove straight through to Bolinas in shifts. Poults are born able to survive the first 3 days of life with little or no sustenance, so they had to make it a quick trip with few stops other than for gas and to check the chicks and tend to any that seemed ill. Few (13%) died on the way (which is lower than the average mortality of about 20%), but they were very disappointed because they’d hoped with careful attention to have 100% survival. Frank consoled them by saying “Some just don’t want to live.” They called Frank a lot the first few months. Nicolette said, “I had four very old books on raising turkeys…nothing current was helpful.”
Heritage turkeys are fairly close to wild turkeys. The BN Ranch breeding stock has a small number of Spanish blacks, descendants of the Mexican turkeys taken to Spain in the early 1500’s and subsequently returned in 1620 to the New World with the American colonists. Additionally, they have Narragansetts, Standard Bronze, Bourbon Reds and White Hollands.
When we arrive at the turkey enclosure the toms are outside grazing and foraging for grubs. They seem unafraid, bright and curious. The turkeys aren’t trimmed, clipped or cut. They can fly, but have only gone off the property once – their feed (natural soy and corn) is kept inside the building to encourage them to come home at night. The only odor inside the pens for the breeding females was freshly chipped wood bedding, which is raked daily. After mating, hens lay fertile eggs for 10 days. These are quickly removed to prevent chicks from forming until the eggs reach a hatchery, Grimaud Farms, in Stockton. Once hatched, the poults are then transported to a farm in Sonoma where they are raised to maturity before going back to Grimaud Farms for processing.
Sharing the vision of the Nimans are partners Steve Clausen, Phil David and Brian David (Bill has named them “the brain trust”). Steve and Phil left careers in large-scale conventional farming with a quest to start a natural turkey farm. Steve had been in the large commercial turkey business for over thirty years. I see the delight in Steve’s eyes as he points out the different colorations in the variety of Heritage breeds that he is now helping to raise. Phil has a PhD in animal genetics and statistics and is a former CEO of Sygen, the world’s largest breeding stock company for pigs and shrimp. Phil speaks excitedly about how healthy and hardy these Heritage turkeys are compared to conventional turkeys. BN Ranch also creates the opportunity for Phil and his son Brian to work together. Brian is a recent Lewis and Clark College graduate who intensively studied ethics. He is clearly a natural stockman. When a skittish injured turkey flies out of the infirmary pen, Brian easily approaches and cradles the bird in his arms. All four men delight in the turkeys’ playfulness and show me some of the shiny catering pans they’ve nailed up for the “kids” to peck at with vigor. Phil proudly points out a multi-level perch Brian built for the “teenage” turkeys, currently playing a boisterous game of “platform push off.”
The instincts of these former farming industry mavens tell them that this model for turkey farming will work. They believe that the superior taste of Heritage turkeys should bring a year-round market with smaller broiler sizes available all year and the larger birds available during the holidays. Blessed to have grown up eating wild game, I know first hand that the Heritage turkeys I’ve eaten (Standard Bronze and Bourbon Reds) had the complexity and richness of flavor of the wild turkeys my Daddy used to bring home from hunting trips.
Driving away I remember that the turkey is known to many Native Americans as the Giving Bird or Give-Away Eagle and symbolizes the willingness to sacrifice for the good of the people. That evening I found a story about a time when people had turned from Great Spirit’s teachings, dishonoring the earth and her creatures. There was such bad blood between animals and people that eating any animal made the people ill. A wise elder begged Great Spirit for help and promised to lead the people back to the old ways of harmony and gratitude. When Great Spirit asked the animals for help, only the turkey volunteered to give himself, placing his trust in the people’s promise to return to the right path. The Giving Bird is a perfect totem animal for this new Niman venture and the beginning of a return to the righteous raising of our food.
BN Ranch Heritage turkeys will be available in November at: Marin Sun Farms (Point Reyes Station retail store, farmers’ markets and wholesale), The Bolinas People’s Store (Bolinas), Woodland’s Market (Kentfield), Sonoma Market (Sonoma), BiRite Market (SF), Cafe Rouge Meat Market (Berkeley), Barron’s Meats (Alameda), and Preferred Meats (Oakland - Online and Wholesale). Note: BN Ranch Heritage turkeys are air-chilled.
