By: Wendy Weitzel, for Davis Farmers Market
Davis Farmers Market patrons know Massa Organics for its tasty almonds and almond butter, brown rice and seasonal Mandarin oranges. But they may not know about the farm’s eco-friendly practices that yield nutrient-rich results.
“Our almonds are pretty different from other growers in the area,” said Greg Massa, who farms 300 acres of organic rice, 30 acres of organic almonds and 11 acres of organic mandarins in Hamilton City (east of Chico) with his wife, Raquel Krach. “Our rice is farmed quite differently also.”
They practice regenerative farming, which protects and enhances the soil, captures rather than produces carbon, and even creates a more nutrient-dense product. They use cover crops instead of herbicides, lowering evaporation and saving water. They apply compost, and let sheep do the weeding.
“They eat about half of what’s out there, and trample the rest of (the groundcover),” Massa said of their Dorper sheep – a drought-hearty, hairy breed that originated in South Africa. “That leaves a permanent mat of vegetation on the soil surface, which conserves water and increases water infiltration.” Their hooves make the soil more porous, and the matting reduces evaporation.
Food-safety rules say sheep must move out of the orchard 90 days before the nut harvest, because traditional harvesters shake nuts onto the earth. While they follow that, these nuts never touch the ground. Massa uses prune-harvesting equipment, where the almonds fall onto nets.
“Another benefit is all of that increases the diversity of insects in the orchard,” Massa said. “More bees and good bugs. The number of praying mantises is unbelievable.”
For her master’s degree, Krach studied compost and cover crops on their orchard, and found the practice increased yields. “She also compared the nutrient profile of our nuts compared to nuts from a neighboring (conventional) almond orchard. Our nuts were higher in almost every nutrient…. … The calcium levels of our nuts were like double of our neighbors’.”
Their rice-farming methods – growing organic, no-till rice without fertilizers – are unique as well. “We’re the only farmers to do this as far as I know,” he said.
A UC Berkeley researcher has been measuring the greenhouse gas fluctuation over their rice fields, tracking the carbon dioxide exchange between the field and the atmosphere.
“(It) found our rice is carbon negative,” he said, meaning it’s taking more out of the atmosphere than the Massa Organics farming operation creates. That’s important as climate change creates the biggest challenge to farming.
Though he is the fourth generation in his family to grow rice, times have changed. Greg’s dad farmed it for more than five decades and never had a year without irrigation. “The last drought we went through we had no irrigation water for two years (2021-2022), so we couldn’t grow any rice. That meant we ran out of rice for our big wholesale customers – and we were not able to get them back.”
But he knows there will always be a steady clientele at the Davis Farmers Market, where Massa Organics has been selling since 2007. Despite the 90-minute drive from Glenn County, Massa said it’s worth it. He loves the patrons, commends the management, and says the permanent structure makes great shelter from the heat or rain.
Massa Organics
Find them at the Davis Farmers Market every Saturday, rain or shine.
Farm address: 3614 Hwy 45, Hamilton City, California
Products: Almonds (raw or roasted), medium-grain brown rice, almond butter (smooth or crunchy), Satsuma mandarin oranges and gift boxes during the holidays
Website: massaorganics.com
Instagram: @massaorganics
Facebook: @MassaOrganics
